Institutional Review Board

The Columbia College Chicago Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an interdisciplinary body of faculty and staff that reviews human and animal research projects from students and faculty. The goal of the IRB is to maintain ethical standards for research to ensure research subjects are protected from undue physical, emotional, and psychological risks. The IRB also reviews projects from unaffiliated researchers such as other colleges that plan to involve Columbia students or buildings.

Faculty should contact the IRB if they are: 

• Planning to conduct human subject research that is outside of classroom activities.
• Advising student researchers developing work for publication.
• Planning to recruit subjects for research they intend to publish.
• Planning to use student work in research for scholarly presentation or publication.
• In need of guidance on the principles of ethical human subject research.

Graduate students, advanced undergraduates and faculty submit research proposals on standardized forms available on the IRB website.