Keele Training on Research Ethics

PEAK is the country's largest provider of training in Research Ethics. Our training draws on our experience of teaching postgraduate courses in Medical Ethics and other areas of Professional Ethics for more than 20 years.

Since 2002 we have run training courses for (nearly!) every OREC area in England, as well as Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. More recently we have provided training to over 40 universities in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

We have received excellent feedback about both the course content and the trainers' expertise in their subject area. Many of our clients regularly invite us back to run follow-on courses or to train new cohorts of committee members.

If you do not know anyone who is familiar with our training and would like to speak to one of our clients, please contact us and we will be happy to try to put you in touch with someone.

Our training sessions are conducted by staff whose research interests cover a wide range of subjects including: research ethics, the ethics of biotechnology; commercial exploitation of the human body; the concept of eugenics; public health ethics; ethics and children; ethics and mental health; ethics and addiction; ethics of intellectual property; ethics of risk; and the ethics of resource allocation.

All of our training courses use a lively and interactive 'seminar' style, rather than the more usual 'lecture' style. We make extensive use of case studies and small and large group discussions, encouraging participation from all delegates whenever possible. The discussion surrounding these case studies gives committee members practice at working together in a relaxed setting, where both new and experienced committee members can contribute to the learning environment by applying new theory and discussing a broad range of ethical issues. Our training style has been developed over two decades of running MA courses in ethics for healthcare and medical professionals, and has proved to be very popular indeed. Extensive handouts are supplied to accompany each session, which not only summarise the content, but also contain suggestions for further reading and discussion.

We run courses here at Keele several times a year for both University and NHS research ethics committees. However, the vast majority of our training is run in-house. Not only is this more convenient for those attending; it also offers very good value for money. We estimate that if there are more than ten people requiring training, it is very likely to be cheaper for us to come to you than to send all ten to a training course at Keele or elsewhere.

Further details and costs of our in-house training provision are available as a PDF file.

Details of our available in-house training courses are given below.

We can also offer guidance on obtaining non-clinical CPD points for in-house training events.

We can, by special arrangement, tailor the programme to meet your committee members' particular needs or interests. For example, we have run a course on Ethical Issues in Qualitative and in Student Research, and a similar course focusing wholly on qualitative research, as a special event for committees whose members who have particular concerns about ethical oversight of these kinds of research. For further information including costs of tailored training provision please contact us.

AREC Special for 09-10

For the 2009-2010 academic year PEAK are offering a discount to members of the Association of Research Ethics Committees (AREC).

If you book an in-house training for your committee and let us know that your committee is a member of AREC you will get a £100 discount booking a one day training, and a further £50 off each subsequent day booked. Meaning the costs will be:

One day £2,900.00
Two days total £5,450.00
Three days total £7,300.00

For committee members attending training courses at Keele a £10 discount per person per day is available, reducing the one day cost to £195, £360 for the two day course and £535 for the three day course.

Research Ethics Training Programmes

Programmes for Higher Education Institutions

Introduction to Research Ethics in a Higher Education Context is a two-day course intended for anyone with a professional interest in issues related to research ethics in universities, including committee members, research office administrators, and academics. It can be booked as a continuous two-day course or as two separate events.

Day 1 is suitable for new members or those who have experience but little formal training in ethics. The course covers the types of ethical issues that arise during research, ethical issues in different types of research (e.g. qualitative methods) with a particular focus on student projects. As on all of our courses, sessions will be lively and interactive and make extensive use of case studies and small group discussions.

Day 2 is suitable for people who have taken day 1, or our previous one-day course.

Challenges for Research Ethics Committees in a Higher Education Context is a new course covering advanced issues in research ethics in a higher education context. It is intended for experienced committee members, or anyone with a serious interest in the work of research ethics committees in the context of higher education. This course looks in greater detail at key concepts (such as consent), and also at ethical issues in particular areas of research, such as covert research, the role of assent in child research, international and inter-jurisdictional research and the end uses of research and the dual use problem.

Programmes for Medical and Health Care Research Ethics Committees

Initial and Continuing Training in Research Ethics is our main three day course, and is designed for new and for experienced health care/medical research ethics committee members (as well as administrators, advisors and medical researchers) who have not attended many training courses before. We can deliver this course over three consecutive days, or a day at a time.

Day 1 is suitable for new members or those who have experience but little formal training in ethics. It can also be run as a stand-alone day, and provides a good general overview of research ethics, including lots of case studies and discussion.

Days 2 and 3 expand on issues raised in day 1 by looking in greater depth at key issues of importance in research ethics. Day 2 focuses on consent in research ethics, while day 3 tackles issues relating to harm, risk and confidentiality.

Challenges for Research Ethics Committees is an advanced three day course for experienced health care/medical research ethics committee members (as well as administrators, advisors and medical researchers), or anyone with a serious interest in the work of research ethics committees. This course looks in greater detail at key concepts (such as consent), and also at ethical issues in particular areas of research. The timetable may be varied from time to time to take in current issues such as retained tissues, genetic research, xenotransplantation and 'sham surgery'. Again, this course can be delivered over three concsecutive days or a day at a time.

We run an online distance learning Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma/MA course in Research Ethics.This is the most relevant academic course in the UK for members of research ethics committees.

We are extremely proud of our reputation as a provider of quality training for ethics committees and practitioners and hope that we can work with you in the future.