Institutional Review Board

Bucknell University is committed to safeguarding the welfare, rights and privacy of all persons who participate as subjects in research projects conducted under its auspices, and to ensuring that the subjects of such research are aware of the rights and the protections available to them.

These safeguards derive from an effort to demonstrate respect for persons, beneficence, and justice in the practice of human subjects research. These ethical principles were first articulated in the Belmont Report issued by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1979.

Bucknell's Institutional Review Board (IRB) is the body charged with reviewing and approving all proposed research involving human subjects, whether funded or not, conducted under the auspices of Bucknell University by its faculty, students or staff, or by outside investigators using Bucknell University students, personnel, facilities, or data collected at the University. "Research" is defined as "systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalized knowledge" (45 CFR 46.102d).

Research subject to review thus includes, but is not limited to: pilot studies; class projects aimed for publication; Master's theses; Ph.D. dissertations; co-supervised work; independent research; and senior theses, whether such research takes place on or off the Bucknell University campus, including work done outside of the United States.

This site provides information for faculty and students who are conducting research involving Human Subjects.

If you need additional information or assistance with respect to the IRB please contact Abe Feuerstein, IRB Chair.  Abe can be reached at 570-577-3293 or at abe.feuerstein@bucknell.edu.