The comittee has KoFE as abbreviation (Komité for forskningsetikk in Norwegian). KoFE was established in 2020 and must not be confused with the University’s Research Integrity Committee. Internationaly KoFE resembles institutional review board (IRB), also known as an independent ethics committee (IEC), ethical review board (ERB), or research ethics board (REB).
When projects involve research on humans, the committee places particular emphasis on the safety and integrity of research participants. Any disadvantages the research imposes on participants must be weighed against the project’s benefit to society and to the group involved.
Tips on how you as a researcher can incorporate research ethics into the planning of a project can be found here: Research Ethics in practice at INN. Scroll down to the heading “Ethical Considerations in project planning.” The information you find there, along with the information provided below, can help you and your research team determine whether you should apply to KoFE for ethical pre-approval of the project.
Purpose
To conduct mandatory or voluntary ethical pre-assessments of research projects, including master’s theses, that have potential to harm or burden participants or environments involved in the research – specifically:
- Health-research projects that fall outside the Health-Research Act and therefore are not reviewed/approved by a Regional Committee for Medical and Health-Research Ethics (REK).
- Projects involving vulnerable groups or sensitive topics.
- Projects involving children.
- Projects whose methods/execution raise ethical challenges for society or nature.
- Projects whose results are expected to be published in journals that require a documented, independent ethics review.
Projects involving laboratory animals or fish are not evaluated by KoFE; they must be sent to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet).
What KoFE must review
- Research on humans (including human biological material) that lies outside the Health-Research Act and includes:
- Individuals who could potentially suffer physical or psychological harm, overload, violation and/or (re)traumatisation by taking part.
- Children (0–16 yrs) with special health or psychosocial challenges.
- Particularly vulnerable groups, incl. youth (16–18 yrs) with various burdens, and adults without – or with reduced – capacity to consent.
What KoFE should review
Projects should be assessed when there is uncertainty regarding the research participant’s capacity to consent and/or they are considered to belong to a vulnerable or marginalised group, and/or they face language and cultural barriers, for example related to ethnicity.
Examples of vulnerable groups include individuals with mental health conditions and developmental disabilities, substance users, prison inmates, and persons who are in a relationship of dependency with the researchers in question.
Read the brief guidance text here: The National Research Ethics Committees – Vulnerable Groups
- Projects where a participant’s capacity to consent is uncertain and/or they belong to a vulnerable or marginalised group, and/or there are language/cultural barriers (e.g., ethnicity).
- Inclusion of children (0–16 yrs) – regardless of health – when the intervention places the child in a vulnerable situation (including intrusive surveys/interviews about health, (dis)well-being, incriminating behaviour, etc.).
- Large-scale projects with many variables and/or long duration that will require a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).
- Research on humans in resource-poor settings (see The TRUST Code).
What KoFE can review
- Projects not covered above but whose results will be submitted to journals that require an independent ethics statement.
- Projects that do not include humans directly but could negatively affect society, nature/animal life, or are conducted with partners who do not follow recognised codes (e.g., European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity or from the National Research Ethics Committee's guidelines).
Assessment criteria
KoFE performs an independent evaluation of whether the project is planned in line with national and international research-ethics standards. The fundamental principle is that the welfare and interests of participants always override societal benefit or scientific self-interest.
For “must-review” cases, KoFE largely follows the criteria used by REK and the Health-Research Act. For sports-science, the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, on Biomedical Research – ETS No. 195 is central.
As a checklist for all project types, KoFE uses pages 23–28 (“Criteria for ethics review”) of Research Ethics Support and Review in Research Organisations (UK Research Integrity Office, 2020).
Master’s projects
Master’s projects are assessed only if they fall under the “must-review” criteria above. Otherwise, KoFE does not review master’s work; supervisors are responsible for ensuring proper research-ethical practice. Uncertainties can be directed to the KoFE secretariat.
Relationship to Sikt – Data Protection Services
KoFE does not review data-protection aspects. Any project processing personal data must always be reported to Sikt for GDPR compliance. Bear in mind that SIKT do not provide research-ethical evaluations.
