Compliance

We are committed to upholding the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and policies. Below are items of reference for research compliance. The University’s primary resource for research compliance is University Research Administration.

Research activities conducted by University of Chicago faculty and students that involve the use of human volunteers or analysis of identifiable human subjects data must be reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) if the research is designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.

To submit your IRB application, visit the SBS IRB page.

Funders such as the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health require applicants to complete ethics certification training. Complete the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course offered through CITI and download the completion certificate.

Students and postdocs applying for Public Health Service (PHS) funding (e.g., NIH, NCI, etc.) must have completed CITI Conflicts of Interest (COI) training. Training is valid for four years. Visit the SBS IRB site to learn more.

Using animals in research or teaching requires the prior approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The IACUC works closely with the Animal Resources Center (ARC), which is responsible for the animal procurement, facilities, husbandry, and specialized veterinary services.

For more information, visit the IACUC website.

The Social Science Divisional grant policy is designed to provide faculty with the freedom and flexibility to pursue lines of inquiry wherever they may lead, to sustain an institutional environment capable of catalyzing and advancing field-defining research, and to balance the pursuit of faculty research opportunities with other responsibilities (teaching, student advising and mentorship, and departmental service), while at the same time ensuring compliance with University and governmental regulations.

Any grant proposal on which a faculty member with primary academic appointment in the Social Sciences Division serves as Principal Investigator must be submitted through the Social Sciences Division.

Read the full text of the Social Sciences Division Grant Policy.

The University of Chicago’s Conflict of Interest/ Conflict of Commitment Policy requires that all individuals with the designation of faculty, or other academic appointment, file annually a Conflict of Interest-Conflict of Commitment Disclosure. Furthermore, any individual that is engaged in the design, conduct or reporting of research, or is considered “key personnel,” must comply with the policy. This is a University-wide policy, and applies regardless of whether the faculty or academic is engaged in research, or receives external research funding, and regardless of whether they have a full-time or part-time appointment.

For more information, visit University Research Administration’s COI-COC page.

Proposals that are to be submitted by the University and awards that are to be disbursed by the University require institutional endorsement. Institutional endorsement is conducted through University Research Administration (URA). URA facilitates research administration activities through AURA, an electronic system that streamlines and automates research administration. The system helps reduce administrative burden on faculty and staff as well as the regulatory compliance risk for the University. Work with your SSD Grants Administrator to ensure compliance and to submit your proposals through the AURA grants system: