Ethics Review Committee (ERC IOBSL)

The Institute of Biology has established an Ethics Review Committee (ERC IOBSL) for granting ethical clearance to Biology-related projects. This is to ensure that researchers engage in ethically sound practices in conducting scientific research. All proposed research projects should consider ethical clearance at both the application and implementation stages.

Scope

The ERC IOBSL will grant ethical clearance for biology-related research projects involving both the animals (laboratory and in the field) and human subjects. Applications for biomedical research (biomedical research is defined here as research conducted on clinical samples) should contain sufficient evidence to prove the involvement of appropriate healthcare professionals in sample collection procedure. Ethical clearance is not granted for clinical research, i.e., research studies performed on patients.

Fee

A non-refundable processing fee is charged per application. Applicants should make a payment of Rs. 5000 for funded research (projects funded by funding agencies such as NSF, JICA, UGC, WHO etc.) or Rs. 2000.00 for non-funded/self-funded projects. The payment should be credited to the account “Institute of Biology, Sri Lanka” (A/C No. 086100141191763) at Peoples Bank, Thimbirigasyaya and the pay slip should be submitted along with the application.

Application form

Research proposals must be on the prescribed application form which can be downloaded from here.

Guidelines for ERC-IOBSL Applicants
Download application form for Ethical Clearance

Deadline

The ERC committee meets on the last Thursday of every month and application submission deadline is 15 days before this date.

Duration

The regular review process will take 60 days, during which the decision will be conveyed to the applicant.

Send to

Both soft copy and hard copy of the application need to be submitted. However, due to the prevailing situation, submission of a softcopy alone is acceptable.

Soft copy : PDF files of the  entire set of documents should be emailed to [email protected]

Hard copy: Applications along with supporting documents can be either posted to:

The Joint Secretaries, Institute of Biology, “Vidya Mandiraya”, 120/10, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 07.

Or hand over to one of the Joint Secretaries:

Dr. I A J K Dissanayake of Plant sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo

or

Dr. Devanmini Halwatura, Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo

 

Check list for applicants

• Covering letter signed by the applicant
• A receipt for the appropriate payment to IOBSL.
• Completed Application Form – Part II (2 copies)
• Completed  Application Form: Part I & III (2 copies)
• Where applicable, the information sheets for research participants
(in all three languages – Sinhala, Tamil, and English) (2 copies)
• Where applicable, the consent forms, data collection forms
(in all three languages – Sinhala, Tamil, and English) (2 copies)
• Any other relevant documents (Specify)

Failure to comply with these instructions would result in the application being returned, and/or delay in obtaining ethical clearance.

Members of the Ethics Review Committee

Chairperson:               Prof M.J.S. Wijeyaratne

Secretary:                  Dr. I A J K Dissanayake

Committee Members:      
Prof. M.J.S. Wijeyaratne (Chairman)
Dr. G. A. S. Premakumara
Prof. W. D. Ratnasooriya
Prof. R. Wijesekera
Dr. U. K. G. Padmalal
Dr. J. Jayasekera
Prof. Mayuri Wijesinghe
Dr. Dilhari Attygalle
Prof. C. Wijeyaratne
Dr. M.T.M Mahees
Dr. Sumudu Seneviratne
Mr. Toefl M. Lankapura

Guidelines for ERC Applicants