Research ethics committee

Below you will find information relating to the Research Ethics Committee. For guidance on the research ethics review process, please visit the research ethics policy and procedures webpage.
Please note that applications for ethics approval are reviewed electronically as and when they are received - they do not need to wait until a meeting of the Committee.

The LSE Research Ethics Committee has U.S. Department of Health and Human Services IORG status (IRB00004908, and Federal Wide Assurance FWA00025801).

The Research Ethics Committee is currently recruiting for two MPhil/PhD students to assist the Committee for 2024-25. Please see the advert (pdf) for details. Closing date is 9th September.

Schedule of meetings 2024-25

Please note that applications for ethics approval are reviewed electronically as and when they are received - they do not need to wait until a meeting of the Committee.

Weds 30 October 2024, 12:00 - 14:00 pm, room VAR

Thur 20 February 2025, 14:00 - 16:00 pm, room SAL B.07

Weds 11 June 2025, 14:30 - 16:30 pm, room SAL B.07

REC review time-frame

Applications are reviewed as and when they are received - they do not need to wait until a meeting of the Committee. All researchers must ensure that they have ethics approval before they commence any data collection. The following timeframes are given as a guide:

The Committee aims to review applciations and send initial feedback to the researcher within two weeks of receiving the application. (Students need to allow time for review by the supervisor first.) The researcher may then be asked to provide some additional details, clarification or amendments before approval can be confirmed. Thus researchers should typically allow four weeks for the REC review process. However, complex applications may require longer and/or further iterations with the researcher, and thus the review process could take up to 5-6 weeks.

Expedited review: where there is a genuine case for urgency due to circumstances which could not have been anticipated and which are outside of the researcher’s control (for example, in the case of fast-track funding to address global or national emergencies), the Research Ethics Committee will expedite the review process as quickly as possible; researchers should email to request this. Please do not expect, however, that urgency will pre-empt the full extent of the review process.

For further guidance, please visit the Research ethics policy, procedures and guidance webpage.

Membership 2024-25

Professor John Chalcraft, Chair (Government)

to 31 Aug 2025

Dr Cressida Auckland, Deputy Chair (Law)

to 31 Aug 2027

Dr Matthew Benson (Conflict and Civicness Research Group)

to 31 Aug 2027

Dr Daniel De Kadt (Methodology)

to 31 Aug 2027

Dr Yazan Doughan (Anthropology)

interim to Dec 2024

Dr Sara Evans-Lacko (Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, CPEC) [On research leave AT/WT]

to 31 July 2026

Dr Lucia Garcia-Lorenzo (Psychological and Behavioural Science)

to 31 Aug 2025

Dr Anna Getmansky (International Relations) [On research leave AT]

to 31 Aug 2028

Dr Julian Hopwood (Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa)

interim to Dec 2024

Dr Lucy Kanya (Health Policy)

to 31 Aug 2027

Dr Heather Kappes (Management)

to 31 Aug 2026

Dr Sohini Kar (International Development) 

to 31 Aug 2028

Dr Jens Madsen (Psychological and Behavioural Science) [On paternity leave AT]

to 31 Aug 2026

Dr Richard Perkins (Geography)

interim to Dec 2024

Dr Andrea Pia (Anthropology)

interim to Dec 2024

 Dr Federico Picinali (Law) [On sabbatical Jan-Dec 2025]

to 31 Aug 2027

Dr Jean-Christophe Plantin (Media & Communications)

to 31 Aug 2025

Dr Ronald Po (International History)

interim to Dec 2024

Dr Alison Powell (Media & Communications)

to 31 Aug 2027

Dr Eleanor Power (Methodology) [On sabbatical 2024-25]

to 31 Aug 2025

Dr Bert Provan, Acting Deputy Chair, AT/WT (CASE)

to 31 Aug 2026

Dr Aliya Rao (Methodology)

to 31 Aug 2028

Dr Sara Salem (Sociology) 

to 31 Aug 2025

Dr Romola Sanyal (Geography and Environment)

to 31 Aug 2027

Prof John Sidel (Government)

to 31 Aug 2027

Jenny Stevens (Lay member)

to 31 Jul 2025

Dr Mariya Stoilova  (Media & Communications)

to 31 Aug 2027

Dr Chana Teeger (Methodology)

interim to Dec 2024

Dr Siva Thambisetty, Deputy Chair (Law) [On research leave AT/WT]

to 31 Aug 2027

Dr Harry Walker (Anthropology)

to 31 Aug 2025

Dr Tengyao Wang (Statistics)

to 31 Aug 2026 

Saumyadeep Mandal (PhD, Media & Communications)

to 30 June 2025

Claudia Rodríguez Castallanos (PhD, International Development)

to 30 June 2025

Vacancy (Lay member)

 

Committee support:
Lyn Grove (Secretary / Senior Research Ethics Manager)
Myriam Fellous-Sigrist (Research Ethics Manager)

 

Terms of Reference

The Research Ethics Committee (REC) is a sub-committee of Research Committee. The current Terms of Reference of the REC can be found here.

Annual Reports

Contact

For any queries regarding the Research Ethics Committee, please contact Lyn Grove in the first instance.