Maasai Mara University Institutional Scientific Ethical Review Committee (ISERC) Training

The Maasai Mara University Institutional Scientific Ethical Review Committee (ISERC) is currently ongoing accreditation with the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI). Once fully accredited, the ISERC will review research proposals and protocols to issue ethical approval permits which are mandatory for any research.

This ISERC will be the first one in the South Rift region of Kenya thus position the University strongly as a key research champion in the region. The ISERC will also increase the chances of securing grants and generate revenue for the University. As one of the requirements for accreditation, the ISERC committee members and subject experts must be trained on how to review research proposals and protocols.

The Directorate of Research, Innovation and Outreach as well as the Institutional Scientific Ethical Review Committee (ISERC) therefore organized a full (five-day) physical training on research ethics for the committee members and select school subject experts.

The training took place physically in the University Senate Boardroom between 24th to 28th, March, 2025. The training was facilitated by the National Bioethics Committee experts from NACOSTI, the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM) and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching & Referral Hospital.

The training was quite a success with 10 ISERC members, 12 school subject experts and the ISERC secretariat all trained between 24th to 28th March, 2025 comprehensively on effective operationalization of an ISERC body. The workshop covered fifteen (15) training modules essential for certification of the Maasai Mara University ISREC body. The trainees were also trained on ISERC SOPs and other guidelines necessary to run an ISERC.