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How to set up a study

Purpose

Here, you can find information for setting up a study at OxCIN.

Steps

  1. Secure funding
  2. Contact experimental support
  3. Apply for ethics
  4. Work-in-progress (WIP) talk
  5. Obtain experimental equipment and training
  6. Obtain Calpendo project code
  7. Pilot

Funding

Project Proposal

New projects should be associated with a proposal to document the core of a given study. A project proposal should be succinct and composed of a set of slides (~6–8) with the following content:

Proposal Contents

  • Title

    • Project title
    • Collaborators

  • Introduction

  • Project Significance

  • Research Question

  • Project Objectives

  • Specific Aims and/or Hypotheses

  • Methodology

    • Paradigm
    • Timing information
    • Conditions
    • Number of trials

  • Participants and Sample Size

  • Data Collection

  • Data Analysis

    • ERF / TRFs / MVPA
    • Source modelling
    • Statistics

  • Timeline

    • e.g., Gantt chart

  • Expected Outcomes

  • Scientific Contribution

  • Impact on Brain Health

Grant and Fellowship Submissions

  • First point of contact when informing the department of planned applications: Valerie West, Research Manager
  • For developing costings: Andrew Galloway can provide guidance.
  • It is also required to apply for permission at OxCIN when using the OHBA equipment.

Funding Opportunities

Departmental Guidelines

Please note the departmental guidelines to follow when applying for any funding (including small applications; anything that implies funds coming in).

Contact experimental support

For any type of study you run at OxCIN, you must make contact with the appropriate experimental support team at this stage. This is required so that they can help you ensure that the study is feasible. They can help you set up the lab (including manufactiring additional equipment) and plan your experiment. Depending on the equipment you want to use, approach the relevant people:

Standard ethics application

Creating and Shaping Your Ethics Application

Create an application on Worktribe. Add the people you want to be able to see and edit your application as editors. Make sure the ethics committee and ethics officer are auto-selected correctly (MS IDREC).

Ethics applications are a balance of detail and generality. Explain the methodology of your proposed research in as much detail as possible, always stating how long each procedure would take and what participants will be doing. However, keep in mind that submitting amendments to existing ethics approvals is much easier than submitting a new application—be broad enough to allow flexibility for future projects.

Be generous with the sample size (N) and project duration. Justify all types of data collected, including demographics (especially if collecting or excluding based on protected characteristics). Justify participant age ranges, as age is a protected characteristic in the UK.

Approved Procedures (APs)

Approved Procedures (APs) are protocol documents for common techniques approved by the ethics committee. If your study is mostly covered by an AP, cite it in your Worktribe application (this typically results in a medium-risk classification).

Best Practice Guidance (BPG)

Consult relevant Best Practice Guidance documents and indicate which ones you used: - BPG 05 — participant payments
- BPG 09 — data management

OxCIN also provides its own guidelines on participant payments.

Click here to find APs, BPGs and template participant-facing documents.

Research-Specific Ethical Considerations

If you are working with children, ensure that all the researchers involved have an enhanced DBS check in place. Make sure (and state in the application) that all researchers who interact with families will have completed the OSCP Introduction to Safeguarding online course (see New Starters page). In the case of any concerns over a child’s wellbeing or safety, contact the research group’s Designated Safety Lead (Evgeniya Anisimova) and the PI.

If you are working with MRI, consult the SOP OHBA_014_V1 for guidance on incidental findings and documentation. ​ The SOP for MEG incidental findings is outdated and not applicable. State that incidental findings are highly unlikely. Do not mention any procedure should incidental findings arise.

Risk Assessment

Consult and cite all relevant risk assessment documents (e.g., OPM-MEG risk assessment).

Data Management

Most of the information can be accessed in BPG 09.

OPM-MEG data is pseudonymised and housed in a password-protected folder on a high-performance computer cluster at OHBA. It is only accessible to authorised scanning personnel and the research team. The 3D head scan data are stored on a password-protected computer in the OPM-MEG lab in a password-protected folder that is only accessible to the researchers and the OPM-MEG lab key personnel.​ ​ In the ethics body on Worktribe, provide an explicit deadline for data destruction (the end of the project as per the application - month and year). In the Participant Information Sheet, refrain from providing a deadline for withdrawing data - simply put "the data will be destroyed at the end of data analysis process" or "it will not be possible to withdraw your data after the data analysis has been concluded".

Participant-Facing Documents

Use templates corresponding to the cited Approved Procedure (e.g., AP08 for adult MEG studies). Templates are available via OxIntranet.

