Submitting an Animal Use Protocol

All instances of live vertebrate animal use in research, teaching, and/or testing must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) prior to beginning such work. Review of an Animal Care and Use Protocol by the IACUC is required regardless of animal use site (on campus or at UCSB Natural Reserve sites), funding source, species, or animal numbers. The IACUC Animal Care and Use Protocol must be submitted by a Principal Investigator as the responsible party for conducting the proposed animal activities listed in the protocol application. Only faculty members, professional researchers or instructors may serve as Principal Investigators (PIs) on animal protocols. A Post-doctoral Fellow or Graduate Student cannot be a PI.

Protocol submission process:

The following steps are required for protocol submission and review by the IACUC:

1. Submit your protocol through the ORAMS online system.
   • Review the PI instructions for submitting a protocol application.
2. The IACUC Office will review the protocol for completeness (i.e., making sure that all questions are answered), and if needed, request administrative changes (e.g., checking appropriate fields) be made.
3. The IACUC Office will then route the protocol to the Attending Veterinarian for a veterinary pre-review.
4. Following completion of the veterinary pre-review, the protocol is distributed to the members of the IACUC and is either reviewed at the next available IACUC meeting date (i.e., Full Committee Review) or reviewed directly by one or two members of the IACUC (i.e., Designated Member Review).
   • Depending on the mechanism of review (Full Committee Review vs Designated Member Review) IACUC members are given a minimum of 3 business days or more, to conduct protocol reviews.

Protocol submission timeline

The duration between protocol submission and review of the protocol at an IACUC meeting can be a couple of months. It is recommended to submit an animal use protocol at least 60 days prior to the desired start date of proposed experiments. No animal work can begin, or continue past the original protocol expiration date in the case of triennial reviews, until the protocol application has been reviewed and approved by the IACUC. The table below lists IACUC meeting dates for the 2023-2024 academic year. Note that the IACUC does not usually hold meetings during the months of July and August. 
Please note, triennial review notices sent to Principal Investigators contain the renewal due date and a submission deadline date. 

Unsure if your research requires an Animal Use Protocol?

If your research involves the use of vertebrate animals, but there is no direct interaction between the animals and the researchers (e.g., field observations, indirect sampling, etc.), then an IACUC protocol may not be necessary. Similarly, if the larval form of a vertebrate species will be used before the vertebrae have developed, then an IACUC protocol may not be necessary. If your research falls into one or more of the above categories, complete and submit a Do I Need A Protocol? form to the IACUC Office. If you are unsure of whether your research would qualify as the direct use of vertebrate animals, contact the IACUC Office for guidance (IACUC@lifesci.ucsb.edu)

For questions about submitting an animal protocol or if you are unsure if you need an animal use protocol, please contact IACUC@lifesci.ucsb.edu

While uncommon, meeting dates are subject to change.