Due to a new RCUK directive, applications involving animal research must contain a written declaration stating compliance with the ethics guidance provided below. This must be submitted to your existing application as a signed letter of support.
Since this is new guidance, we have received several applications for 18RM1 where this letter of support is absent, and we apologise that this information has not been effectively communicated to you. However, we will require this documentation in order to continue processing your application to send out for peer review. Applications without a completed animal usage form will be considered incomplete and will not be eligible for funding.
What is required:
You will need to write and sign a letter of support stating that your research involving animals will abide by this guidance. If you are using a protected species not considered to be an NC3R you are still required to submit a letter of support stating that you will comply with all statements below.
Below is guidance which can also be found on the BBSRC website.
If your project involves the use of animals, please read our guidance and submit a signed statement (uploaded as a Letter of Support to the Je-S application) from both UK and overseas PIs that:
1. They will adhere to all relevant national and local regulatory systems in the UK and overseas.
2. They will follow the guidelines laid out in the www.nc3rs.org.uk/responsibility-use-animals-bioscience-research document and ensure that work is carried out to UK standards.
3. Before initiation of the proposed research work, appropriate approvals from institutional and/or central animal ethics committees will be obtained for experimental protocols to be adopted in their projects. [Successful proposals may be expected to provide copies of these permissions before funding is released.]
4. Details where the animal research will take place (UK or overseas) and through which funder the resources are being sought.
If the research involves the use of rodents overseas rather than in the UK, please also complete the “Additional questions on the use of rodents overseas” form, and attach as a letter of support in Je-S.
This can be found by following the link below.
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/documents/overseasrodentuse-pdf/