The Protection of Human Subjects Involved in Research

Federalwide Assurance (FWA) number: FWA00005565
IRB Registration number: IRB00000333

The primary purpose of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects involved in research activities being conducted under its authority. 

Research activities conducted by University of Chicago faculty, staff, and students that involve human subjects or their identifiable, private information or specimens must be determined exempt by an IRB office or reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). There are three IRB Offices at the University of Chicago: Social Services (SSA) IRB, the Biological Sciences (BSD) IRB, and Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS) IRB.

The SBS IRB serves all University of Chicago schools, divisions, and departments that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the BSD IRB or the SSA IRB. We review submissions from The College, Social Sciences, Humanities, Harris School, Booth School, the Law School, Graham School, Urban Labs, Toyota Technical Institute, Argonne, and more. The Board is made of up faculty, staff, and community members of varying disciplines and backgrounds (both scientific and non-scientific).

The SBS IRB office also provides ethical and regulatory educational sessions for classrooms, student groups, or research centers upon request. We also welcome individual appointments at our office location or, if needed, at other locations on campus.

For more information, access the Process or For Participants sections.