What should I do if I leave Northwestern University?
If you are planning to leave Northwestern University, you must notify the IRB Office. You may decide to transfer responsibility for your research to another Northwestern University researcher, close your research at Northwestern University prior to your move, or transfer IRB oversight of your research to another IRB. Please see “CHECKLIST: Principal Investigator (PI) Transfer of Responsibilities (HRP-1408)” for a comprehensive list of study record considerations to be completed when transitioning a human research study to a new PI. Reference the IRB’s Principal Investigator Transfer of Responsibility Guidelines webpage for additional information.
Regardless of which option you choose, you will need to develop a plan for transfer and a plan for informing research participants of your move, if appropriate, and how it affects them. IRB Office staff will be able to advise you on what actions you will need to take. Please refer to the Northwestern Policy on Research Data: Ownership, Retention, and Access, found in the University Policy Catalog.
If you are leaving the institution but will remain a study team member, please contact the IRB Office to determine if a reliance agreement is appropriate.
If you are leaving the institution and plan to take research data or specimens with you, there are contractual agreements that may be needed in order to share individual level human subjects research data/specimens.
Please also refer to the Office for Research’s Researcher Resources webpage for the PI Offboarding Procedure Checklist and Offboarding video.
In cases where the PI fails to perform the appropriate off-boarding procedures and the PI is no longer at the institution and is no longer responsive, the department chair, dean, or delegate is responsible for ensuring the appropriate actions are completed. If a PI goes on unanticipated leave or abruptly departs from the institution, this should be reported to the IRB. The submission should include whether the unanticipated leave is temporary or permanent and whether responsibilities will be transferred to a new PI.