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UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA

OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR RESEARCH ETHICS (3 year contract): VACANCY NO. ORD 1/2012:

Duties: The successful candidate will develop the structure and management of the current system of research ethics protocol and approval for the University of Botswana, through formulation of policies and strategies where necessary, and documenting guidelines for researchers on how to secure ethical approval for their research at UB in accordance with the Botswana Government research permit system. Another key duty will be to develop a formal accredited training programme for staff, students and other stakeholders on research ethics.

Requirements: (i) Minimum Masters Degree in Bioethics or other relevant field. A doctorate would be an added advantage. (ii) At least three years successful and effective experience in development and administration of research ethics policy, in a University or equivalent organization.

Competencies: Personal integrity that places incumbent above conflict of interest and unethical conduct, high level of discretion in handling confidential information, efficiency in handling committee tasks, strong organisational and administrative skills; self motivated individual who works independently.

Remuneration: The University offers competitive salary and benefits. For more information on the University visit our website at: www.ub.bw
Applicants are to address the stated qualifications and, provide other information to assist the University to determine their suitability for the position. They should also quote the vacancy number of the post applied for, provide Current CV’s (including telephone, telefax and e-mail) certified true copies of educational certificates and transcripts as well as three references (including one from the current employer). Complete documentation should be sent to:

The Centre Administrator, Office of Research and Development, Private Bag UB 00708, Gaborone. Telephone (267) 355 2900; Fax (267) 395 7573. Online application forms may be accessed from www.ub.bw under “jobs” section. Applicants should inform their referees to: (i) Quote the vacancy number and position applied for and (ii) submit their references directly to the above address, before the stipulated closing date. E-mail: research@mopipi.ub.bw.

Hand delivered applications should be submitted to Office No. 150, CCE Block 243/150)

CLOSING DATE: Open until filled

The MARC project - Mapping of research ethics review and trial regulatory capacity in Africa - launched an online review platform for Research Ethics Committees: the Research for Health and Innovation Organiser (RHInnO) platform. The platform was demonstrated at the Forum 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa. The purpose of the platform is to facilitate an efficient ethical review clearance of clinical research involving human subjects.

International standards require that protocols of clinical research are reviewed by an independent research ethic committee (REC). However, many RECs in Africa lack the tools to coordinate efficiently the submission and review of protocols and timely communication to researchers. They face an increasing amount of paperwork. Resources and knowledge exchange are also limited.

RHInnO Ethics was created by the Web4Development team at the COHRED group. It aims to speed up the review process by improving efficiency. The system provides research ethics committees with a secure, web-based solution for tracking research applications throughout the entire life-cycle of the research project. This will improve control of research activities by the RECs and will contribute to safer management of submitted materials and minimize delays in communication within RECs and with researchers. Moreover, RHInnO will enable the committees to share standardised research regulation documents e.g. standard operating procedures and research review guidelines.

RHInnO takes away the complex process of creating paper-based data collection using a simple web application. The system offers a secure platform that allows users to enter and manage information about research projects and proposals, including principal investigator, reviewers, funding source, attachments, descriptions, comments and supporting documents. All available data is encrypted. Different interfaces are available, providing users access to specific information. Users can access a list of recent actions and alerts (e.g. the system will alert when a project is not complete, or when a new project has been submitted or approved). In addition, the system sends reminders to different user profiles (i.e. administrators, reviewers, researchers) to respond to pending requests promptly.

About MARC
The MARC project is an initiative funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), and implemented through collaboration between the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED) in Geneva, Switzerland and the South African Research Ethics Training Initiative (SARETI) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The MARC project (Mapping of ethics review and trial regulatory capacity in Africa) aims to develop an interactive and continuously updated map of Africa’s health research ethics committees (RECs) and to provide a web-based platform to increase contact and communication between these committees. A secondary objective is to map medicines regulatory authorities (MRAs) and facilitate a better contact between these authorities and research ethics review committees.www.researchethicsweb.org