Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences header
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences

Faculty Research Ethics Committee (F-REC)

DCU Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty Research Ethics Committee (F-REC) is a faculty-specific committee that reviews and approves proposed research projects, based on their stated ethics practices and planning. It is analogous in some functions and procedures to the university level Research Ethics Committee (REC), but has a remit of review restricted to low-risk research.

The overall objective of the Faculty Research Ethics Committee is to encourage and facilitate research within DCU’s Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, ensuring that it is conducted with integrity, protecting the rights and respecting the welfare of human research participants, as well as researchers themselves. The committee draws on expertise from all schools of the Faculty, and externally, and develops its procedures, policies and forms to provide guidance and efficient review for Faculty research projects.

All DCU research projects must be conducted in accordance with the law and must meet acceptable ethical standards through a process of review, prior to commencement of the research. The F-REC operates in accordance with relevant national, international, and EU legislation; with the DCU Code of Good Research Practice and with the terms and conditions of research sponsors. DCU research ethics decision-making is guided by the SATORI Ethics Assessment Framework.

You can apply to F-REC for approval of a research project here

Committee Structure & Members

The F-REC comprises a Chair, appointed by the Dean and Associate Dean for Research, members representing the Faculty’s schools, and an external member. Each school has at least one representative, with larger schools having two. The Chair may additionally co-opt an additional member for specific subject matter expertise.

The full Terms of Reference for the operation of the HSS F-REC may be found here: F-REC ToRs v3.0 April 2024.pdf (PDF, Version 3.0, April 2024)

Current composition of the HSS F-REC:
Alan Kearns F-REC Chair, School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music
Kathleen Stokes School of History & Geography
Fiachra O’Brolchain School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music
Caitríona Ní Chléirchín Fiontar agus Scoil na Gaeilge
Mary Phelan SALIS
Weiming Liu SALIS
Danny Marks School of Law & Government
Janine Silga School of Law & Government
Jack Quin School of English
Jim Rogers School of Communications
Saumava Mitra School of Communications
Former committee members: