On June 15, 2020, the Chancellor’s Animal Research Committee (ARC) launched the new Research Application Tracking System (RATS 2.0) to replace the legacy RATS (L-RATS) database that had been in use since 2002. Since the June 2020 launch, the research community has worked feverishly to fully populate protocols in RATS 2.0. There have been times when urgent changes have prompted the ARC to accept an amendment submitted in L-RATS; however, these submissions have been limited to administrative changes, such as personnel, funding, and locations, and have been decreasing in frequency.
Just over a month ago, an update to RATS 2.0 was released that allows investigators to request personnel, funding, and location changes without a corresponding amendment when the protocol has not already been fully populated in the new database. Because of these new activities, we will retire L-RATS on August 31, 2021.
Any protocol that was approved in L-RATS at the time RATS 2.0 went live on June 15, 2020, and those protocols that were ‘in flight’ in L-RATS when the new system was launched, will have a corresponding record in RATS 2.0 that includes a PDF of the full approved protocol from L-RATS. Visit the RATS Quick Tips page for instructions on how to locate that PDF.
Any protocol that was expired or closed, and did not have a subsequent continuation or renewal approved in L-RATS after the RATS 2.0 go-live date of June 15, 2020, will not have a record in RATS 2.0. If you require access to a copy of these protocols, please contact the ARC administrative team: arc@research.ucla.edu.
We thank you for your partnership during the first 18 months of RATS 2.0, as we’ve trained personnel, made improvements, and developed standard procedures.