Research

Research Ethics

All research at Unisa must obtain ethics clearance. CAES has two Research Ethics Committees:

UNISA-CAES Health Research Ethics Committee:

This Committee reviews applications for research that involves human participants (such as collection of data through questionnaires or interviews), plants, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), biomedical research, as well as environmental research.

The Committee is registered with the National Health Research Ethics Council (Registration # REC-170616-051)

Chairperson
Dr MD Matlala
Email: matlamd1@unisa.ac.za

Deputy Chairperson
Dr HA Melville
Email: melviha@unisa.ac.za

Administrator
Ms MJ Van Wyk
Email: vwykmj@unisa.ac.za

Meeting schedule for 2025

Date of meeting Submission deadline
23 January 16 January
13 February 06 February
06 March 27 February
03 April 27 March
08 May 01 May
05 June 29 May
03 July 26 June
07 August 31 July
04 September 28 August
02 October 25 September
06 November 30 October
04 December 27 November

UNISA-CAES Animal Research Ethics Committee:

This Committee reviews applications for research that involves animals.

Chairperson
Dr A Wilson
Email: cheata@unisa.ac.za 

Deputy Chairperson
Prof A Tsotetsi-Khambule
Email: tkhamam@unisa.ac.za 

Administrator
Ms MJ Van Wyk
Email: vwykmj@unisa.ac.za

Meeting schedule for 2025:

Date of meeting Submission deadline
24 January 17 January
14 February 07 February
07 March 28 February
04 April 28 March
09 May 02 May
06 June 30 May
04 July 27 June
08 August 01 August
05 September 29 August
03 October 26 September
07 November 31 October
05 December 28 November

Section 20 permit requirements:

All research projects that involves the use of animals must submit a Section 20 application to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD):

Research on controlled diseases

If you are doing research on a controlled disease, take note of the following communication from DALRRD on the use of unvalidated tests:

South African National Standard on the care and use of animals for scientific purposes (SANS 10386)

Researchers that will make use of animals in their research is required to familiarise themselves with the SANS 10386 stipulations and to ensure they adhere to these. The SANS 10386 can be accessed through the Unisa library by staff and registered students.

Ethics application procedure:

Unisa has moved to an online application system. All CAES ethics applications should be done on the online platform:

Progress reports for online applications are done on the online application system.

Progress reports for pre-2023 applications must still be submitted manually to the ethics administrator.

Ethics training:

The Unisa Research Integrity Office offers a number of ethics training sessions / workshops throughout the year.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Unisa Research Ethics Review Committee (URERC)

Last modified: Tue Dec 17 13:13:58 SAST 2024