There are many reasons why research ethics in a University setting are a good thing, the most important being that it ensures that all research work involving humans (and/or animals) is carried out in a way that follows best practice in terms of the rights and entitlements of subjects used in such research.

The Transfer Process:
Transferring Postgraduate Research Students to the PhD Register
School of Computing, Dublin City University

For latest policy document see School Research Committee section on Intranet