When applying for Exempt Review, you are only required to provide specific information, in which the entire submission does not need to be completed (details provided below). To see if your study qualifies for Exempt Review, please use our Submission Decision Tree tool . An Example of this type of submission can be found on our Submission Examples and Guidance page.
The Georgia Tech IRB has added two new categories in which Exempt research can be reviewed under; FLEX 2 and FLEX 3. These categories can only be used in very specific scenarios (listed below). For FLEX 2, the definition is the same as Exempt 2 with the addition of allowing minors who are enrolled GT students as participants. For FLEX 3, the differences between this new category and Exempt 3 are that minors who are enrolled as GT students can be added as participants and non-invasive commercially available sensors can be used during the study to collect data, excluding MRI, fMRI, and TMS. More information about these categories can be found in our Policies and Procedures.
Exempt research under FLEX 2 and FLEX 3 must meet the following criteria in addition to all specifications of the exemption category:
- Research is not subject to FDA regulations.
- Research is not federally funded.
- Research is not contractually or otherwise subject to federal research requirements, including but not limited to research conducted under the Department of Veterans Affairs or under an NIH Certificate of Confidentiality.
- Research does not involve prisoners as participants.
- Research meets Georgia Tech’s ethical standards governing the conduct of the research, including appropriate provisions for the protection of privacy and confidentiality when identifiable and coded information are used.
Please note that what is required is subject to change depending on the specifics of your study. Additionally, all other requirements that may apply to your study (e.g., required training, certified translation of documents, PI eligibility, etc.) still apply to your Exempt research.