Application for animal testing

The 3R principle (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) generally serves as a guiding principle in dealing with animal experiments and is also consistently applied at RWTH Aachen University: animal experiments are only carried out if they are considered essential and no alternative methods are available. The initiative “Understanding animal experiments ”, coordinated by the Alliance of German Science Organizations, provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on the subject of animal experiments.

In accordance with the RWTH Aachen University Animal Welfare Codex, all applications for animal experiments are first examined by an animal welfare officer and then submitted to the approval authority, the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in Recklinghausen (LANUV), in accordance with the German Animal Welfare Act and the Animal Welfare Experimental Animal Ordinance. Current dates can be found on the Institute's intranet page.

The Institute for Laboratory Animal Science advises on animal welfare issues and offers thematic training and further education - in particular regular seminars on the question of “How to write an animal experiment application”. If you have any questions about new animal experiment applications, you can contact VTK-Tierschutz@ukaachen.de. Questions about animal experiment applications that are currently being processed or approved should be addressed to the responsible animal welfare officers.

Further information on this topic can also be found, for example, at the Foundation (where applications for funding in this area can also be submitted), at the LANUV and at the 3R Competence Network NRW. Here you will also find a large number of Standardized Operating Procedures (SOPs) as a guide to working in an animal-friendly manner.

The Aachen Animal Welfare Prize has been awarded at the Faculty of Medicine for several years.