Responsible Conduct of Research Training

NIH requires that all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, and dissertation research grant must receive instruction in responsible conduct of research. The requirements are found in NOT-OD-10-019 and apply to all new and renewal applications submitted on or after January 25, 2010, and for all continuation (Type 5) applications with deadlines on or after January 1, 2011. The Notice applies to the following programs: D43, D71, F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F37, F38, K01, K02, K05, K07, K08, K12, K18, K22, K23, K24, K25, K26, K30, K99/R00, KL1, KL2, R25, R36, T15, T32, T34, T35, T36, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TU2, and U2R. This policy also applies to any other NIH-funded programs supporting research training, career development, or research education that require instruction in responsible conduct of research as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements.

NIH has determined that “online instruction is not considered adequate as the sole means of instruction” and face to face training is required. Instruction should involve substantive contact hours between the trainees/fellows/scholars/participants and the participating faculty.  Acceptable programs generally involve at least eight contact hours.

Instruction must be undertaken at least once during each career stage, and at a frequency of no less than once every four years.  Senior fellows and career award recipients (including F33, K02, K05, and K24 awardees) may fulfill the requirement for instruction in responsible conduct of research by participating as lecturers and discussion leaders.  To meet the above requirements, instruction in responsible conduct of research may take place, in appropriate circumstances, in a year when the trainee, fellow or career award recipient is not actually supported by an NIH grant.

New (Type 1) applications must include a plan for instruction in responsible conduct of research.  In addition to addressing the five instructional components, the plan must describe how participation in instruction in responsible conduct of research will be monitored.  Renewal (Type 2) applications must, in addition, describe changes in formal instruction over the past project period and plans for the future that address any weaknesses in the current instruction in responsible conduct of research.  All training faculty who served as course directors, speakers, lecturers, and/or discussion leaders during the past project period must be named in the application.

Special consideration is given for specific types of awards including short-term training and research education programs.  This includes T35 and R25 programs lasting six or fewer months, short-term trainees supported on T15, T32 and T34 programs, and short-term participants in R25 programs. NOT-OD-10-019 states that the duration of RCR instruction should be appropriate for the total duration of the program and should be justified in the application. In this instance, online instruction may be appropriate. 

NIH expects that course attendance is monitored and that a certificate or documentation of participation is available upon course completion.  NIH does not require certification of compliance or submission of documentation, but expects institutions to maintain records sufficient to demonstrate that NIH-supported trainees, fellows, and scholars have received the required instruction.

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-019.html

LSU requirement – LSU requires that all Principal Investigators (PIs), as well as all other faculty, staff and students required to complete instruction in RCR, maintain appropriate records and documentation regarding their RCR training.  Annually, PIs are required to certify that they are in compliance with NOT-OD-10-019 by completing the NIH RCR Annual Certification form and submitting it by email or mail to the Office of Research and Economic Development.

Click here to download the NIH RCR Training form 

Louisiana State University’s Implementation and Oversight Plan July 31, 2023

The ethical and responsible conduct of research is an obligation fundamental to the process of scholarly inquiry. It benefits the entire LSU community to ensure that everyone engaged in scholarly work has received appropriate and rigorous training in matters pertaining to the ethical and responsible conduct of research.

In compliance with the amended NSF Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training requirement stemming from section 7009 of the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 1862o-1), LSU has adopted a revised implementation and oversight plan to ensure appropriate instruction in the responsible conduct of research for undergraduate, graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, faculty and other senior personnel who will be supported by NSF to conduct research. The is required by LSU for NSF projects that are awarded on or after July 31, 2023.   

The training to meet the RCR requirement for relevant members of the LSU community will be attained via the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative, found at https://www.citiprogram.org/. There are six discipline specific RCR courses and it is up to the Principal Investigator to determine which of these is most appropriate for the students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty or other senior personnel who are supported by NSF to conduct research on this project.

These are the six RCR training courses:

• Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research Course
• Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research Course
• Physical Science Responsible Conduct of Research Course
• Humanities Responsible Conduct of Research Course
• Responsible Conduct of Research for Engineers
• Responsible Conduct of Research for Administrators

It is the responsibility of the PI to ensure that all covered parties are in compliance with the RCR requirements. Once the PI determines which course is most appropriate for students (graduate or undergraduate), postdoctoral scholars, faculty or other senior personnel who are supported by NSF to conduct research on this project, the following procedures should be followed:

1. The PI will develop and maintain a list of all students (graduate or undergraduate), postdoctoral scholars, faculty or other senior personnel who are supported by NSF to conduct research on this project.  This list must be updated when additional students (graduate or undergraduate), postdoctoral scholars, faculty or other senior personnel are added to the project. 
2. The PI will instruct the persons on this list to register for and to complete RCR certification through the CITI Program within 90 days of their beginning work on the project.
3. Upon successful certification, registrants should print out the completion certificate, and provide a copy to the PI.
4. The PI will complete the NSF Responsible Conduct of Training Form and attach copies of the CITI certificates. Email the form and CITI Certificates to the Office of Research & Economic Development at oredcompliance@lsu.edu.  When new personnel are added to the project, they should be directed to complete the appropriate RCR course, and the CITI certificate should be forwarded to the Office of Research and Economic Development.

This training is required for the groups that are named above. All members of the campus community are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this important professional enhancement opportunity.

Click here to download the NSF RCR Training form 

USDA’s NIFA requires training in responsible conduct of research for program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and any staff participating in the research project. NIFA requires that documentation of training be maintained and that it is subject to NIFA review upon request. See page 5 of the February 2014 Terms and Conditions.

The training to meet the RCR requirement for relevant members of the LSU community will be attained via the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative, found at https://www.citiprogram.org/Default.asp. There are six discipline specific modules, and it is up to the Principal Investigator to determine which of these is most appropriate for his/her faculty, students, staff, or postdoctoral scholars that participate in the research project.

These include RCR training in:

• Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research Course
• Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research Course
• Physical Science Responsible Conduct of Research Course
• Humanities Responsible Conduct of Research Course
• Responsible Conduct of Research for Engineers
• Responsible Conduct of Research for Administrators

It is the responsibility of the PI to ensure that all covered parties are in compliance with the RCR requirements. Once the PI determines which module is most appropriate for individuals associated with the project, the following procedures should be followed:

1. The PI will develop and maintain a list of all program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and any staff participating in the research project.
2. The PI will instruct the persons on this list to register for and receive RCR certification through the CITI Program within 90 days of beginning work on the project or before the end of the project, whichever comes first.
3. Upon successful certification, registrants should print out the completion certificate, and provide a copy to the PI.
4. The PI will complete the USDA NIFA Responsible Conduct of Training Form and attach copies of the CITI certificates. Email the form and CITI Certificates to the Office of Research & Economic Development.

Click here to download the USDA NIFA Training form