Government licensing
The use of animals in research is governed by UK and European law. The Home Office is responsible for a three-tier system of licensing.
The College as a whole holds a Home Office licence for animal research, and each researcher who works with animals and each new project involving animals requires a separate Home Office licence.
Government legislation only permits animal experiments when there is no other alternative and when the expected benefits outweigh adverse effects.
- You can read the Imperial College policy on the use of animals for research (pdf).
- You can read more about UK regulation on the Home Office website
How animal research is overseen at Imperial
Animal research at Imperial is overseen by a Governance Board chaired by the Vice Provost Professor Mary Ryan. It oversees the work of four other groups at the College with responsibility for ethical review, quality assurance, ‘the 3Rs’ and rooms that have been approved for use in animal research.
The Governance Board for Animal Research reports to the Provost’s Board and the President’s Board, which in turn reports to the College Council.
The Board oversees three animal research ethics committees called AWERBs (Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body). The two Ancillary AWERBs also report to the central AWERB.
The Board also oversees the Management and Strategy Group for Animal Research. This group is responsible for the Advisory Groups on Quality Assurance, the 3Rs and Designated Rooms, as well as three Operations Groups that correspond to the three campuses.
Imperial has a strong track record for its work to replace, refine and reduce the use of animals in research. The College has a 
At Imperial, the vast majority of work with animals takes place in specialist facilities. However, there are some occasions where this is not feasible. For example, an academic may need to use a large piece of equipment, such as a magnetic resonance imaging scanner, which cannot be practically accommodated in our animal facilities.