Ethics in Research

Please note that the ethics clearance applications in the Faculty of Humanities are in the process of transition to UCT’s electronic research administration (eRA) system.

Any research conducted in the Faculty of Humanities that makes use of data regarding human subjects requires approval, or formal exemption from approval, from the Faculty Research Ethics Committee (FREC), which considers applications only after being approved at the level of departmental research ethics committees. The approvals are time-bound but renewable.

Faculty Guide to Research Ethics: Research with Human Participants

Please find here a copy of the Faculty of Humanities Guide to Research Ethics: Research with Human Participants to understand the range and complexities of the issues involved in the process.

Kindly note that any Faculty-specific advice, guidelines, or policy are subservient to University policy in cases of apparent contradiction or ambiguity. Visit this link for more information.

The Application Process

After you have completed the ethics clearance process in the Department (please contact the respective Chair of your Departmental Ethics Research Committee for the specifics), you will need to complete the HUM Research Ethics Clearance Form and submit it along with all relevant supporting documentation as listed in the form to Nabeelah Regal and the Humanities Research Support mailbox. Please ensure that you have all necessary documents in place before submission. The application and supporting documentation will then be shared with the FREC and, if approved, you will receive a letter of endorsement from the FREC Chair. (If your project requires access to UCT staff and/ or students as research participants, there is an additional step. See below.)

Research Involving UCT Staff or Students as Participants

Any research conducted by the staff or students of the Faculty of Humanities involving the UCT staff or students as participants needs to be approved first by the Humanities FREC, and then by Human Resources (for staff) and/or by Student Affairs (for students).

The first step to obtaining access to UCT staff/ students for research is to obtain ethics approval from the Humanities Faculty Research Ethics Committee (FREC) via a departmental research ethics committee.

For access to students, the researcher will then need to complete the DSA 100 form and submit it, along with the FREC endorsement, to Nadierah Pienaar, who currently manages this process for the Department of Student Affairs (DSA).

For access to members of the staff, the researcher will need to complete either the HR194A form (if the research is part of the fulfilment of a degree) or the HR194B form (if the research is not part of the fulfilment of a degree) and submit it, along with the FREC endorsement, to Zoe Cosmopoulos, who currently manages this process for the Human Resources (HR).

Please note that all external researchers seeking to use UCT staff or students as research participants are required to contact IFHREC (Inter-Faculty Human Research Ethics Committee) directly.

Retrospective Clearance

The Humanities Faculty Research Ethics Committee does not grant retrospective approvals for research where data collection has already been initiated. Any such projects will only be approved on the condition that data collected prior to approval are discarded.

2024 List of Departmental Research Ethics Committees in the Faculty of Humanities

Contacts

Should you have any questions regarding ethics clearance, please consult your research supervisor and your departmental research ethics committee chair in the first instance.

FREC Chair and Deputy Dean (Research and Internationalisation): Associate Professor Bodhisattva Kar

Manager of Faculty Planning and Research Support: Ms Zandile Tennyson

Administrative Officer for Research Support: Ms Nabeelah Regal