Obtaining a research ethics approval for PhD students’ dissertation project

PhD students who require research ethics approval for a project within their dissertation research must submit an application to the Faculty Research Support Committee via the research ethics authorisation platform (https://btk.elte.hu/research-ethics-authorisation), in collaboration with their supervisor. Since the research supervisor must be a scientifically qualified researcher (PhD, DSc, CSc), in the application the supervisor’s name should be indicated as the ‘applicant’ (question 1 at the platform) and the doctoral student’s name should appear as ‘additional researcher’ (question 8 at the platform).

Before preparing the materials for research ethics approval, we kindly ask students and their supervisors to consult the resources available on the homepage (accessible through the same platform) of the Faculty Research Support Committee.

We recommend starting with the Code of Research Ethics, a brief document outlining the fundamental ethical principles of research. After reviewing this document, students should proceed to the frequently updated FAQ (available here: Frequently Asked Questions_2025_04_11.pdf). Finally, the application form should be carefully reviewed and discussed with the supervisor (Application for Research Ethics Authorisation).

The homepage of the Faculty Research Support Committee also provides sample documents, including information sheets, consent forms, and data processing templates. We strongly encourage students to use these templates when preparing their submissions.

Since supervisors are directly responsible for the quality of the research forming the basis of their supervisees’ PhD dissertation, we recommend that students work closely with their supervisors throughout the research ethics approval process. After submission, the Committee will be communicating with the supervisor.

You can find more detailed information on research ethics in the ppt:

Procedures for students who entered the Programme in September 2025 or before:

• Students in their second year need to follow the regulations we have had so far within the Programme regarding applying for research ethics approval as part of the process of finalizing research proposals to be submitted for the comprehensive exam.
• Those students who have already passed the comprehensive exam and thus have already obtained research ethics approval within the programme (https://langped-old.elte.hu/documents/LangPedEAPResEthicsApprovalApplication.docx) can proceed with their work without having to submit a different application.
• Students who need a research ethics approval for a research project that was not included in their earlier research ethics application (obtained as part of the process of finalizing the research proposal for submission for the complex exam) should submit an application for research ethics approval  to the Faculty Research Support Committee, via their research ethics authorisation platform (https://btk.elte.hu/research-ethics-authorisation).
• Students who change any part of their data collection compared to what their accepted research proposal contains need to apply for research ethics approval for the new element(s) of the research from the Faculty Research Support Committee, via the platform indicated above.