Submitting projects

Submitting projects to the CER-UNIL is entirely voluntary. The University of Lausanne in no way requires its researchers to systematically submit their projects for evaluation.

The University Commission for Research Ethics is involved in research projects conducted at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) for which a certificate of ethical compliance is required. It may also be called upon when the subject of the research involves human beings and does not fall within the remit of the cantonal research ethics committee (CER-VD).

The University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) intervenes in research projects carried out at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) for which a certificate of ethical compliance is required.

A research project can therefore be submitted if obtaining a certificate of ethical compliance is essential to the successful completion of the activities covered by the project: obtaining funding, publication of results, access to land, etc.

For more detailed information, please see our page on checking the need for ethical approval.

You can submit your projects via the online submission portal.

Projects that must be submitted to a cantonal research ethics commission are those that fall within the scope of the Federal Law on Research Involving Human Subjects (LRH).

The scope of the HRA covers all research activities relating to human diseases and to the structure and function of the human body that are carried out with natural persons, deceased persons, embryos and foetuses, with biological material or with personal data relating to health.

Research into human diseases encompasses research into the causes, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of physical and mental health disorders. Research into the structure and function of the human body means basic research relating in particular to the anatomy, physiology and genetics of the human body, including research into interventions and effects on the human body unrelated to disease.

Caution: The scope of the law does not cover research on in vitro embryos or research on anonymised biological material or on anonymised or anonymously collected health-related data.

To help you decide whether or not your project should be submitted to a cantonal ethics commission, we recommend that you ask yourself the following questions:

• Does my project étude the disease, structure and/or functioning of the human body?

• Does my project involve the use or reuse of personal data relating to health, without it being completely anonymised?

• Does my project involve the use or reuse of personal data relating to health, without it being completely anonymised?

• Does my project involve the use or reuse of personal data relating to health, without it being completely anonymised?

• Does my project involve the use or reuse of personal data relating to health, without it being completely anonymised?

• Does my project include the use of human biological material (embryos, foetuses, foetal tissue, human reproductive material or human stem cells from living or deceased persons)?

We also invite you to consult the Catalyst's Assistant for Human Research Projects  made available by the Coordinating Body for Human Research (Kofam).

The LRH gives the following definitions (Art. 3 ):

• Research : methodological research aimed at obtaining generalizable knowledge;
• Research into diseases : research into the causes, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of physical and mental health disorders;
• Research into the structure and function of the human body : fundamental research, particularly in the fields of anatomy, physiology and genetics of the human body as well as non-disease-oriented research relating to interventions on the human body;
• Biological material : substances in the body originating from living persons;
• Health-related personal data : information about a specified or determinable person that is related to his or her state of health or illness, including genetic data;

The University Research Ethics Committee is involved in research projects conducted at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) for which a certificate of institutional ethical compliance is required. It is called upon when the research project involves human subjects and does not fall within the scope of the Loi fédérale relative à la recherche sur l'être humain .

To help you decide whether or not your project should be submitted to the CER-UNIL, we recommend that you ask yourself the following questions:

• Do the institutions that are funding me, the publishing houses with which I plan to publish and/or the plots of land that I plan to study require a certificate of ethical compliance?

• Does my research project involve recruiting participants directly (interviews, questionnaires, etc.) or indirectly (consulting private databases or archives, observing human behaviour)?

• Does my project involve working with populations that may be considered vulnerable?

• Does my project involve working with populations that may be considered vulnerable?

• Does my project involve the use of personal and/or sensitive data (not related to health) without having completely anonymised it?

• Does my project involve the use of personal and/or sensitive data (not related to health) without having completely anonymised it?

• Does my project involve the use of personal and/or sensitive data (not health-related) collected via the internet, forums or any other virtual space where access is protected?

• Can my research project pose any risk (physical, psychological, family, professional, social, economic, political, symbolic, religious or other) to the individuals, groups or communities participating in the research?

• Do I see myself resorting to à deception (in English deception)?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you can contact the CER-UNIL. The process is, that said, completely voluntary and should only be carried out in cases of real need.

• Personal data: any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual (definition taken from the DPA, Art. 4).
• Sensitive data: any personal data relating to religious, philosophical, political or trade union opinions or activities, or to ethnic origin; to the private sphere of the individual, in particular his or her psychological, mental or physical state; to individual measures and assistance arising from social legislation; to criminal or administrative proceedings or sanctions (definition taken from the DPA, Art. 4).