The Ethics Committee (EC) was established in October 2016. It is chaired by the Rector, who appoints the majority of its members, among them a representative acting as the guarantor for the fulfillment of the Committee’s mission and whose tasks are to convene the recurring meetings and to discuss with the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Research topics pertaining to scientific research ethics.
The EC normally meets once a month and shall meet extraordinarily whenever the Rector, the guarantor, or one-third of its members deem it necessary. It promotes and reinforces the ethical values described in the Antonine University (UA) mission by ensuring their implementation within the different units in a contextualized form in relation to the disciplines taught. It also focuses on the research component, which is at the heart of UA’s mission, as it produces knowledge that is generally useful to society.
Moreover, specific knowledge acquisition may require the participation of individuals, whether for interviews, consultation of personal data, medical examinations, questionnaires, or observations within their environment. Therefore, UA undertakes to respect the dignity of the participants concerned and preserve their rights.
For this purpose, UA has developed standards to ensure that participants are treated according to the ethical principles of research, namely the respect for people and their privacy, as well as the preoccupation with human welfare, dignity, and justice. Additionally, the EC guarantees that intellectual property is respected at the University, especially when it comes to teaching duties and knowledge production. Furthermore, the EC, acting in its advisory capacity, may be consulted on ethics questions with regard to academic and administrative governance.
The Ethics Committee (EC) has the authority to:
- decide on requests that require ethical approval, notably the research projects involving human participants and carried out by UA faculty members, researchers, and/or students under the supervision of the deans and directors;
- decide on cases of plagiarism and scientific fraud;
- initiate and deepen reflections on the ethical aspects that arise from the practice of research with regard to its aims and consequences;
- propose ethical principles pertaining to research, teaching and administrative activities, individual behaviors, collective attitudes, and the functioning of the institutional bodies;
- draft or adopt charters and/or regulations on ethical issues;
- draw up an inventory of the current situation by collecting data on the implementation of ethical values in the different units;
- ensure that the values are incorporated into the research and teaching activities conducted by the faculties and research units;
- take steps to encourage the alignment of practices with the reference texts, knowing that the EC has the power to act on its own initiative in accordance with a procedure that shall be considered as a last resort;
- hold awareness sessions on ethics for faculty members, researchers, students, and administrative staff.
Composition of the Ethics Committee (EC)
- Fr. Michel Saghbiny, Rector
- Fr. Jean Al Alam, Guarantor
- Prof. Antoine El Samrani, Vice Rector for Research
- Fr. Antoine Abboud, Faculty of Theology
- Prof. Nidaa Abou Mrad, Faculty of Music and Musicology
- Dr. Gaby Moukarzel, Faculty of Public Health
- Dr. Zahi Chami, Faculty of Engineering
- Dr. Tania Abdallah, Antonine School of Business
- Dr. Huguette Abou Mrad, Language Center
- Dr. Joe Moukarzel, Faculty of Information and Communication
- Dr. Majed Moubarak, Faculty of Sport Sciences
Schedule of Meetings
The EC meetings for the academic year 2023–24 will be held as per the following schedule:
- Friday, October 27, 2023
- Friday, November 24, 2023
- Friday, December 15, 2023
- Friday, January 26, 2024
- Friday, February 23, 2024
- Friday, March 22, 2024
- Friday, April 26, 2024
- Friday, May 31, 2024
- Friday, June 21, 2024
- Friday, July 5, 2024
- Friday, July 19, 2024
Procedure for the Evaluation of Research Projects Involving Human Participants
The UA Ethics Committee (EC) decides on the applications for ethics approval of research projects undertaken by UA faculty members, researchers, and/or students and involving human participants. Thus, the projects that entail the involvement of participants must undergo an ethics assessment prior to the recruitment of participants, regardless of the mode of data collection, analysis, or the more or less invasive nature of the research. These projects are submitted to the EC and filed with the Vice Rector for Research (VRR) no later than six weeks before holding one of the meetings of the EC (noting that the annual calendar of meetings is published before the end of September of each year). The EC immediately communicates its decision to the requester through the VRR.
Steps of the Procedure
- Step 1: Students or researchers must fill in the e-form preliminary link in which they should add their name and select the language of the research.
- Step 2: Once the e-form is filled in, students or researchers will receive an email on their UA account that redirects them to the ethics e-form, noting that the e-form is only accessed with the UA email.
- Step 3: Students or researchers must fill in the ethics e-form and attach all the requested documents, noting that they have up to 30 days to edit the data before submitting it. It is advised for applicants to consult their supervisor while filling in the e-form.
- Step 4: After submitting the e-form, both applicant and supervisor will receive the submitted data via email.
- Step 5: The supervisor will also receive a “confirmation notification” (Power Automate) email from the Ethics Committee (EC) to confirm the information submitted.
- Step 6: Once the supervisor confirms the submitted information, a member of the EC studies the file and shares the report during the meeting of all the EC members.
- Step 7: Students or researchers and their supervisor will then receive the EC’s verdict. The request can either be approved, partially approved (some information should be amended or clarified), or rejected.
Downloadable Documents