UGC Urges Colleges, Universities to Register on Biological Research Regulatory Approval Portal

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has ordered that higher educational institutions (HEIs) and their affiliated colleges/institutions register on the Biological Research Regulatory Approval Portal (BioRRAP), biorrap.gov.in. The Government of India established the Biological Research Regulatory Approval Portal (BioRRAP) to give regulatory information to researchers and expedite approvals.

According to the UGC, it is a unique digital gateway designed to increase access to science and scientific research as well as make it simpler to establish businesses. BioRRAP is anticipated to incorporate information on foreign research projects that have been approved by all line Ministries/Departments of the Government of India (with a unique BioRRAP ID for each proposal).

The relevant clearances for research projects by entities belonging under the category of central and state government will be handled by the competent ministry, it said. The UGC further suggested that all such recommendations be forwarded to the relevant ministry of the Government of India.

“In respect of non-government organisations, the health ministry’s screening committee, operated by the Department of Health Research (DHR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), that has been reconstituted by the ministry of health and family welfare will review the research projects involving international collaboration and funding in health research including studies in humans, animals, plants & environment,” UGC stated in its notice.

It is worth noting that in the early 1980s, an Inter-Ministerial high-level committee, the Health Ministry’s Screening Committee (HMSC), was formed with the goal of vetting all projects in the field of health research involving foreign assistance and/or collaboration, as well as to periodically monitor the implementation and progress of bilateral treaties, the extension of ongoing research projects, and the endorsement of the transmission of human biological materials.

The BioRRAP portal will improve cross-departmental cooperation and boost the efficiency with which the organisations that oversee various facets of biological research operate. This will simplify the regulatory process and confirm the ease of conducting biological science research.

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