Missions and operations

The University Commission for Research Ethics 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 beings and does not fall within the remit of the Cantonal Commission on Research Ethics (CER-VD).

The CER-UNIL is responsible for:

1. to set out the ethical principles and rules applicable to research involving human·e·e·s participants who do not fall within the scope of the Federal Law on Research Involving Human Beings (LRH, RS 810.30);

2. to organise training with a view to meeting ethical standards in research, in particular through advice, workshops or continuing education courses. It contributes, in collaboration with the faculties, to setting up training in scientific integrity and research ethics under the aegis of the UNIL Directorate;

3. to answer ethical questions, which may be submitted to it, relating to research conducted within UNIL or in collaboration with UNIL;

4. to encourage the development of academic research on ethical evaluation criteria;

5. to assess, at the request of members of the academic community, compliance with ethical standards in research projects and ensure that they are applied;

6. to issue attestations of ethical compliance for research projects not subject to the LRH, excluding work carried out under the supervision of a teacher (bachelors) or a dissertation (master) or thesis (doctorate) supervisor;

7. delegate to interdisciplinary committees, set up within the faculties, the competence to evaluate certain work not subject to the LRH and to issue the certificates of ethical compliance provided for in Article 1 paragraph 2. This includes work carried out under the supervision of a lecturer (bachelors) or a dissertation director (masters) or thesis director (doctorate), as well as any research project that the CER-UNIL Board has previously deemed to fall within the remit of the said commissions, in agreement with them;

8. to delegate, if necessary, some of its missions to entities recognised by the Direction of UNIL.

The ethical evaluation system proposed by the University of Lausanne consists of a network of interdisciplinary faculty committees and a central university committee.

Any researcher or student who needs to obtain a certificate of ethical compliance for a research project that does not fall within the scope of the Federal Law on Research Involving Human Subjects (LRH) can submit an application electronically via the central submission platform.

Applications are processed in a decentralised manner by the heads of the faculties, who designate (in conjunction with the central coordinator) the relevant committee for evaluation - either at faculty level or at central level. However, university regulations stipulate that the evaluation of work carried out under the supervision of a lecturer (bachelors) or a dissertation (masters) or thesis (doctorate) supervisor is the exclusive responsibility of the faculty committees. If the project clearly appears to fall within the scope of the LRH - or if there is any doubt - applicants may be referred to the Cantonal Commission on Ethics in Human Research (CER-VD). For help in determining which commission is responsible, please consult the resources tab.

Once the committee has been appointed, it will carry out the assessment.

Please note: The ethical conformity assessment process for research projects is entirely voluntary. The University of Lausanne does not require its researchers to systematically submit their projects for evaluation.

Chaque commission (centrale ou facultaire) possède un règlement spécifique qui définit les modalités d'évaluation des projets déposés. Vous pouvez consulter les règlements existants sous l'onglet organisation, en cliquant sur le nom de la commission souhaitée.

Each committee (central or faculty) has its own set of rules that define how submitted projects are assessed. You can consult the existing regulations under the organisation tab, by clicking on the name of the desired committee.n