SCIENCE FACULTY ANIMAL ETHICS COMMITTEE (SFAEC)
All work on animals (defined here as vertebrates, cephalopods and decapods) at UCT - either for research or teaching/educational activities - needs advance approval by the relevant Faculty Animal Ethics Committee. The Science Faculty Animal Ethics Committee (SFAEC) processes all applications and queries related to work and teaching with animals within the Science Faculty. The requirements to apply for ethics clearance at UCT comply with recommendations of the South African National Standard SANS 10386:2021 (The care and use of animals for scientific purposes), which has been adopted by the University for ethical review, as well as with UCT internal policies for animal experimentation. The code amongst other things, defines the structure and composition of Faculty ethics committees and the ethical review processes. It also includes the need for Institutional procedures for dealing with violations of approved protocols or any other animal ethics violation. Journals require institutional ethics clearance, as do UCT post-graduate students.
Applying for SFAEC Ethics Clearance
All documentation relating to the submission of an animal ethics application for the use of vertebrates, cephalopods and decapods in teaching or research is available at the Science Animal Ethics website on the UCT VULA portal. Potential applicants that do not have access to this website should email sfaec@uct.ac.za to request access.
The SFAEC meets several times, between February and November each year, to evaluate applications. Meetings are scheduled at the discretion of the Chair, depending on the number of applications received, availability of committee members, and any pressing matters.