Research ethics

The Research Ethics Committee, a collegial body stemming from the Scientific Council established in May 2018 (Article 10, Rules of Procedure of the Scientific Council), comprises six members of the permanent scientific community, representing the six main disciplines at Sciences Po, in accordance with the principle of academic freedom, as well as the chair of the Ethics Committee of the FNSP and the IEP, one member from outside Sciences Po, and one member from outside the scientific community. The Scientific Director, the Scientific Integrity Officer, the Officer for Scientific Integrity and Research Ethics, and the Data Protection Officer are members without voting rights.

All members of the REC are subject to confidentiality and transparency obligations (declaration of ties and conflicts of interest).

List of members of the Research Ethics Committee (October 2025) in alphabetical order:

• Margherita Comola, Professor of Economics, University Paris-Saclay & Affiliate Professor, Paris School of Economics
• Achim Edelmann, Associate Professor, médialab
• Quitterie Gadret, Executive Director (Interim) of CERI (Center for International Research)
• Justine Knebelmann, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics
• Elissa Maïlander, Associate Professor, CHSP
• Alain Pottage, Professor, School of Law
• Frédéric Ramel, Professor, CERI
• Nicolas Sauger, Professor, CDSP

Members without voting rights include:

• Paul-André Rosental, Professor of History, Scientific Director of Sciences Po, Chairs of the Research Ethics Committee
• Emmanuel Lazega, Professor Emeritus in Sociology, Scientific Integrity Officer
• Marie Scot, Associate Professor at Sciences Po Paris and History Researcher, is responsible for scientific integrity and research ethics.
• Data Protection Officer.

The REC secretariat is managed by Inga Chelyadina,  ethique.recherche@sciencespo.fr

The REC can be contacted by any person undertaking a research project (from the doctoral level onwards) within the IEP and the FNSP, by the research division, by the data protection officer, by the scientific integrity officer, by the directors of research units and by any other direction of the IEP of Paris or the FNSP.

The person submitting the application sends an email to ethique.recherche@sciencespo.fr 

The principal investigator (PI) must include with the application their research proposal, the self-assessment questionnaire on ethical risks, and all documents relating to the conduct of the research (recruitment materials, information sheet, written consent form, oral consent script, anonymization or pseudonymization protocol, experiment script, questionnaire script, database structure, data security protocol (encryption), declaration to the institutional data processing register, data management plan, doctoral agreements (CIFRE, COFRA), internship agreements, partnership agreements, etc.).

The REC reviews research projects that have not applied for or obtained ethical certification from another ethics opinion or IRB, unless such new certification is duly justified or required. PIs are required to inform the REC of any submission to, or any opinion issued by, an ERC (or any equivalent body).

The request must be made before the start of the research, with sufficient time for its review. This is a reasonable period of three months, with the file to be finalized at least four weeks before the meeting. The REC may also be consulted on any new issue, any change in protocol, any new risk, or any incidental discovery that arises during the research project.

The Data Protection Officer will reach out to you prior to the plenary session to check how personal data processing is implemented.

Referral documents are available below:

• Self-assessment questionnaire on ethical risks
• Template: “information note”
• Template: “consent form”
• Modèle: “note d’information”
• Modèle: “formulaire de consentement”
• Modèle: “information des participants”

A minimum of 4 weeks from the date of receipt of the complete application is required before discussion of the demand during a session.

The 2025-2026 REC meeting schedule is available below:

• September 18, 2025
• October 23, 2025
• November 20, 2025
• December 18, 2025
• January 22, 2026
• February 19, 2026
• March 19, 2026
• April 16, 2026
• May 21, 2026
• June 25, 2026

• The REC Office verifies the admissibility of the submission.
• Two reviewers are appointed and carry out a preliminary review of the application.
• PI may be invited by the reviewer to further develop or clarify certain aspects of the project and to provide additional documents in order to ensure that the application is complete prior to committee review.
• The application is reviewed during a plenary meeting by all REC members (deliberation).
• In exceptional cases, the project lead may be invited to attend the meeting to exchange with REC members (hearing).
• The ethical review process concludes with a vote. The ethical opinion issued may be: favourable; favourable with recommendations (minor recommendations not requiring resubmission to the committee; major recommendations requiring resubmission); or unfavourable.
• The opinion is drafted and sent to the PI by the REC Secretariat. The recommendations are provided in a separate document.

PI undertakes to comply with the protocol submitted for REC review and approval and to follow the recommendations issued by the committee.

PI also undertakes to resubmit the project to the REC in the event of substantial modifications to the research protocol (e.g. new participants, new research settings, or new methodologies), or in the event of incidental findings or unexpected events arising during the course of the research.

The REC issues an ethical compliance opinion (favourable, favourable with recommendations, or unfavourable, as applicable).

This opinion is public and is communicated to the PI, who may share it with funding bodies, partners, publishers, journals, or any other parties upon request.

The Research Ethics Committee, a collegial body stemming from the Scientific Council established in May 2018 (Article 10, Rules of Procedure of the Scientific Council), comprises six members of the permanent scientific community, representing the six main disciplines at Sciences Po, in accordance with the principle of academic freedom, as well as the chair of the Ethics Committee of the FNSP and the IEP, one member from outside Sciences Po, and one member from outside the scientific community. The Scientific Director, the Scientific Integrity Officer, the Officer for Scientific Integrity and Research Ethics, and the Data Protection Officer are members without voting rights.

