Research ethics regulations and guidelines are incredibly important in protecting participants in human experiments. There are many examples of what can happen if these principles are not followed - the most well known being the Stanford Prison Experiment. This experiment aimed to test whether brutality displayed by prison guards was a result of their personalities or due to the prison environment itself by assigning prison guard and prisoner roles for participants. The experiment quickly dissolved into the emotional and physical abuse of the prisoner participants, but despite this, the lead researcher continued the experiment until the 6th day of the two week study where it was stopped.
Another example is the Tuskegee Syphilis Study where, in 1932, 399 African-American men were given syphilis to examine the long-term effects of the illness. While the cure for syphilis became commonly used in 1943, the participants were prevented from getting treatment and not told the true purpose of the study. The study ran for 40 years until it was exposed to the public. Minimal reparations were made and the men experienced painful symptoms and permanent damage from the untreated illness. ​

Both of these cases shaped the research ethics standards that exist today.

Course and Submission

Below is a link for the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2) online course. This course must be completed by any UT BIOME team that is collecting data beyond simple surveys or digital user experience testing. The course takes approximately three hours and will give you a certificate upon completion. Please submit your certificate to the link below. This certificate is valuable for your professional life as well - particularly if you will be applying to research positions in the future.
​Please note that this is an internal requirement for our projects. UT BIOME is required by the University of Toronto to undergo a thorough review process for any of our designs that have implications on actual individuals.