Submission Windows (for validation and DPO review)

Submit for validation in the time windows which are listed below

3rd January 2025 - 10th January 2025
31st January 2025 - 7th February 2025
21st March 2025 - 28th March 2025
25th April 2025 - 2nd May 2025
23rd May 2025 - 30th May 2025
20th June 2025 - 27th June 2025

If your study involves RCSI, you must engage with the RCSI Sponsorship Office at least two weeks in advance of these time windows - to allow RCSI sufficient time to conduct its assessments - you must wait until RCSI assessments are complete before you submit to the ethics committee.

If you are conducting the study for the purposes of obtaining an academic qualification in a university other than RCSI, please seek advice from the university Data Protection Officer (DPO) - in relation to data controllers, data processors and contracts - before you submit to the ethics committee.

Validation is an iterative process to ensure the study documents are of sufficient standard before they are assessed by the hospital DPO.

DPO review is an iterative process to ensure compliance with the data protection legislation before the study undergoes research ethics review.

Please ensure you are available and contactable by email when your study is undergoing validation and data protection review.

Valid submissions which have been reviewed by the DPO are scheduled for research ethics committee review.

Research Ethics Committee Meeting Dates

Meetings will take place subject to demand on:

SOP - steps which are followed from validation to sign off

See Short SOP for Investigators conducting Research and Clinical Trials in Beaumont Hospital and applying to Beaumont REC (trial starting 1 January 2025)

Please note that research ethics committee approval is one of several approvals required to conduct a research study.

While a researcher conducting a simple single site study with no third party involvement can receive all the necessary approvals within 3 months, most research studies involve third parties and require contracts with the hospital and take between 6 and 12 months to receive all approvals. Complex studies with multiple sites, multiple third parties or international third parties can take longer however.

see also site sign off process.