Project Amendments

Investigators and study personnel have the responsibility to adhere to the study protocol approved by the AEEC. No amendment to any approved study document shall be implemented without the AEEC’s approval, except where necessary to eliminate any immediate hazard to animals or personnel. Amendments may be made at the request of the AEEC or the Attending Veterinarian.

Application for Amendments

In the event that any amendment or change needs to be made to the approved protocol, the principal investigator shall submit an application for amendment to the AEEC using the AEEC’s specified form. The investigators shall also submit amendment request to the Department of Health to update the Animal License if necessary.

The amendment requests maybe submitted by the PI or his/her designee of the approved project. The PI may be asked to confirm the request via email if necessary and the AEEC may request additional information from the PI for review process. Please reply promptly to the AEEC secretariats to prevent delays of your amendment.

Please quote your project AEEC number, amendment reference # and date when you make enquiries to the AEEC office.
Please note the following amendments CANNOT be requested using this process:
  • Change in the animal species used
  • Adding procedures that do not logically relate to the specific aims of the original protocol
  • Unrelated change in the scientific aims of the original protocol application
  • Switching from non-survival to survival surgery
  • Switching from single to multiple survival surgeries on the same animal
A new protocol application must be submitted to incorporate any of the above changes, as the AEEC is required to review new issues arising related to animal welfare.

​Before submitting the Amendment

  1. Please check if your animal licenses are still valid
  2. Make your amendments on the latest AEEC approved version only (Please ask the AEEC secretariat if you do not have the approved forms)
  3. Highlight your changes will assist the secretariats for quicker process
  4. Refer to the documentation checklist and provide supporting information for the request
Please make your amendment requests here (for applications on word forms only):
*applications made on the tick@lab portal should use the amendment tab on tick@lab

Annual Report  (Will be implemented in late 2023)

​The AEEC shall keep track of the updated status of each approved study through reviewing once a year from the date of the initial approval and during the period of the study. All animal use protocols will be required to submit an annual report of animal usage, and may be subjected to additional review if deemed required by the AEEC considering the potential risk of a study.
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The principal investigator will have the responsibility to submit the annual report on his/her study to the AEEC within one month of the reporting period on the Tick@lab platform.
A reminder will be automatically sent by the tick@lab system. Please fill in the annual report form within 30 days.
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Failure to Submit Progress Report

​In the event that a principal investigator fails to submit a progress report to the AEEC by the deadline, the AEEC may refuse accepting any new application submitted by the principal investigator and his/her participation in any new animal study, until the progress report is properly submitted and an approval is received from the AEEC.

Projects will be closed automatically by the tick@lab system if no annual report is submitted after 30 days. 

​Please contact the AEEC office at aeec@cuhk.edu.hk if you wish to re-open your projects.