AURA 

Access the Online Application: https://aura.uchicago.edu/ 

General Notes:

  • The application begins the same for all IRBs on campus
  • The application is a smart form used for all review types (review determinations, 118 determinations, ceding requests, exempt determinations, IRB review, etc.)
  • Communication occurs through the online system and email
  • Please see AURA IRB FAQ (updated 09.17.18) for guidance and general troubleshooting
  • Additional information about using AURA for IRB submissions is available on the AURA training webpage

New Applications:

Once you have determined that your project involves both “research” and “human subjects,” you will need to complete an application in AURA-IRB, the online submission website.

Researchers or students new to the University may have to request access to the AURA-IRB system by sending a message to the AURA help desk. Please include your name, department, University position, and CNET ID to AURA-Help@uchicago.edu and a member of the AURA team will contact you.  

Once you are a registered user in AURA, you may log in to the system to create a new study application or view protocol study application to which you have been given access. 

In addition to answering the application questions, the following items, when applicable, should accompany your AURA-IRB submission; documents can be uploaded and attached to your protocol directly in AURA-IRB:

  • Recruitment scripts, flyers, and other recruitment materials
  • Informed consent, parental permission, and child assent scripts or documents
  • Questionnaires, surveys, data collection forms, and/or interview questions or guides
  • Grant applications/proposals that support the research project
  • A description of the research procedures or interventions
  • Any data use agreements
  • Letters of support from research sites
  • Copies of any IRB approvals or agreements from other institutions that are collaborating on the research study

After all appropriate questions are answered in your application and all documents have been uploaded, the protocol will be ready for submission.

The Principal Investigator (PI) must endorse the submission in AURA before it is sent to the IRB Office for review. Once the PI has endorsed the submission, it will be submitted to the IRB’s inbox for processing. Please remember that under University of Chicago policy, students are not allowed to serve as the Principal Investigator on a human subjects research study. Thus, student researchers will forward the application to the PI for endorsement in the AURA system.