TNJSF Preapproval Procedures

Who needs preapproval

It is a reasonable idea to ask for preapproval for any project, just to be safe, but there are certain kinds of projects where it is required.

Any project that involves biological agents must receive preapproval. ISEF rules provide an exception for projects at an RRI with IBC approval, but we expect preapproval for all such projects (involving bacteria, viruses, other microorganisms, DNA, etc).
Any project that involves human subjects that is NOT carried out at a a Regulated Research Institution (RRI). (For projects at an RRI, there must be explicit approval granted by the Institutional Review Board.)
Any project that involves vertebrate subjects , vertebrate tissues, or data from a vertebrate project

What is preapproval?

For a project in any of the above categories, full documentation must be submitted (via FAVR) for SRC review, and SRC approval must be granted BEFORE YOU BEGIN YOUR EXPERIMENTAL WORK. You can, of course, do your library research and preliminary planning prior to approval.

The submission of a project involving humans, other invertebrates, tissues, or bioagents must occur by the Early Registration Deadline, usually Dec 1.

What are the procedures

Enter via zfairs and obtain a project number (of the form SR-nnn).
Wait for dowonload of your project to FAVR. You will get an email when this is completed. Downloads usually occur once daily.
When you are notified with that email, go to FAVR and fill out all the tabs. On the Project tab, make sure you answer 'yes' to whether you are asking for preapproval.
Gather all required signatures and upload any required documentation (e.g. IACUC/IRB/IBC approvals, or other documents requested by FAVR).
Ask your mentor to submit a preliminary mentor report, mainly to define what your role will be in the planned research. (A final report will be required to evaluate your work after the project is complete.)
Request an SRC review (button at the bottom of the Review tab on FAVR).
The SRC may request additioal clarification. If they do, make sure you update your information to comply.
Once the SRC approves your project, a preapproval document will be generated and saved as part of your FAVR documentation. The date you specify for "start of experimentation" cannot precede this approval date.
If you make any subsequent changes in your data, the SRC will have to decide whether the changes are sufficiently substantive as to invvalidate your preapproval. If so, your preapproval date will be moved forward to the new approval date. If not, it will remain unchanged.

Preapproval of summer work (for 2026 and beyond)

The procedure above is changed, since zfairs will not be open prior to about August 15.

Instead of entering on zfairs, you will be able to define a project from the FAVR dashboard (prior to Sept 1).
You will not receive the initial email from FAVR in this case. Just go ahead and fill out your project record as above.
You will be able to obtain preapproval as described above. Your project number at this point will not be SR-nnn, but will rather be of the form TNJSFYYYY-nnnn.
After zfairs opens for registration, you must enter there as well, making sure you use the same email for yourself and your sponsor, and the same title.
After you do this, your Entry tab on zfairs will show a 36-character "Project Key." Copy and paste this key into the form available from your Review tab on FAVR (link is near the top of that tab).
During the next FAVR download, the project Key will be matched up, so long as the emails and title match, and the project number will be modified on FAVR from TNJSFYYYY-nnnn to the one assigned by zfairs (of the form SR-nnn).
The rest of the procedure above will remain the same.