The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Texas at Austin is responsible for reviewing all research conducted under the umbrella of UT Austin. The purpose of an IRB is to ensure research involving humans applies ethical principles and complies with federal requirements for protecting the rights and welfare of human participants. Human subjects research at UT Austin is guided by the ethical principles set forth in the Belmont Report (Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research).
All new human subjects research applications will be submitted in the new electronic submission system, UT Research Management Suite – IRB Module (UTRMS-IRB).
For instructions on how to submit a new application please visit this link.
It is a good idea to contact the IRB _before_ you submit your application to discuss any questions you have. You can contact the IRB in multiple ways:
Email: irb@austin.utexas.edu; you can email questions or set up a time for a Zoom appointment
Phone: 512-232-1543
Chat (with a live person, not a bot): every day, 9 to 4, from their website
Virtual office hours: Wednesdays 10 to 11 am via zoom (Zoom ID: 99072854072)
Within the IRB portal in UTRMS, there is an orange “Get help” button at the top of the screen—if you click on “Create a new study”, you will be promoted through the steps to create and submit a new application for IRB review. This can be helpful if you haven’t used the new system yet, haven’t submitted in a while, or if you have a grad student who is new to IRB submissions.
Be sure to download templates from https://research.utexas.edu/ors/human-subjects/submitting-to-irb/irb-submission-forms/ or by clicking on the Library tab within the UTRMS-IRB system. Do not use forms you have saved on your computer from previous submissions as they may have changed.
Inconsistency across materials is what causes the most delays in reviews, such as the consent form language not matching the protocol language. Be sure to read through all of your documents with an eye toward consistency before submission.
