Health & Medical Research Ethics Committee Member Position

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is seeking an person who performs a pastoral care role in a community (for example, an Aboriginal elder, or a minister of religion) to serve as a voluntary member of the Health & Medical Research Ethics Committee (UTS MREC).

The role of the UTS MREC is to undertake ethical and scientific review of research, to assess and minimise risk, balance risk with benefits and ensure research participants’ privacy, welfare and rights are fully protected. The MREC reviews health and medical research projects from across the University.

The Committee’s membership comprises a chairperson, external lay members, external professional care members, external lawyers, pastoral care members and experienced researchers encompassing the range of disciplines at UTS.

The UTS MREC meets on the second Thursday of the month, 11 times a year.

• Meetings start at 9:30 am and generally continue until 12: 30 pm. The Committee reviews approximately 10 applications per month.
• Each member of the Committee is assigned as a lead reviewer and/or secondary reviewer for about 1-2 applications.
• Each member receives an email which includes a link to the agenda, minutes from previous month’s meeting and a combined file of each application to be reviewed. Members are expected to complete all pre-reading and provide written feedback to the Secretariat for collation before the meeting. Preparations for the meeting usually takes between 4 and 5 hours a month.
• Members are appointed for an initial term of 1 year.

Submissions of Expressions of Interests

All submissions for expressions of interests must be emailed to research.ethics@uts.edu.au and must include the following documentation:

Cover letter: A letter addressing how you meet the requirements for the role, including the following points:

• Specify the membership category that you are expressing an interest in and outline the reason you are interested in becoming a member.
• Outline how your interests and/or your personal, professional or volunteering experience will assist you in carrying out your role as a member of the human research ethics committee.
• Confirm that you can accommodate the time commitment as a volunteer member of the committee and are willing to attend 80% of meetings
• Confirm you are prepared to undertake training opportunities related to your membership

Curriculum Vitae: A copy of your CV, including email, preferred telephone contact number, and names of two referees.