General Information
All proposed research involving humans to be conducted by staff and students within the school must first be reviewed by the Melbourne Dental School Human Ethics Advisory Group (HEAG). A human ethics application is completed and submitted by the researchers to the HEAG via THEMIS and also via hard copy (see Submitting an Application).
The role of the HEAG is to conduct a technical and ethical review of a human ethics application before it is submitted to one of the Human Ethics Sub-committees (HESC). The HEAG will review the proposed research for adherence to guidelines, clear aims, feasibility, good design, justification, significance, risks and benefits.
Depending on the level of risk of the proposed research, the approval process can vary. The University’s Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) has granted the HEAG the authority to approve certain low-risk applications, however, all other applications must be submitted to the HESC (via the HEAG) after recommendation for approval by the HEAG has been granted.