ATREE is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in its research and outreach to communities. This is implemented through comprehensive policies on animal and plant research and human subjects . The Institutional Review Board (IRB) provides resources to ATREE students, researchers and field staff to help them understand and comply with these policies.

Purpose

All researchers who lead a research project or undertake PhD research at ATREE are required to follow ethical guidelines as they pertain to research on human subjects, animals or plants and the use of technology towards this research. The IRB will be the authority to ensure that research projects and PhD studies adhere to ethical guidelines and issue clearance.

Constitution

The IRB will comprise of experts who can assess and evaluate project proposals and PhD research proposals so that they meet ethical standards as regards research on human subjects and technologies. The ATREE Animal Ethics Committee (AAEC), constituted as per government mandate, is a specialized body of the IRB dealing exclusively with research involving animals and plants. The IRB is comprised of the Convenor of the Academy (who serves as the IRB chair), the chair AAEC and three experts, of who atleast two are experienced social scientists nominated by the Executive Committee.

Approval Process

• The IRB approval is mandatory for all PhD student research at ATREE and has to be secured prior to registration at the Manipal Academy for Higher Education. IRB approval is encouraged for all research projects at ATREE but will be mandated only for approved grants where the granting agency stipulates IRB approval as a condition to administer the grant.
• The concerned researcher will download IRB approval request application and submit the completed application form at link. A signed hardcopy of the final approved applicatopn has to be submitted to the Academy Office. The approval request application form will cover the core principles of ethical research, informed consent, accountability and recourse, risk mitigation, data sharing, conflict of interest and data privacy.
• Applicants proposing research on animals or plants will be required to fill out the AAEC application form and/or APEC application form respectively, which will be forwarded to the AAEC for clearance. The AAEC will monitor research and teaching activities involving animals according to the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960) and guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India. The Chair of the AAEC will report back with a decision, which will be incorporated within the applicant’s IRB form, and an IRB number will be assigned.
• The applicants will receive alerts on the status of their applications. The IRB will convey its decision in the same form to the applicant indicating the same as ‘Approved’, ‘Modifications Required’ or ‘Declined.’ Approved applicants will be provided with an IRB number, which can submitted with copies of the approved IRB form to agencies and authorities as required.
• If the applicant is required to modify the proposed methods, the applicant can immediately resubmit the application with the required changes and the Chair can grant the Approval, if the modifications have been satisfactory. If the IRB application is declined, the applicant will have to submit a fresh application and will have to obtain IRB approval as described above.