This online course is taught over 2 consecutive days. All sessions are live and are a mix of lectures, interactive practical sessions and Q&A sessions.

By the end of the course you will have acquired:

1. an understanding of all aspects research governance and knowledge of the processes involved;
2. knowledge of your research governance responsibilities;
3. the skills to think through the ethical issues that might arise in your research; and
4. the knowledge and skills to provide research participants with the information that they need to make an informed decision about consent to participate in your research study.

This is an introductory course aimed at those who are new to health research, and is not designed for those already experienced in this field who may have specific, complex queries.

This course will cover:

1. What do we mean by research governance?
2. Who is responsible for research governance?
3. When in the research process should you start thinking about it?
4. Where can you get help and advice?

This course is taught by Dr Lucy Culliford, Dr Sarah Baos and Dr Jo Worthinhton.

Before booking this course, please make sure you read the information provided above about the target audience. It is important that you have access to the relevant IT resources needed for the course to ensure you can get the most from the course.

Bookings are taken via our online booking system, for which you must register an account. To check if you are eligible for free or discounted courses please see our fees and voucher packs page. All bookings are subject to our terms & conditions, which can be read in full here.

For help and support with booking a course refer to our booking information page, FAQs or feel free to contact us directly. For available payment options please see: How to pay your short course fees.

Participants are granted access to our virtual learning platform (Blackboard) 1 to 2 weeks in advance of the course. This allows time for any pre-course work to be completed and to familiarise with the platform.

To gain the most from the course, we recommend that you attend in full and participate in all interactive components. We endeavour to record all live lecture sessions and upload these to the online learning environment within 24 hours. This allows course participants to review these sessions at leisure and revisit them multiple times. Please note that we do not record breakout sessions.

All course participants retain access to the online learning materials and recordings for 3 months after the course. 

University of Bristol staff and postgraduate students who do not wish to attend the full course may instead register for access to the 'Materials & Recordings' version of this course: Further information and bookings.

80% of attendees recommend this course*.
*Attendee feedback from 2024.

Here is a sample of feedback from the last run of the course:

"The course had a great range of speakers who were very experienced in their line of work, which was very useful and provided a significant insight” - Course feedback, April 2024.

"As someone brand new to clinical trials I think I will use a lot of this knowledge going forward. While I had picked up a lot of it through my first month of work, it was nice to have a course that confirmed everything I have learnt” - Course feedback, April 2024.

"I found it is really useful to see what can be improved from first version to the last version of PILs” - Course feedback, April 2024.

"I liked how much content the course covered and that it signposted useful links and resources we could access in future” - Course feedback, April 2024.

"I have learned some tips which will be useful for my ethics application” - Course feedback, April 2024.

"I have a better understanding of the process of setting up a study, which approvals are needed and why etc. This was very insightful as a member of staff who is new to research roles” - Course feedback, April 2024.

"The interactive practical sessions were really good and engaging. Mentimeter was great!” - Course feedback, April 2024.

"I liked the format of the practicals and that the content covered research governance across the whole length of RCTs” - Course feedback, April 2024.

"Lots of opportunity to ask questions about the lectures” - Course feedback, April 2024.