If you are a research participant, you may contact the Human Research Protection Program if you have any questions of concerns regarding your rights as a participant.
865-974-7697
However, if you have questions about a particular study please contact the researcher.
To learn more about making informed decisions about participating in research, visit the Office for Human Research Protections.
Research participants are integral to the success of human subjects research at The University of Tennessee – Knoxville and the institution recognizes the importance of your decision of whether to participate or not in research.
Your participation is voluntary and you may choose not to participate or discontinue participation in a study at any time. Your decision whether or not participate will not affect your current or future relationship with the institution.
Typically participants are contacted by UT researchers to participate in a research study. Our research occurs both on and off our campus as well as overseas. The level of risk involved in the study depends on the study design, subject matter, interaction or intervention, and subject pool status. It is important that you consider the level of risk and compare it to any benefits of the study when deciding when to participate in human subjects research.
The researcher conducting the study will provide you with a consent form to answer your questions about the study and explain your rights as a participant. You may contact the researcher with questions at any time before, during, and after the study.
One way to find studies that you may be interested in participating in is to sign up as a volunteer study participant on ResearchMatch. This free and secure resource allows for participants to sign up to be contacted by researchers all over the United States (including researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville) who are looking for study volunteers. As a ResearchMatch volunteer, you will be asked for permission to release your contact information to researchers before it is released, giving you control over your personal information. ResearchMatch is a great resource, matching researchers at almost 200 institutions with over 150,000 potential study volunteers.
