Regulatory Requirements

Live Animals

MSU policy requires that the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) review every project involving living vertebrates for appropriateness before the use of these animals begins. Principal investigators or project directors must obtain approval from the IACUC before initiating any research, testing, or institutional project involving the use of vertebrate animals. Graduate students whose thesis or dissertation includes research involving vertebrate animals must provide the Graduate School with the approval number and a copy of the IACUC approval letter. (Appendix A-11 of the Department of Animal Science Graduate Student Handbook)

For more information on proper procedures for conducting research on animals at MSU please refer to the IACUC website.

Human Subjects

As with the use of animals, prior to the activity beginning, any use of human subjects in research, which includes surveys and telephone interviews, must be approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), which, at Michigan State University, is the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP). Graduate students whose thesis/dissertation includes research involving human subjects must provide the Graduate School with the approval number and a copy of the IRB approval letter. (Appendix A-11 of the Department of Animal Science Graduate Student Handbook)

For more information on proper procedure for conducting research (including surveys) using human subjects please refer to the HRPP website.

Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR)

All respected graduate programs address aspects of responsible and ethical conduct of research and scholarly/creative activities in their curricula. To reinforce this, some funding agencies are requiring appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research for all students and postdoctoral researchers. The Animal Science Department has a plan in place to meet this expectation. Please review the RECR Plan on The Graduate School website and also The Graduate School Research Integrity site.

Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RCR) guidelines (pdf)