All members of the REC are subject to confidentiality and transparency obligations (declaration of ties and conflicts of interest).

List of members of the Research Ethics Committee (October 2025) in alphabetical order:

• Margherita Comola, Professor of Economics, University Paris-Saclay & Affiliate Professor, Paris School of Economics
• Achim Edelmann, Associate Professor, médialab
• Quitterie Gadret, Executive Director (Interim) of CERI (Center for International Research)
• Justine Knebelmann, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics
• Elissa Maïlander, Associate Professor, CHSP
• Alain Pottage, Professor, School of Law
• Frédéric Ramel, Professor, CERI
• Nicolas Sauger, Professor, CDSP

Members without voting rights include:

• Paul-André Rosental, Professor of History, Scientific Director of Sciences Po, Chairs of the Research Ethics Committee
• Emmanuel Lazega, Professor Emeritus in Sociology, Scientific Integrity Officer
• Marie Scot, Associate Professor at Sciences Po Paris and History Researcher, is responsible for scientific integrity and research ethics.
• Data Protection Officer.

The REC secretariat is managed by Inga Chelyadina, ethique.recherche@sciencespo.fr

The REC can be contacted by any person undertaking a research project (from the doctoral level onwards) within the IEP and the FNSP, by the research division, by the data protection officer, by the scientific integrity officer, by the directors of research units and by any other direction of the IEP of Paris or the FNSP.

PI as well as all members of the research team must follow an ethics training prior to submitting their project to the REC:

• CITI training
• NIH training
• FHI 360 curriculum

PI must have fulfilled, in advance, the legal obligations relating to the data processing activities to be implemented, in coordination with the data protection office of their host institution (registration in the institutional data processing register and opinion of the Data Protection Officer).

PI submits the application to the IRB prior to the start of the research and undertakes to provide annual and final project reports.

The person submitting the application sends an email to ethique.recherche@sciencespo.fr 

The principal investigator (PI) must include with the application their research proposal, the self-assessment questionnaire on ethical risks, and all documents relating to the conduct of the research (recruitment materials, information sheet, written consent form, oral consent script, anonymization or pseudonymization protocol, experiment script, questionnaire script, database structure, data security protocol (encryption), declaration to the institutional data processing register, data management plan, doctoral agreements (CIFRE, COFRA), internship agreements, partnership agreements, etc.).

The REC reviews research projects that have not applied for or obtained ethical certification from another ethics opinion or IRB, unless such new certification is duly justified or required. PIs are required to inform the REC of any submission to, or any opinion issued by, an ERC (or any equivalent body).

Research projects requiring IRB certification submitted by applicants external to Sciences Po must provide a DPO certificate issued by their host institution prior to submission to the IRB.

Submission must take place before the start of the research and within a timeframe sufficient to allow for review. As a general guideline, a period of three months should be allowed, with the application to be finalized at least four weeks prior to committee review.

Referral documents are available below:

• Self-assessment questionnaire on ethical risks
• Template: “information note”
• Template: “consent form”
• Modèle: “note d’information”
• Modèle: “formulaire de consentement”
• Modèle: “information des participants”

A minimum of 4 weeks from the date of receipt of the complete application is required before discussion of the demand during a session.

The 2025-2026 REC meeting schedule is available below:

• September 18, 2025
• October 23, 2025
• November 20, 2025
• December 18, 2025
• January 22, 2026
• February 19, 2026
• March 19, 2026
• April 16, 2026
• May 21, 2026
• June 25, 2026

• The IRB Office verifies the admissibility of the submission.
• Two reviewers are appointed and carry out a preliminary review of the application.
• PI may be invited by the reviewer to further develop or clarify certain aspects of the project and to provide additional documents in order to ensure that the application is complete prior to committee review.
• The application is reviewed during a plenary meeting by all REC members (deliberation).
• In exceptional cases, the project lead may be invited to attend the meeting to exchange with REC members (hearing).
• The ethical review process concludes with a vote. The ethical opinion issued may be: favourable; favourable with recommendations (minor recommendations not requiring resubmission to the committee; major recommendations requiring resubmission); or unfavourable.
• The opinion is drafted and sent to the PI by the REC Secretariat. The recommendations are provided in a separate document.

PI undertakes to comply with the protocol submitted for REC review and approval and to follow the recommendations issued by the committee.

Within the framework of IRB certification, the ethical opinion issued is valid for a period of one year and may be renewed. Annual monitoring is conducted, and a final report may be required where applicable.

PI undertakes to resubmit the project to the REC in the event of substantial modifications to the research team (addition of new members), to the research protocol (e.g. new participants, new research sites, or new methodologies), or in the event of incidental findings or unexpected events arising during the course of the research.

Protection des données

Research Data Management 

Guide données de la recherche

The REC of Sciences Po is part of the Fédération Française des CER (FF-CER).

Collège de déontologie de l’enseignement supérieur

COMETS, Comité d’éthique du CNRS

OFIS, Office français de l’intégrité scientifique

CNIL, Commission nationale informatique et libertés

ENRIO, Réseau européen pour l’éthique et l’intégrité de la recherche

EUREC, Réseau européen des comités d’éthique de la recherche

IRB, Institutional Review Board, Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), US Department of Health and Human Services