BASEC – Quick Start Guide

1. What is BASEC?

BASEC (Business Administration System for Ethics Committees) is the online portal you must use to submit applications for research projects according to the Human Research Act (HRA). All seven research ethics committees in Switzerland use BASEC to receive and manage research projects.

2. Registration & Access

Portal Link: https://submissions.swissethics.ch/en/

Register:
- Click Login (top/bottom right corner).
- Under Create a new account, enter your email (ideally, the email address should be your work email address) and choose a password.
- Click on Create my account.
- You will receive an email with a confirmation link. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your account.
Log in:
- Use the same Login button.
- Enter your registered email and password.

3. My Account

Manage personal data: If you complete the fields in this section, you will later be able to import them automatically in the submission forms.

Change email address: If you change your email address, all your projects will be registered with the new email address. After the change, you’ll need to use the new email address to log in.

If you want to permanently delete your account, please write to info@swissethics.ch

4. Submitting a new application (clinical trial, research project)

Click Submit a new application (top menu).
Select the relevant Research Project Application Form.

Applications submitted with the wrong forms are rejected. In case of uncertainty, ask the competent Ethics committee before starting the procedure.
Fill in the dynamic screens.
- Mandatory fields marked with * must be completed (red warnings will appear on screen 14 if the application form is incomplete).
Upload study documents on screen 6.
- If your project involves more than one research site, you have to use one or several of the screens 7-13 to add additional centres and documents.
- Mandatory study documents are marked with *
Finalize submission on screen 14:
- In the section Submission Details and comments tick the appropriate checkbox, e.g. 1.1 first submission of this project, as appropriate.
- Update the section with each submission.
- Validate and Submit (click on the Submit button at the bottom of the screen).
- If the submission is successful, you will receive an email “acknowledgment of receipt” within few minutes.

Notes:

Entries in the application forms are saved automatically. You can interrupt your work at any time, log out of BASEC and login again and restart the work where you have left it (see below “manage my applications”).

Project drafts with no submission yet will be kept in the system for 6 months after the last modification.

Do NOT create multiple forms for the same project. If you already have a new application in draft mode, the button in the section Submit a new application / Form(s) available will read Continue with your application(s).

You can invite collaborators via your account. The procedure to do so is given in the FAQ “How to collaborate on a submission”.

Submitted applications forms are given a BASEC unique identification number in the format: YYYY-xxxxx (e.g. 2026-03628).

After you have successfully submitted the application form and the study has started:

For the submission of additional documents / amendments etc., follow the instructions described here.
For the submission of safety reports (SAE, SUSAR, DSUR, etc.), use the dedicated Safety notification and reporting form and follow the instructions in this FAQ-article. Submitted safety forms are given a BASEC unique identification number in the format: SN_YYYY-xxxxx (e.g. SN_2026-00498).
There should be only one safety submission form per research project.
For the notification of study end, follow the instructions described here.
Consult the BASEC FAQ section for any other questions.

5. Manage my applications

After you have started your application, it will be available in the section "My account / Manage my applications". You can edit it until you decide to submit.

You can delete your application forms that are in draft mode. You can’t delete application forms that have been submitted to the Ethics committee and have been assigned a BASEC ID number.

The lock indicates if the application form is open for modifications or not.

If you need to update your application form, but this is locked, or if you want to request a transfer of the project form to another account, write an email to the competent Ethics committee. You will find the contact details of the Ethics committees in this FAQ-article.

You can create a PDF of your application:

for locked projects: click on the three dots, then on view and on download / print this project
for unlocked projects: as above, use the three dots menu, click on view and then on continue. Then move to the last screen of the project and use the button on the left to download a pdf

6. Submission of an ‘Advice on ethical questions/comments on research projects not subject to the HRA’

Please follow the instructions in this FAQ-article.

Submitted forms are given a BASEC unique identification number in the format: AO_YYYY-xxxxx (e.g. 2AO_2026-00328).

7. Clarification of Responsibility/Support Request/Research Project in accordance with the Stem Cell Research Act (StRA)

Click on Submit an application (top menu).
Select the type of request from the drop-down list
Fill out the form and submit

Notes:

The full procedure and the template “brief description of the project” for the submission of the Clarification of responsibility are given in this FAQ-Article.

Fees may apply for Clarification of responsibility. Contact the competent Ethics committee if you have any questions about the fees.

Submitted forms are given a BASEC unique identification number in the format: Req-YYYY-xxxxx (e.g. Req-2026-00628).

8. Need help?

Consult the BASEC FAQ section.
Contact the competent Ethics Committee for questions on your submission / project (Link).
Contact swissethics for questions on BASEC: info@swissethics.ch

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