Project plans

Why does AEM need a project plan?

There are several reasons.

The project plan provides AEM with information about research staff, billing, proper qualifications, and experimental activity, and is used by AEM to keep track of experimental activities at a concrete level.

AEM is expected by various institutions and agencies to keep track of ongoing experimental activities. Our accreditation by AAALAC requires us to perform post-approval monitoring of projects in accordance with the principles described in NRC, 2011. Likewise, the Danish authority, Dyreforsøgstilsynet, and the Faculty expects AEM to have knowledge about current experimental activities. In addition, the Animal Welfare Body is required to follow the outcome of projects and the project plan is an instrument for this. Furthermore, it is necessary for AEM to know when hazardous substances etc. are used, in order to ensure a safe working environment.

But the researcher already described their experiments in the license, so why does AEM need them to repeat it?

 No, we are not asking you to repeat. We want concrete knowledge about the activity that is going on with the animals that are used in the individual experiments. Licenses are often comprehensive and include many different procedures, while individual experiments most often only include part of the license. In the project plan, we ask you to give a short and accurate description of the actual procedures in the individual experiment. This information is used by animal caretakers and veterinarians to support experimental activity. Furthermore, it is used by the veterinarians to ensure that all experimental activities are performed within the limits of the license.

All project plans are valid for two years before expiring after which you must renew it. 

From 1 January in the new year, only project plans starting with a P-number from the new year and project plans with a P-number from the previous year are valid (for example, in 2023 only P23-xxx and P22-xxx are valid). All project plans beginning with a P-number lower than these will be invalid and you cannot order animals or begin a new experiment. If your project plan has expired, we recommend that you submit a new project plan immediately if the experiments are to continue into the new year.

All project plans must be submitted for approval by AEM’s veterinarians via e-mail: emed-projektplaner@sund.ku.dk. Questions and comments regarding this should be sent to the veterinarians by e-mail: emed-vet@sund.ku.dk  and not to the animal keepers in the respective animal sections or units.

Templates for the project plans can be found in the list of our forms and requisitions. Please note that there 3 different types of project plans (experiments with rodents, experiments with other animals, and breeding).