Relationship to Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REK)
All projects (including master’s) that fall under the Health-Research Act must be submitted to REK for approval. Applications handled by REK are not reviewed by KoFE. If REK states the project is outside the Act, the application proceeds to KoFE with REK correspondence attached. If there is uncertainty around whether the project falls under the scope of REK, an brief application to clarify the projects status can be sent for a pre-evaluation by REK.
If REK concludes that a project falls outside the scope of the Health Research Act, the application proceeds to KoFE, and the applicant must attach relevant correspondence with REK. If KoFE receives an application that the committee believes should have been submitted to REK, but this has not been clarified in advance, KoFE may require a pre-assessment clarification from REK.
KoFE’s chair or secretary can assist the researcher or supervisor with evaluating whether REK submission is required, or with preparing a REK application.
What can replace a KoFE assessment?
In addition to REK (as mentioned above), the National Committees for Research Ethics can provide guidance when facing challenges in a specific research project or when a discussion partner is needed during the planning phase.
They do not typically issue written decisions and choose which cases to engage with. These committees possess a high level of expertise and provide genuinely independent assessments, with no institutional ties to INN.
• NEM – Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics
• NENT – Committee for Natural Sciences and Technology
• NESH – Committee for Social Sciences and Humanities Ethics
Who are the members of KoFE?
The Pro-Rector for Research appoints members to the committee for a term of four years. The committee consists of a chair and one researcher from INN, as well as one external member. At least one member must have specific expertise in research ethics, and at least one member must have a background in health, medicine, or physiology.
Conflicts of interest are assessed on a case-by-case basis. It is essential that ethical evaluations are conducted independently and without ties to close colleagues, family relationships, or similar connections.
KoFE may invite external experts when internal competence is insufficient.
KoFE's composition 2022–2025:
Chair: Grethe Netland, PhD in Philosophy, Associate Professor, former Head of Department for Social Work and Counselling.
Member: Kjartan Østbye, Professor of Biology, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management.
External Member: Mads N. Holten-Andersen, Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Oslo, Senior Consultant at Innlandet Hospital Trust.
Secretary: Anne Sofie Lofthus, Research Advisor.
Submission forms and attachments
Form 1: For mandatory submission (must-submit projects)
Form 2: For recommended or voluntary submission (should- or may-submit projects)
Required attachments:
• A fully developed project description
• Information and consent form
• Interview guide, survey templates and/or other data collection instruments
• If REK has reviewed the project and rejected it, include the REK documentation
Note: To avoid misunderstandings, incomplete or hastily prepared documents will be returned, and the assessment will be put on hold.
Meeting dates and submission deadlines – Spring 2026
Meeting: 15 January→ Submission deadline: 7 January
Meeting: 12 February → Submission deadline: 4 February
Meeting:12 March→ Submission deadline: 28 March
Meeting: 15 April → Submission deadline: 8 April
Meeting: 21 May → Submission deadline: 13 May
Meeting: 18 June → Submission deadline: 10 June
Response and follow-up
The recipient of the forms is the KoFE Secretary, who can also be contacted for practical questions.
The project is processed under moderate data security (yellow category) unless otherwise agreed. Submission must be carried out by the project leader through secure login. The KoFE Secretary will retrieve the submission, and the case will be archived in P360. Internal communication within KoFE does not occur via email, but only through a protected Teams workspace.
A response will be issued as soon as practically possible after the committee meeting (typically within 1–2 weeks). Small projects with clearly limited or simple ethical implications may, in exceptional cases, be reviewed more quickly by the KoFE Chair in consultation with the secretariat.
Research projects must not commence until the project leader has received a formal response from KoFE. "Commencement" refers to the inclusion of participants or the start of fieldwork. This requirement applies to all submitted projects, whether mandatory, recommended, or voluntary (i.e., must/should/may-submit cases).
Mandate and guidelines
INN’s Committee for Research Ethics was established by the Research and Development Committee on 19 February 2020.
Responsible body: Pro-Rector for Research.
The “Mandate for the Committee for Research Ethics (KoFE)” (Norwegian text) contains detailed information about application handling, project amendments, committee composition, use of external experts, right of appeal, lack of follow-up, and post-hoc approvals
Contact
Secretariat:
- anne.lofthus@inn.no
- Phone
- +47 61 28 82 77