Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)

Updates to IBC Policy and Form Submission Process (Updated 3/16/2023)

The IBC has recently issued important updates to the policy and form submission requirements and process that impact all work involving biological materials. Please see the Updates to IBC Policy and Form Submission Process for more information.

In order to ensure all biosafety spaces are inspected and that the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) has a record of all biosafety work being conducted on campus, IBC registration is required for all labs (research and/or educational) using biological materials of any kind.

IBC protocol approval is required prior to the use of biohazards in research or teaching. Under UMaine policy, “biohazard” includes recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules (including plants), biological materials/biospecimens (human and animal blood, bodily fluids, and/or tissues), infectious agents* or select agents/toxins. (*The University of Maine has defined “infectious agents” as all bacterial, parasitic, fungal, viral, and prion, included within Class 2 or higher classes; See Appendix B of National Institutes of Health [NIH] Guidelines [PDF] [external link].)

For guidance on whether your biohazards work requires IBC or other approvals, view the IBC Registration and Protocol Submission Flow Chart: Flow Chart – Diagram (PDF); Flow Chart – Plain Text (Word).

Questions regarding the IBC may be directed to umric@maine.edu.

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Contact for IBC Questions

 umric@maine.edu