Apply for Accreditation
Institutions seeking to establish an Institutional Scientific and Ethics Review Committee (ISERC), or to renew or expand the scope of an existing one, must be accredited by NACOSTI.
Accreditation ensures that only committees meeting national standards may review research in Kenya. It draws on expert review from the National Scientific and Ethics Committee (NSEC) and is issued by NACOSTI.
The full process, requirements and assessment criteria are set out in the Guidelines for Accreditation of ISERCs; applicants should read the Guidelines before preparing an application.
Accreditation Categories
ISERCs may be accredited in one or more of the following eight categories. The first six are drawn from the Second Schedule of the Science, Technology and Innovation Act, CAP 511. Clinical Trials and Animal Research are separate accreditation categories established in recognition of their distinct ethical and scientific considerations.
- Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences: sustainable production of food, fibre and fuel; biodiversity and animal welfare in research settings.
- Physical, Industrial and Energy Sciences: materials, chemical processes, renewable energy, and related industrial research.
- Biological and Health Sciences: living organisms and biological materials, including research with human participants.
- Infrastructure, Information and Communication Sciences: physical infrastructure and digital systems, including data privacy, cybersecurity and societal impact.
- Humanities and Social Sciences: human experience and societal structures: sociology, psychology, economics, anthropology and related disciplines.
- Earth and Space Sciences: climate, marine science, natural disaster mitigation, space exploration and related fields.
- Clinical Trials: additional accreditation for ISERCs reviewing clinical trials, requiring demonstrable capacity in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and international clinical-trial standards.
- Animal Research: additional accreditation for ISERCs reviewing the responsible care and use of animals in research and testing.
Who Can Apply?
The institution hosting the proposed ISERC is expected to:
- Be in good standing with the laws of Kenya.
- Formally constitute the ISERC through an official institutional document (for example, an institutional research policy that anchors the committee).
- Guarantee the committee’s independence and autonomy in ethics review, as reflected in its policy or Standard Operating Procedures.
- Not constitute any parallel committee or organ to review, oversee or approve the work of the ISERC.
- Provide adequate and sustainable financial, human, training and logistical resources — including a dedicated secretariat, office space, boardroom and relevant equipment.
- Formally approve the ISERC’s SOPs and file them with NACOSTI.
Membership Composition
The proposed ISERC must meet the following composition requirements:
- At least seven members, with the total being an odd number.
- A master’s degree minimum for all members except the layperson(s) and the lawyer.
- A Chairperson trained in research ethics, with leadership skills and experience in a relevant research area (specialised health-research experience is required for committees reviewing health research).
- At least one lawyer — an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
- At least one technical member from outside the host institution.
- At least one layperson who is a Kenyan citizen and not an employee of the host institution (two lay members are recommended, to preserve quorum).
- At least two members with research expertise in the categories for which accreditation is sought. For health-research ISERCs, one member must be a licensed clinician.
- Diversity of age, region and ethnicity, with at least one third of members of either gender.
ISERCs must also appoint a qualified Administrator to manage day-to-day operations. Administrators are not committee members; they hold at least a bachelor’s degree and relevant training in research ethics (and in GCP or animal science, where the ISERC’s scope includes clinical trials or animal research).
Application Checklist
- Duly completed Application Form.
- Cover letter from the Head of the Institution, on the institution’s letterhead.
- Copy of the institutional instrument of establishment (registration certificate or equivalent).
- Copy of the institutional research policy.
- The proposed ISERC’s Standard Operating Procedures (see the Guidelines for recommended SOP contents).
- List and abridged CVs (maximum 4 pages each) of all proposed committee members, indicating areas of expertise.
- Individual appointment letters from the Head of the Institution.
- Professional and institutional affiliations of each member.
- Certificates of research-ethics training for all members except the lay member. For ISERCs reviewing health research, additional certification in the protection of human subjects is required.
- Institutional profile (maximum 4 pages) covering background, mandate and areas of competence.
- Evidence of payment of the prescribed fee.
How to Submit
Send the completed application and all supporting documents to:
The Director General
National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation
P.O Box 30623-00100,
NAIROBI
Email: dg@nacosti.go.ke
Or via the NACOSTI online portal.
For questions about the accreditation process, contact : iserc@nacosti.go.ke | 0713 788 787 | 0735 404 245.