How to get help
First Steps for a new local project
Starting a new research project at Grampians Health?
Getting things clear up front will make your ethics and governance applications smoother and set you up for success.
Step 1
Build your team and talk through your idea
- Discuss your research idea with your manager and colleagues.
- Identify which Departments will be involved.
- Start forming your research team and define roles – including a Principal Investigator (PI) who will take overall responsibility for the project.
Step 2
Think about the science and the doing
- Study design – What type of study will best answer your question?
- Drafting a protocol – This will be your roadmap.
- Risk level – Is it low risk, or greater-than-low-risk?
- Statistics – How will you analyse your data?
Help is available with all of these things:
- Research Ethics and Governance Office (REGO) – advice on ethics and governance requirements.
- Grampians Health Library – especially for literature reviews.
- This research website! Templates and guidance.
- Research Translation Coordinator – support for planning and implementing research (https://www.westernalliance.org.au/research-translation-support/research-translation-coordinators).
- STaRR Resources – tools for study design and reporting (https://www.westernalliance.org.au/starr/starr-resources).
Step 3
Draft your proposal
Use our protocol template.
It guides you through each section. Delete irrelevant sections (e.g. blood and tissue if you’re just doing a survey!). Getting your ideas down in writing helps you work out what’s actually going to happen.
Need more help?
Contact the Research Ethics and Governance Office:
Email: ResearchEthics@gh.org.au
Phone: 03 5320 8661 or 03 5320 8662