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Institutional Review Board (IRB): About

Contact the IRB

email icon Email us at irb@nu.edu    

 Visit the IRB Office Hours page

Mission of the IRB

The mission of the NU IRB is to support student success and nurture a university-wide ethical research culture that promotes the practice of robust research while protecting human participants.

The IRB values:

  • Communication and Collaboration
  • Student Support
  • Education and Growth

Do I need to submit to the IRB?

IRB review is required for all dissertation research and for any data collection that is intended for publication or to contribute to generalizable knowledge. In addition, all faculty research not focused on internal improvement requires IRB review.

IRB review is not required for student course projects and institutional research that are not designed to contribute to generalizable knowledge. The following types of institutional research do not require IRB review: internal research to evaluate institutional programs or determine institutional effectiveness, data collection and analysis for accreditation purposes, and reviews of course or instructor ratings. NU faculty and staff involved with designing course projects related to research are strongly encouraged to contact the IRB to verify that the projects will not require IRB oversight.