Registration Information and Forms

The University of Maryland’s Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is now using BioRAFT, a new management system for protocols submitted to the IBC. The old management system will not be available by the end of the week of August 15th . After that time all new registrations and renewals will have to be submitted via BioRAFT.

Previously approved protocols will eventually be accessible as attached PDF's in a PI's lab dashboard in BioRAFT. Please contact biosafety@umd.edu if you need a PDF copy of your protocol or amendment and one is not available in your "documents" tab in BioRAFT.

Amendments to existing protocols can still be submitted using the current amendment form which is then emailed to biosafety@umd.edu.

If you have any issues with BioRAFT and need help please feel free to contact biosafety@umd.edu with the "BioRAFT Questions" in the Subject line.

Registration is required for research involving:

• Recombinant or synthetic nucleic acids
• Infectious agents
• Non-human primate unfixed tissues and primary cell culture
• Human unfixed tissues, blood, and cell culture

Online registrations are valid for a period of four years.

Regulations and Guidelines

• NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules (NIH Guidelines)
• University of Maryland's Summary of the NIH Guidelines and PI's Responsibilities
• Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories
• National Select Agent Registry
• National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB)

Educational Resources

• Biosafety Considerations for Research with Lentiviral Vectors
• Major Actions under Section III-A Requiring NIH Director Approval - Deliberate Transfer of Drug Resistance to a Microorganism
• Animal Activities Covered under the NIH Guidelines
• FAQs on Experiments Exempt from NIH Guidelines
• FAQs Concerning IBCs
• University of Maryland's Online Training
• UMD Biosafety Manual