Applications, deadlines, and timelines

This page provides quick information about deadlines and how to apply for ethics review.

Student deadlines

Athabasca University (AU) students may apply for ethics review at any time. Applications will be processed according to established timelines.

Faculty/staff deadlines

Applications from AU faculty and staff must be submitted by the first Friday of each month. These applications will be reviewed at the regular monthly Research Ethics Board (REB) meeting, and a decision will be provided within 1 week of the meeting.

How to apply

AU staff must navigate to The Current to access and complete an Ethics application. Instructions for all other applicants are located here.

Application forms

  1. Application for Ethical Approval (Graduate Student/Non-AU Researchers)
  2. Application for Ethics Exemption
  3. REB Application for Externally Approved Study
  4. Application for Secondary Use of Data

Make sure you include all the necessary information, including related appendices, or your application may be returned.

If you have difficulties with your application, please contact the research ethics officer.

 

Timelines for student researcher applications

To process your application as quickly as possible, review of student applications includes both an informal and a formal review. The goal is to complete the formal review within 4 weeks of submission.

Informal review

The research ethics officer or your departmental research coordinator may provide informal feedback during the administrative processing of your application. This feedback is designed to increase your chances of approval in the formal review.

As this feedback occurs before your application is sent to the ethics committee, the time spent on review and resubmission is not counted as part of the formal review timeline.

Formal review

For an average review with no major concerns or uncontrollable delays, the first formal review should take approximately 2 weeks to complete.

If your application requires further revision, the goal is to provide final approval within 4 weeks of your initial submission to the committee. This timeline depends on how long it takes to submit the suggested revisions.

Templates and samples

The following templates will help you create recruitment materials and informed consent forms for your research project.

If you have any questions, please contact the research ethics officer.

Recruitment

Informed consent

Sample

Updated May 22, 2025 by Digital & Web Operations (web_services@athabascau.ca)