All in person testing can now be resumed, as long as safety procedures in the PaLS TSOP document are followed. It is likely that the resumption of in person studies will require either a new ethics application, or an ethics amendment, to ensure that the procedures identified in the TSOP, can be implemented within the experimental study. There is no need for approval from your HoD/HoRD.
Key elements to the resumption of off site, in person research activity are the completion of a risk assessment via RiskNET.
Off site testing
Researchers wishing to resume in person testing with human participants under Covid-19 restrictions outside of UCL premises should consult the framework here. Key elements to the resumption of off site, in person research activity are the completion of a risk assessment via RiskNet, and the subsequent approval of this through the current divisional procedures (i.e., first sent to your Head of Department with final approval from the Head of Division [i.e., the delegated authority mentioned in Section 7)*. Subsequently ethical approval should be sought, either via a divisional application (for low risk research), or via an application to the central UCL Research Ethics Committee.
[*Where a researcher (student or staff) is on an approved UCL placement, with the appropriate risk assessments in place, additional Head of Division/Department approval is not required for in person research, undertaken as part of the placement.]