Guidelines: - Use lay language (avoid jargon, explain abbreviations)
- Include at least one image of the experimental setup
- Ensure exclusion criteria match the Worktribe application

Formatting

  • Header: research team, contact details, Oxford logo, Department of Psychiatry logo
  • Footer must include:
  • Lay title (consistent across documents)
  • Document name
  • Version number
  • Date
  • Page numbering (“Page x of y”)

Example footer:
MyFirstStudy. Participant Information Sheet. v1.0. 11/12/2025. Page 1 of 7

If using recruitment materials (email, posters, Meta Ads, etc.), include them in your ethics application.

Must include: 1. Brief study description
2. Exclusion criteria
3. Time commitment
4. Location (even if online)
5. No payment amounts (only mention reimbursement)
6. Space for ethics reference

Additional requirements: - Include full email text if recruiting via email
- Include advert text for SONA/OPR recruitment
- For school recruitment: include a letter to the headteacher (template available via OxIntranet)

Internal ethics approval

Before submitting your Worktribe application to CUREC, you must get internal OxCIN approval. The person to ask for the review depends on the equipment used in the proposed research:

MEG (SQUID)

  • Add Patricia Cambalova and Sven Braeutigam as editors on Worktribe
  • Email: oxcin-meg-help@psych.ox.ac.uk

OPM-MEG

  • Add Rob Seymour as editor
  • Email: rob.seymour@psych.ox.ac.uk

NIBS

  • Complete OxCIN NIBS Pre-CUREC Form
  • Send to: admin@oxcin.ox.ac.uk

MRI

  • Add Nancy Rawlings and Iske Bakker as editors
  • Email: admin@oxcin.ox.ac.uk

After internal approval is gained, submit the application via Worktribe.

For questions, contact the relevant support email.

NHS Ethics

NHS ethics applications are more complicated. Use this decision tool to determine if NHS Research Ethics Approval (REC) approval is required.

Here are some useful links for your reference:
- Clinical research process | Research Support
- Sponsorship & approvals | Research Support - Review process | Research Support

Guidance can also be provided by the Clinical Research Governance Co-ordinator from the Department of Psychiatry, Tasneem Ritchie.

WIP presentation @ OxCIN United

As we are part of OxCIN, in order to get access to the scanning equipment, we have to each do a presentation at OxCIN United’s Work in Progress (WIP) meeting. This can be done before or after ethics approval is in place - doesn’t matter as long as it is done before any testing commences. It is a good idea to email oxcin-admin@ndcn.ox.ac.uk to ask whether specialist audience could be present at your WIP talk (e.g., OPM-MEG experts) to ensure most useful feedback.

Obtaining access to experimental equipment

At this point in your project's journey, hopefully you have 1) submitted ethics, 2) done a WIP talk, 3) made contact with the experimental support and (if applicable) radiographers. If that is correct, you can proceed to get access to, and training for, the experimental equipment.

MRI

For projects involving MRI, you need to complete a Project Code Request Form and sign the MRI Service Agreement. This can be done after ethics are in place and the WIP talk has been done. One this is submitted, a meeting with the radiographer team will be scheduled to discuss the project and scanning costs. If you are not MRI trained, please complete both parts of the magnet safety training and contact Juliet Semple for researcher training. Note that you will need experienced researcher training if you are planning to perform fMRI or any scanning with sensitive populations.

Useful links: A detailed guide on arranging MRI studies Sample MRI protocols The OxCIN website is the main resource for finding out about gaining access to equipment

MEG/OPM-MEG

Follow the OxCIN protocol for setting up a MEG study. Contact oxcin-meg-help@psych.ox.ac.uk to arrange some (OPM-)MEG pilot sessions, including an initial paradigm testing session.

For MEG, you do not need to be trained as an operator to conduct a study: only short researcher training in necessary.

Currently, Rob Seymour trains everyone looking to use OPM-MEG as an operator. Please contact him for training. ​​

EEG

OHBA does not have EEG facilities anymore, except if EEG is to be used in conjunction with MEG or MRI. If the latter is your case, contact Patricia on oxcin-meg-help@psych.ox.ac.uk. If you are planning a standalone EEG study, contact Experimental Psychology. ​

NIBS

For all non-invasive brain stimulation projects (TMS, TCS), contact Melanie Fleming.

Obtain Calpendo project code and book labs

Now, follow the procedure to obtain a project code for booking the labs. Please note that this is not the procedure for MRI projects: your project code will be given to you by the radiographers after your scanner induction. Do not attempt to request it on Calpendo by yourself.

Piloting

At this point, your project code on Calpendo will most likely be set to "restricted" (unless this is a structural MRI scan). This is due to the need to pilot the project with the experimental support officer before recruiting participants. Speak to the experimental support team to arrange piloting.

Once that is done and the experiment runs smoothly, you can recruit participants and collect data!