Ethical Review Board, Tribhuvan University

Tribhuvan University (TU) embraces ethics as a core component of research. In order to uphold ethical standards and ensure integrity in all research endeavors conducted in TU, the university has formulated the Research Ethics Review Operational Procedure (अनुसन्धान आचरण समीक्षा कार्यविधि-२०७८), which was officially endorsed by the TU Executive Council in 2078 BS. Furthermore, TU has established an Ethical Review Board (ERB) (अनुसन्धान आचरण समीक्षा वोर्ड) in 2079 BS following the provisions outlined in the operational procedure. ERB-TU is established under the Office of the Rector of TU and has its secretariat in the Research Directorate.

Members of ERB-TU

Who Needs to Obtain Ethical Clearance?

Review Process

Application Requirements

Research Proposal Format

How to Apply?

Application and Review Fees

Tracking the Status of Your Application

Members of ERB-TU

ERB-TU comprises of seven members appointed by the TU Executive Council. The current board members are as follows:

Chairperson - Prof. Dr. Deepak Aryal, Central Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, TU
Member - Prof. Dr. Chitra Bahadur Budhathoki, Faculty of Education, TU
Member - Prof. Dr. Sushan Acharya, Central Department of Education, TU
Member - Prof. Dr. Mohan Raj Sharma, Institute of Medicine, TU
Member - Dr. Meghnath Dhimal, Nepal Health Research Council, Government of Nepal
Member - Ms. Shuva Laxmi Shakya, Deputy Mayor, Kirtipur Municipality
Member Secretary - Prof. Dr. Ishwar Koirala, Director, Research Directorate, TU

Who Needs to Obtain Ethical Clearance?

TU requires faculty members and students who wish to conduct research projects falling under the following categories to obtain ethical clearance from ERB-TU prior to commencing their research:

All research projects funded by the Office of the Rector, TU, including the projects awarded under the categories of national priority area research, innovative research grants, and excellence research grants
Collaborative research proposals involving TU faculty, students, or researchers, with a total research budget exceeding NPR 5 million.

Research projects conducted in TU that do not fall into the above categories should obtain ethical permission, when necessary, from the Ethical Review Committee (ERC) of the Dean's Office relevant to the subject of the research.

Review Process

Upon receipt of the application, an initial screening is conducted to ensure the completeness of the submitted documents. A detailed technical screening will be carried out at the secretariat level within 15 working days from the day of the receipt of the application. Based on this screening, ERB decides on one of the following three routes for further processes (see Figure 1):

Exempted review: Research proposals that pose no potential risks to participants may qualify for exempted review. Examples of such proposals include systematic reviews and meta-analyses, research proposals solely based on secondary data, and research activities that are planned to be conducted in natural and commonly accepted educational settings.
Expedited Review: Research proposals involving low or minimal risks and not involving vulnerable populations may qualify for the expedited review. Research proposals based on non-invasive sampling techniques, studies that do not require biological samples, descriptive studies, observational studies, and research proposals based on unpublished secondary data might fall under this category.
Full Review: A full review is conducted for research proposals that involve invasive sampling techniques and procedures that may cause physical and mental harm to research participants, as well as those involving vulnerable and disadvantaged populations and minors. Proposals requiring biological samples, experimental research proposals, action research proposals, collaborative research proposals, archival resource-based research proposals, and any other research proposals that do not fall under the category of exempted and expedited review categories undergo a full review process.

Following the expedited or full review by subject experts, ERB may decide on one of the following outcomes:

Approved as Submitted: In this case, the applicant may proceed with the proposed research without any revisions.
Conditionally Approved with Revisions: The applicant is required to address the review comments and revise the proposal accordingly. The revised proposal must then be resubmitted to the ERB secretariat for reevaluation. The ERB may approve the revised proposal if the revisions are deemed satisfactory.
Disapproved: The applicant is not permitted to proceed with the proposed research proposal due to significant ethical concerns.

