If you anticipate working with human subjects (research participants) within the next year, please review the IRB guidance decision tree to determine whether your project requires IRB approval. You should also confirm this with your PI and/or The Office for Protection of Human Subjects (OPHS). Remember that the IRB review process is designed to protect both research participants and researchers. 

• • Students who will be doing an IRB protocol should register for this IRB Fundamentals Workshop offered periodically through UC Berkeley's D-Lab and or review the workshop materials.

• • We also strongly encourage students doing an IRB protocol to consult with the OPHS office after having drafted an IRB protocol for their intended project (so they can run into all the questions that arise in practice, which usually don't come up when just thinking about it abstractly). IRB protocols can be drafted and saved in the eProtocol application portal. 

• • Students will also need to talk with their adviser in advance, because usually only faculty (not students) can be listed as the PI on the IRB protocol.

• • Students will also have to complete the required CITI training relevant to their research, as described here (for most students, the appropriate course should be titled "Group 2 Social and Behavioral Research Investigators - Basic Course"). Please Note: The IRB protocol will ask for evidence of course completion and it takes multiple days to complete this course so it is advisable to do the CITI training at least a week in advance.

• • It is also recommended that students take this 1 hour Human Subjects e-course training offered through UC Berkeley’s Research Administration Professional Development Program (RAPDP) as it is particularly useful for students that are working closely with their PI on grant funded research involving human subjects.