Meeting Dates & Agenda Submission Deadlines
The DU Institutional Review Board (IRB) meets once a month during the academic fall, winter, and spring quarters to review research project submissions that require full board review. These meetings are closed meetings at which the full convened IRB committee reviews and takes action on IRB applications. Attendance is by invitation only. Research projects that are classified as minimal risk and may be processed through an expedited or exempt review process do not have submission deadline requirements.
For New Projects, once submitted the status of the submission will reflect Pending Review until a Preliminary Review has been conducted. Preliminary reviews take approximately three weeks. If additional information is required, a Project Mail will be issued via IRBNet to your email. Once the study is approved, the IRB Approval Letter and IRB-approved documents will be available on IRBNet. You will be notified of the approval by a message sent automatically by IRBNet to your email.
For Amendments, the status of the submission will reflect Pending Review until a Preliminary Review has been conducted. Preliminary Reviews take approximately 7-10 business days. If additional information is required, a Project Mail will be issued via IRBNet to your email.
Please note that during periods of high volume, the review period may take longer than stated above. We appreciate your patience and will contact you with any questions.
When Would a Research Project Be Referred to the Full Board for Review?
If a research project is classified as more than minimal risk during the screening or pre-review process, the project will be assigned to full board review. A research project may also be referred to the full board even if the project is classified as minimal risk, at the discretion of the IRB Chair and the IRB professional staff. If an IRB application is referred for full board review, the Principal Investigator will be notified through IRBNet Project Mail.
How Does a Research Project Get Assigned to the Full Board Agenda?
Applications are placed on a meeting agenda only after the IRB professional staff have assessed them, to ensure that they are clear, complete, and contain all necessary information. This is called the screening or pre-review process. All full board review applications must be submitted by the agenda deadline date (approximately two weeks prior to each IRB meeting) to allow for sufficient time to conduct the pre-review process. Regulations also require all project materials to be provided to the IRB members at least five workdays in advance of the meeting. Applications that are submitted after the agenda deadline, are incomplete, or do not include all of the required forms, recruitment materials, surveys, or questionnaires to allow the IRB to conduct a thorough review of the proposed project, may be referred to the next IRB meeting agenda.