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Postgraduate Research Ethics Training

The ethics application form (question 10.2) asks about research ethics training that you have received. There are a number of options for completing research ethics training – for example, ethics workshops are run by the University Research Ethics Committee, or research ethics training may be completed online.

Applicants are required to provide evidence of research ethics training in order to receive an ethics clearance certificate. This is an NHREC requirement. Please provide details of research ethics training completed within the past 3 years. For main committee applications, applicants may complete one of the suggested courses detailed below, or some other training course. A certificate must be provided however.

For school level applications, students may complete one of the suggested courses detailed below or else provide details of ethical input as part of a research methodology course (but please indicate the course code, dates of attendance and give some detail about the course).

In the case of a waiver application, for school level applications training is strongly recommended but not required. However, a training certificate is required for waiver applications to the main committee.

Research ethics training at Wits

A research ethics training workshop entitled: ETHICS IN RESEARCH AND APPLYING FOR ETHICS CLEARANCE, is run throughout the year through the Postgraduate Affairs Office of the University.

Wits Ethics Training Workshops in 2026
  • Tuesday, 27 January | 0900 - 1300
  • Tuesday, 24 February | 1300 - 1700
  • Wednesday, 25 March | 0900 - 1300
  • Thursday, 23 April | 0900 - 1300
  • Wednesday, 20 May | 1300 - 1700
  • Tuesday, 23 June | 0900 - 1300
  • Wednesday, 29 July | 1300 - 1700
  • Wednesday, 26 August | 1300 - 1700
  • Tuesday, 22 September | 0900 - 1300
  • Tuesday, 27 October | 1300 - 1700
  • Wednesday, 18 November | 0900 - 1300

This workshop has two components. PART 1 (3 hours) comprises formal training on research ethics, with a particular emphasis on social science research. This training is content based. There is a formal written assignment following this workshop. Successful completion of this assignment will allow participants to receive a Certificate of Competence in Research Ethics.

PART 2 (1 hour) describes how to apply for ethics clearance to the University Research Ethics Committee (Non-Medical) or to school ethics committees. This workshop will be relevant to Honours, Masters, PhD students as well as staff dealing with human subjects in their research projects.

This workshop will be run online on MS Teams. RSVP to Mokgaetsi Madubanya at mokgaetsi.madubanya@wits.ac.za

Macquarie University

This is an online ethics training resource. It is more suited to humanities and social science projects.

  • Ethics training can be completed free of charge on the website - https://ethicstraining.mq.edu.au/ 
  • You will need to register on the system to complete the course.
  • It takes an estimated 2-3 hours to complete the module.
  • There is a quiz at the end of each section with MCQ questions. If you fail one section, you may take the quiz in that section again, but you can only do so after 24 hours. You must correctly answer 2/3 of the questions in each section to pass that section.
  • After all sections have been passed, you can print a certificate for the ethics training.
TRREE (Training and Resources in Research Ethics Evaluation)
  • This is an online ethics training resource.
  • Ethics training can be completed free of charge on the TRREE website - https://elearning.trree.org/ 
  • You only need to complete Module 1 (EN): Introduction to Research Ethics.
  • You will need to register on the system to complete the training.
  • You can download the notes for reading later.
  • It takes 2-3 hours to complete the module.
  • There is a quiz at the end of module with MCQ questions; you must obtain at least 70% at the first try.
  • To obtain a certificate after completion of Module 1: while logged in, return to the home screen and click on Module 1 (EN) again; the system will open up a page with objectives for the module; scroll down and you should find your certificate under the heading 'Training Material'.
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