We are proud to announce the successful development and deployment of the new Human Subjects Ethics Application Review System (HSEARS), a major upgrade to PolyU's research infrastructure. This achievement marks a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to digitally transform and the streamlining of university research administration processes.
Production Launch
In collaboration with the RIO and with thorough planning, system design, and user-centered development, a modern and robust ethics application platform was officially launched on 20 April 2026. This new system fully replaces the previous HSEARS platform, representing a complete overhaul of how human subjects ethics applications are submitted and reviewed at PolyU.
Key Features Delivered
1. Updated User Interface: A completely refreshed, intuitive interface that significantly improves navigation and user experience for researchers, reviewers, and approvers.
2. Enhanced Workflows: Optimized end-to-end digital workflows that seamlessly support the submission, review, and approval of research and teaching projects for clinical and non-clinical studies involving human subjects. These new workflows reduce process friction and improve efficiency.
3. Application Checklist: Automatically classifies application types, routes them to the appropriate approval flows and supports copying content from existing applications into a new draft.
4. Real-time interface with PGMS: Synchronizes data with PGMS to align research project’s key dates, project titles and principal investigators to ensure data integrity.
5. Streamlined arrangement of IRB meetings
6. System generated printable approval memos
Successful Transition for New Applications
A critical achievement of the development was the smooth go-live transition for new submissions. From 20 April 2026 onward, all new ethics applications have been successfully routed to and processed entirely within the new system. The old platform no longer accepts new submissions, helping to prevent user confusion and data fragmentation.
Upcoming Activities
A phased, batch data migration strategy will be implemented in the coming months to move all existing data from the old HSEARS to the new system. Once this migration is fully completed, the legacy system will be officially retired, leaving a single, unified, and modern platform for all human subjects ethics reviews at PolyU.
To ensure the university community fully benefits from this new system, the RIO has established dedicated support for the new HSEARS.
If you need further information or assistance, please contact the IT HelpCentre (Tel: 2766 5900, WhatsApp/ WeChat: 6577 9669) or reach out to us via the IT Online ServiceDesk.
