How UNIL supports 190 research units with Optimy
Université de Lausanne (UNIL)
The University of Lausanne (UNIL), based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has more than 190 research units spanning the most diverse academic fields. Some of these research projects require institutional ethical validation, granted by the Research Ethics Commission. UNIL has eight commissions — one per faculty — each with a representative responsible for communicating decisions. In 2019, UNIL decided to implement a digital solution to manage their ethics validation process. That is when they found Optimy.
country: Switzerland | research units: 190+ | faculties: 8 commissions
50 ethics requests per semester — with manual input and email threads
Each semester, the commission receives approximately 50 ethics validation requests, each requiring a rigorous, multi-step review process before a certificate of ethical compliance can be issued. Managing this through manual input and scattered email threads was time-consuming and prone to errors.
- ~50 ethics validation requests per semester, each requiring a structured review process
- Manual data entry and email-based coordination wasting commission team time
- Difficulty sharing files and collaborating across multiple faculty commissions
- Need for better communication tools and document management — ideally in one platform
A clean, trackable review process with team collaboration built in
Optimy gave UNIL's Research Ethics Commission a structured digital workflow for the full validation lifecycle — from initial application through review, decision, and certification. Commission members can now collaborate, share files, and generate documents directly within the tool, with proactive customer success support always available.
- Structured ethics review workflow: Each request follows a defined, trackable process — ensuring consistent evaluation and clear audit trails for every project reviewed.
- In-platform file sharing & document creation: Commission members share relevant files and create new documents from templates directly in Optimy — no third-party platforms needed.
- Team & task delegation tools: Easy creation of teams, team leaders, and delegated tasks — giving everyone clarity on responsibilities without friction.
- Proactive customer success support: When bigger changes or adaptations are needed, the dedicated account executive (William) responds quickly — described as life-changing by the commission coordinator.
Everything findable — and a process the team couldn't manage without
Since adopting Optimy, UNIL's commission team has saved significant time on manual input, established a cleaner review process, and made it easy for all commission members to collaborate and continue a project's progress at any stage. The coordinator reflects that without Optimy, the workload simply could not have been managed.
190+ research units
Across UNIL's diverse academic faculties
8 commissions
One per faculty, all supported through Optimy
50/semester Ethics requests
Managed systematically — each with a clear audit trail
Zero lost files
Everything findable — no documents lost or misplaced
The tool allows us to review more projects in a better way. It's really useful to keep track of each project and track back the evaluation that was done. Now with Optimy, everything is very findable — and without the tool, we wouldn't have managed.
Coordinator of the Commission — UNIL
UNIL's Research Ethics Commission now manages 50+ requests per semester with full traceability, team collaboration, and document generation — all in one platform they describe as indispensable.
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