A Regulated Research Institution is defined as a professional research/teaching institution within an academic, commercial, medical, or government setting, but not in the home or school. Industrial Settings can include a car repair shop, a manufacturing company, or other alternate research site. Certain projects will require the use of an institutional laboratory. Some students work in an outside lab only to use special equipment while others may choose to work in an institutional setting to do advanced research Students are required to work in a Regulated Research Institution, under the direction of a Qualified Scientist or Designated Supervisor, when conducting projects that involve Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents that are designated as Biosafety Level 2. Some projects involving humans or vertebrate animals will also require the use of an institutional laboratory. Please see the rules regarding your particular area of research for further details. Projects
which, according to the Intel ISEF rules, must be conducted in a Regulated
Research Institution must also be approved in advance by the appropriate review board at that
institution. Written documentation of this approval must accompany
the Synopsis when it is submitted for competition. In many cases, the director of a laboratory has been granted a blanket approval (sometimes called a "Memorandum of Understanding") for the work that is done in that lab. In other cases, a particular project in a lab has been approved by an institution review board and a student is working on a particular part of that project. In either case, a copy of the letter to the lab director must accompany the Synopsis when it is submitted in February. If either of these documents is not available, then the student must submit the Research Plan to the Fair SRC/IRB for approval before starting the experiment. This may entail obtaining SRC approval in May or June if the student is planning to work in the lab over the summer. All students using a laboratory outside of the school setting must submit the Regulated Research Institutional/Industrial Setting Form (Form 1C) with their Synopsis. This form is the only form that is filled out AFTER the student completes the experiment. |
8/23/07 |