General information and checklist for submitting an application to be reviewed by the ethics committee (“ethics application”)

General information
Application types are: standard application, revised application, and renewal application.

Standard applications may include single studies or a series of related individual projects.

Renewal applications refer to previously submitted and approved applications. They only describe newly planned or modified studies. Please specify the number of the previous application in the renewal application. When assessing renewal applications, the commission is not bound by its vote on the previous applications. In particular, the commission reserves the right to reject renewal applications for reasons that were already included in the applications it had previously approved of.

Revised applications are modified proposals that have been rejected by the commission in their original form. A separate letter to the commission is to be included that describes the changes in the revised application and comments on the commission’s remarks. Please specify the application number.

Processing time
Processing an application usually takes four weeks. This period may be extended, for example, if the applications are incomplete or because they contain information that is difficult to understand. There may be delays due to formal errors in the application or ‘seasonal’ factors (i.e. during the semester break). Applications can be processed on a fast track in individual, well-founded cases only.

Checklist for the application

A short description of the project (please use the form on the homepage and submit it electronically)

1.	Application letter addressed to the chair of the ethics committee containing the following information:

Applicant / contact person including contact details. Any person who is eligible to apply can be the applicant (see guidelines, “Richtlinie”).

2.	Objective and progress plan of the research project, study procedure

3.	Type and number of participants, criteria for their selection, recruitment approach (advertisements, databases, etc.)

4.	Physical, mental, or other strain on the participants

5.	Risks for the participants, including potential secondary consequences, and planned precautions (when appropriate, reference to well-established standards)

6.	Reimbursement of participants or promise of other benefits

7.	Written participant information; disclosure whether the information / instruction is complete and truthful or in what respect it is purposefully left incomplete; if applicable, text for subsequent debriefing

8.	Written declaration of consent of the participants

9.	Possibility of the tested persons to refuse participation or withdraw prematurely from the study; text to inform the participant about this option (* Comment: Please also note here if and how participants will be reimbursed in case they drop out of the experiment (e.g. partial payment))

10.	If participants are not or only partially legally competent and/or are unable to make a decision (e.g., children), specify the involvement of their legal representatives and/or caregivers

11.	Information on data collection, data processing, data usage, and data protection

12.	Information on the collection of personal data (e.g., name, date of birth) or particularly sensitive data (e.g. racial and ethnic origin, political opinions, religious / ideological beliefs, genetic data, biometric data that could lead to identification, sexual orientation and sex life, trade union membership, health data) within the meaning of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Information on:
-	Purpose and method of processing
-	Necessity and commensurability of the data collection
-	Risks (e.g.: under what conditions would a re-identification be conceivable?)
-	Remedial measures and safety precautions

13.	Grant proposal or a draft thereof. If applicable, request from a third-party funding organization to provide ethical review

14.	Statement as to whether the review has already been applied for at another body

15.	Statement that the ethics guideline of the Institute of Psychology is known (see document “Ethik-Richtlinie” on the website of the ethics committee)

16.	Statement that the current declaration of the World Medical Association of Helsinki is known (see document on the website of the ethics committee) and that the project was planned in accordance with the guidelines of this declaration