Figure 1. Ethical Review Process Flow Chart

Application Requirements

An applicant seeking ethical clearance from ERB-TU should prepare the following documents in the prescribed format:

Application form (download here); please fill in the required information in the form fields, print and sign the form; do not handwrite on this form (except signatures)
Cover letter addressed to ERB-TU; please note that the letter must be signed by the PI (mandatory)
Research proposal in the prescribed format (mandatory); do not include any identifying information about the research team members in the proposal
Information and informed consent form (mandatory if there are human subjects in the proposed research; in English and local language); do not include any identifying information about the research team members in the proposal
Research instruments (if applicable); do not include any identifying information about the research team members in the proposal
Approval letters from relevant institutions (if applicable)
MoU/Agreements (if applicable)
License/permission to use copy-righted research tools (if applicable)
CV of PI and Co-investigators (mandatory)
Declaration of conflict of interest (mandatory); download a template here
Proof of the payment of the application fee; please note that the receipt must have the full name of the applicant (PI) (mandatory)
Proof of degree enrollment for Ph.D., M. Phil., and Master's research proposal
Other relevant documents (if any)

IMPORTANT: All required documents must be submitted in both print and electronic (MS Word for the proposal and MS Word or PDF for other documents) formats. The research proposal should not contain any identifying information about the research team/members.

Research Proposal Format

The research proposal should include the following components:

Proposal title
Summary of the proposal
Background/context of the research
Aims/objectives/research questions/hypothesis
Literature review
Conceptual/theoretical framework
Methods: approach, design, sample / research participants, methods of data collection, data analysis procedure
Data management and storage
Expected outcomes
Ethical considerations (risks, benefits, consent taking, approval, etc.)
Research plan and budget

IMPORTANT: ERB-TU adopts a double-anonymized review policy. Therefore, please do not include any identifying information about the research team members in the proposal.

How to Apply?

The applicant should prepare and submit all required and relevant documents in both printed and electronic formats. The printed copies of the documents should be submitted in person to the ERB secretariat. Upon verifying the completeness of the documents, the ERB secretariat will assign a unique application number for future correspondence pertaining to the application. The applicant may submit electronic copies of the documents either via email (erb@tu.edu.np) or in person to the ERB secretariat. When submitting electronic copies via email, it is important to mention the application number provided by the ERB secretariat in the subject line (e.g., ERB Application No. 2079-001). We also suggest applicants use a logical file naming system for clarity (e.g., proposal_2079-001, application_form_2079-001, CV_PI_2079-001, etc.). The accepted file formats for electronic copies of documents other than the proposal are MS Word and PDF. The research proposal must be submitted in MS Word file format (PDF not accepted).

Figure 2. Flow Chart of the Application Process

Application and Review Fees

An applicant willing to obtain ethical approval from ERB-TU must pay application and review fees as mentioned below (see Figure 3):

An application fee of NPR 2,000.00- should be paid to TU at the time of initial submission (no application will be accepted without presenting the proof of the payment)
If ERB decides to approve the proposal, the applicant should pay a review and processing fee equal to 1% of the total research budget to TU (approval letter will be issued after presenting the proof of the payment); please note that this amount (1% of the research budget) should be paid only AFTER the proposal is reviewed and approved.
The review fee amount is NPR 2,000.00 for a Ph.D. research proposal and NPR 1,000.00 for M. Phil. and Master's research proposals.

All fees related to the ethical review processes should be deposited in the bank account of TU Central Office maintained at the Kirtipur branch of Nepal Bank Limited (account details are provided below). The bank voucher of the deposit should be presented at the Central Account Office of TU. The Account Office will provide a receipt (indicating "ERB review fee") that should be presented at the ERB secretariat while submitting the application.
Account name: Tribhuvan University Central OfficeAccount number: 04500100098976000001Bank and branch name: Nepal Bank Limited, Kirtipur
Please deposit the fee in the above bank account of TU at the Kirtipur branch of Nepal Bank Limited.
IMPORTANT: The fee payment receipt should be issued in the name of the applicant (PI). Therefore, when collecting the receipt from the Account Office, please verify that it includes the full name of the applicant (PI). The applicant may submit either the original or a photocopy of the receipt to the ERB secretariat. In either case, the original receipt must also be presented to the ERB secretariat.

Figure 3. Application and Review Fees for Different Proposal Categories

Tracking the Status of Your Application

Once the initial screening is completed, the ERB secretariat will send you a unique URL by email for tracking the status of your application.

For more details, please visit ERB-TU secretariat.

Contact Us

Tribhuvan University, Office of the Rector, Research DirectorateEthical Review BoardKirtipur, Kathmandu, NepalEmail: erb@tu.edu.npWebsite: https://sites.google.com/view/erbtuPhone: +977-1-4331867View Location Map

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