Hi All,
I'm in my third year of a PhD, which has involved making 6 ethics application. Each one has taken a long, long time to get returned to me for approval/changes. The university have differing guidance depending on where you look (a sign of how inconsistent/disorganised they are...) but guarantee a four week turnaround for PhD projects. I have a current application which has been awaiting review since June, and every time I chase it up they just extend the due date. I have had other applications which have taken months, and then if they've needed amending, another few months to have those approved.
So - I wanted to hear about whether anyone has made any official complaints or raised issues with their ethics boards? I've raised it with supervisors but there isn't much else they can do for me except add a bit more weight behind my concerns. There doesn't seem to be any official avenues at my University in which to go down to get it sorted.
Thank you!