George Brown Polytechnic is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.
Research and Innovation supports George Brown Polytechnic employees, faculty, and research teams who are developing, conducting, or supporting research activity, including projects that involve artificial intelligence.
Anyone planning to conduct research involving George Brown Polytechnic students, employees, resources, funds, facilities, equipment, or institutional data must obtain institutional approval before beginning any research-related activities. If the proposed research involves human participants, approval from the George Brown Polytechnic Research Ethics Board (REB) is also required.
Institutional approval and ethics approval are separate processes. Institutional approval is granted by the Associate Vice-President, Research & Innovation following consultation with relevant George Brown departments. Research ethics approval is granted through the REB review process. Researchers should plan timelines accordingly and seek guidance early.
Faculty, employees, and research teams should connect with Research and Innovation when their AI-related work involves:
- research involving George Brown students, employees, resources, or institutional data
- research involving human participants
- institutional approval to conduct research at George Brown
- research ethics review or questions about ethics requirements
- external funding, grants, or sponsored research
- applied research partnerships with industry or community partners
- research data collection, storage, analysis, or sharing
- AI tools or systems used as part of a research methodology
- projects involving students, employees, clients, partners, or community members as research participants
- questions about research compliance, agreements, intellectual property, or institutional research processes
AI-related research should be planned with attention to privacy, consent, data governance, research ethics, bias, transparency, intellectual property, accessibility, and potential impacts on participants or communities. Researchers should also consider how AI tools are selected, how data is handled, how outputs are validated, and how human oversight is maintained throughout the research process.
For questions about requesting approval to conduct research at George Brown Polytechnic, contact research@georgebrown.ca
For research ethics submissions or questions about the REB process, contact researchethics@georgebrown.ca
Related Resources
- Review George Brown Polytechnic’s Position on AI and Guiding Principles for AI Use
- Visit Using AI Tools Responsibly
- Visit Technology and Cybersecurity Policies
- Visit Library, Copyright and Citation Resources
- Visit Teaching and Learning Resources
- Visit AI Tools and Technology