Following  the successful delivery of the Worktribe system, the Research Management Systems (RMS), the project team are now  focusing on the second phase of the project; delivering a new research Ethics Application and Review system. Along with Worktribe, this new system will provide a suite of tools to help develop research applications and support better research across the University.

Earlier this year, the University signed a contract with Infonetica, to provide Sussex with their Ethics Research Manager (Ethics RM) platform. Since then, a dedicated project team has been set up to work alongside them in the configuration and implementation of the new system Rollout to staff and students across the University is expected in mid 2025.

What is Ethics Research Manager

Ethics RM will overhaul the existing functionality in Sussex Direct, replacing this with a more modern and better supported cloud-based product. The system will be used to submit research ethics applications, for reviewers to assess these applications, and will automatically generate application responses. Once in place, Ethics RM will support staff and students by:

• Providing a platform for collaboration in ethics applications.
• Improving the recording and auditability of ethics outcomes.
• Ensuring compliance with regulations.
• Reducing administrative burden on Academic and Professional Services staff.

The RMS project team are in the process of configuring ethics application questions onto the system, and will soon be moving onto workflow configuration, to ensure applications are disseminated to the appropriate reviewer groups. At the same time, the team will also be conducting integrations between Ethics RM and other University systems, to ensure a more streamlined process for all users.

Stakeholder engagement for the preparation and delivery of the new ethics system is in progress and will expand to the wider base shortly.

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