NHH Institutional Review Board - IRB
Ethical review of research involving human participants at NHH and SNF.
The NHH Institutional Review Board (IRB) conducts ethical reviews of research protocols involving human participants and/or field workers before the project begins.
This differs from the work of the Research Ethics Committee, which assesses possible breaches of research ethics.
About NHH IRB
The purpose of the NHH IRB is to ensure that research conducted at NHH and SNF complies with established ethical standards and regulations.
All research must be conducted in accordance with:
- the Act relating to the organization of research ethics work (the Research Ethics Act)
- NESH’s Guidelines for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities
The IRB reviews research protocols before project start, with particular attention to:
- protection of participants
- informed consent
- confidentiality and privacy
- ethical treatment of field workers
- responsible data handling
When is IRB review necessary?
IRB review is not strictly mandatory for all research involving human participants at NHH.
However:
- All data collection at SFF FAIR involving human participants must be approved by the NHH IRB.
- Researchers are encouraged to seek review where there is ethical uncertainty.
In addition, an increasing number of leading academic journals and high-quality publications require or expect IRB approval for research involving human participants. For this reason, IRB review is strongly recommended for all relevant research conducted at NHH and SNF. IRB approval must be obtained before the project starts and cannot be granted retroactively.
Examples of relevant studies:
- surveys
- interviews
- experiments
- behavioural studies
- fieldwork involving human participants
IRB members
- Professor Erik Ø. Sørensen, NHH (chair)
- Professor Ivar Kolstad, NHH (deputy chair)
- Senior Researcher Margrethe Aanesen, SNF (member)
Contact
For questions about IRB review, ethical assessments or submission:
IRB Meetings autumn 2026
- Friday 28 August
- Friday 25 September
- Friday 30 October
- Friday 11 December
Mandate
Mandate for the NHH Institutional Review Board (lenke)