The Research, Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation department is the primary contact for researchers.

Researchers are encouraged to engage relevant officers of the National Blood Service at the research proposal development stage. This should be done via the Research Office, which will assist with access to the relevant officers.

This applies particularly to research that seeks access to many facilities or persons and/or contact with a facility over a prolonged period of time, and that will have a significant impact on operations of the facility or persons.

To undertake any research or project, researchers must submit the following to the Research Office for approval;

1. Project Protocol/Proposal
2. Participant’s information sheet and consent form
3. Ethical Clearance or evidence of seeking ethical clearance
4. Data Collection Tool(s)

Following submission of the above:

• The Research Office records the submitted plan into a database and forward it for review
• Any queries and comments by the reviewer(s) will be forwarded to the researcher for his/her response. All responses will be sent back to the Research Office.
• Once the reviewers’ comments have been satisfactorily addressed, the reviewers have indicated their acceptance, and the proposed facilities/units have also indicated the capacity to accommodate the researcher, an approval letter will be issued by the Research Office.

Note: Researchers may only proceed with research once an approval letter has been received from the Research Office.

Researchers are supposed to register all their proposed studies with the Research Office. This can be done via the on-line portal by following this link or by downloading, completing and submitting the application form. Researchers are also required to pay a registration charge to get their research proposals reviewed and registered.

For non-clinical trial research or projects that have received significant funding, researchers are required to pay an administrative charge, which is a percentage of the funding in order to be allowed to undertake their proposed research/projects. This will be done into a designated account approved by the Research Office and proof of payment attached to the registration form.

As part of the approval process, researchers may be requested to deliver a brief presentation of their research proposal to relevant officers of the NBS. This applies to pilot studies as well, which are regarded as part of a formal study.