Formerly known as the Departmental Research Ethics Officer (DREO), the role has been revised and renamed to better reflect the increasingly important relationship between research ethics and research integrity, and to align with developments across the higher education sector.
The change recognises the valuable contribution that DREOs have already been making in supporting good research practice within their departments, while providing a clearer and more visible focus on research integrity, research culture and responsible research.
What is a Local Research Integrity Champion?
Each department or school has a designated Local Research Integrity Champion (LRIC) who acts as a local source of expertise and support for research ethics and integrity. LRICs play an important role in:
- Supporting ethical and responsible research practice
- Providing advice and guidance on research ethics and integrity matters
- Promoting awareness of good research practice amongst staff and students
- Sharing emerging issues, challenges and examples of good practice
- Acting as a link between departments and the University's research governance, ethics, and integrity functions
LRICs help to foster a positive research culture and support staff and students in conducting high-quality, trustworthy research.
Why has the role changed?
The update reflects an evolution of the existing DREO role rather than a fundamental change in responsibilities. Many DREOs were already providing advice and leadership on broader research integrity matters alongside their ethics responsibilities. The revised role formally recognises this contribution and brings research ethics and integrity into a more clearly aligned function.
The change also reflects increasing expectations from funders, regulators and the wider research sector regarding research culture, transparency and responsible research practices.
What does this mean for staff and students?
The support available within departments remains unchanged, and staff and students should continue to seek advice on research ethics and integrity matters through their local departmental contact. Some departments have a new LRIC taking on the role – please see the full list of contacts here.
Over the coming months, we will be updating University webpages, the Ethics@Bath system, guidance, training materials and communications to reflect the new role title. During this transition period, you may still see references to the DREO role in some places while these updates are completed.
We appreciate your patience as we make these changes and look forward to working with our new network of Local Research Integrity Champions to continue strengthening research ethics and integrity across the University.
Further information
Further information about research ethics and research integrity at the University can be found on the Research Ethics and Integrity webpages. If you have any questions, please contact the Research Policy, Governance and Integrity team.