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Ethics & Governance
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Animal Research

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Any research involving animals at Durham University, whether lab based, observational, on site or in the field is strictly regulated and appropriately licensed. Our research activities can be split into two areas:

  • Licensed Work: This is activity covered by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act within the UK. Most licensed work at Durham is lab based and involves carrying out research on small mammals and amphibians. A small amount of licensed work takes place outside the laboratory; this generally involves the temporary capture of wild animals for purposes such as fitting trackers or monitors. The sites, the projects and the project teams are all licensed by the Home Office.

  • Unlicensed Work: The majority of this work is generally observational and non-invasive such as studying animals in the laboratory, in their natural environment and in controlled environments (e.g. farms and zoos). Unlicensed work also includes work which takes place outside the UK. Where this work involves research which would need a licence in the UK, the University requires that this is subject to high standards equivalent to those for licensed work.

All work involving animals or their tissues, whether licensed or unlicensed, is reviewed by the University’s Animal Welfare Ethical Review Board.  Appropriate ethical approval must be obtained before work begins, in line with the University’s Research Integrity Policy and Code of Good Practice.

In all our work with animals we are committed to ensuring a culture of care, including the very highest standards of care and wellbeing for all animals and provision of support and training for those responsible for them.  This is underpinned by our commitment to the '3Rs': replacement (using alternatives to animals where available), reduction (minimising the number of animals used) and refinement (developing procedures and methods of care for animals, such as housing and handling, to maximise welfare. Durham University researchers are also active in developing alternatives to the use of animals in research. 

We are signatories to the Concordat on Openness in Animal Research in the UK. As signatories we strive to uphold the four main commitments of the Concordat:

  1. We will be clear about when, how and why we use animals in research;
  2. We will enhance our communications with the media and the public about our research using animals;
  3. We will be proactive in providing opportunities for the public to find out about research using animals;
  4. We will report on progress annually and share our experiences.

We endorse the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines from the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), and the PREPARE (Planning Research and Experimental Procedures on Animals: Recommendations for Excellence) guidelines. Together, these guidelines ensure that all reporting of animal research is high-quality, transparent and that no unnecessary animal research is conducted.

With the concordat commitments in mind we also provide opportunities for students to visit the animal facilities, have spokespeople to answer questions about our work with animals and submit our progress report on animal research activities annually. More information about animal research at Durham can be found in this Q&A.

Professor Clive Roberts

Executive Dean, Faculty of Science

Durham University