Submission Windows (for validation and DPO review)
Each Submission Window is approx 8 weeks before a meeting
Submit for validation in the time windows which are listed below
25th April 2025 - 2nd May 2025 - 8 week lead in to June 20th mtg
no submission window in May - no meeting in July
20th June 2025 - 27th June 2025 - 8 week lead in to August 22nd mtg - Please note DPO on leave during this window, back circa 18th July - August meeting is dependent on DPO capacity between 21st July - 8th August
No submission window in July - office closed 21st July - 8th August
15th Aug 2025 - 22nd August 2025 - 8 week lead in to October 17th mtg
19th Sept 2025 - 26th Sept 2025 - 8 week lead in to November 21st mtg
17th Oct 2025 - 24th Oct 2025 - 8 week lead in to December 19th mtg
21st Nov 2025 - 28th Nov 2025 - 8 week lead in to January 23rd mtg
You may submit early in advance of submission windows if you would like to give yourself a longer lead in ahead of a particular meeting.
If your study involves RCSI, you must engage with the RCSI Sponsorship Office at least two weeks in advance of these time windows - to allow RCSI sufficient time to conduct its assessments - you must wait until RCSI assessments are complete before you submit to the ethics committee.
If you are conducting the study for the purposes of obtaining an academic qualification in a university other than RCSI, please seek advice from the university Data Protection Officer (DPO) - in relation to data controllers, data processors and contracts - before you submit to the ethics committee.
Any Public Patient Involvement should take place before applying to a research ethics committee.
Validation is an iterative process to ensure the study documents are of sufficient standard before they are assessed by the hospital DPO.
DPO review is an iterative process to ensure compliance with the data protection legislation before the study undergoes research ethics review.
Please ensure you are available and contactable by email when your study is undergoing validation and data protection review - validation and data protection review takes place over a 6 week period
Valid submissions which have been reviewed by the DPO are scheduled for research ethics committee review. Submissions are sent out to the committee members two weeks ahead of a scheduled meeting.
Research Ethics Committee Meeting Dates
Meetings will take place subject to demand on:
24 January 2025
14 February 2025
21 March 2025
11 April 2025
23 May 2025
20 June 2025
no meeting planned in July
22 August 2025
no meeting planned for September - 19 Sept if August meeting does not go ahead
17 October 2025
21 November 2025
19 December 2025
23 January 2026
SOP - steps which are followed from validation to sign off
See Short SOP for Investigators conducting Research and Clinical Trials in Beaumont Hospital and applying to Beaumont REC
Please note that research ethics committee approval is one of several approvals required to conduct a research study.
While a researcher conducting a simple single site study with no third party involvement can receive all the necessary approvals within 3 months, most research studies involve third parties and require contracts with the hospital and take between 6 and 12 months to receive all approvals. Complex studies with multiple sites, multiple third parties or international third parties can take longer however.
For an idea of timelines, see
see also site sign off process.
