Federal RCR training requirements

NIH requires that all individuals who receive support from an NIH training grant, an individual career development award (institutional or individual), research education grant, or dissertation research grant must receive instruction in responsible conduct of research. This policy applies to all new and renewal applications submitted on or after Jan. 25, 2010 and all continuation applications on or after Jan. 1, 2011. 

NIH programs covered include: 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. 

The requirement also applies to any other NIH-funded programs supporting research training, career development or research education that require instruction in responsible conduct of research.

All levels of personnel are subject to the NIH RCR requirement. This includes undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral and staff researchers, principal investigators, and senior/key personnel.

Format of instruction

A key feature of the NIH RCR requirement is in-person contact hours of training. Generally, 8 hours of in-person training is required, although there is some flexibility for short programs. The online CITI Program RCR Basic Course covers all required content elements and may be used to supplement in-person instruction. NIH curriculum content requirements, which were expanded in 2022, are listed below, with added content noted in bold: 

1. Conflict of interest personal, professional, and financial and conflict of commitment, in allocating time, effort, or other research resources
2. Policies regarding human subjects, live vertebrate animal subjects in research, and safe laboratory practices
3. Mentor/mentee responsibilities and relationships
4. Safe research environments (e.g., those that promote inclusion and are free of sexual, racial, ethnic, disability and other forms of discriminatory harassment)
5. Collaborative research, including collaborations with industry and investigators and institutions in other countries
6. Peer review, including the responsibility for maintaining confidentiality and security in peer review
7. Data acquisition and analysis; laboratory tools (e.g., tools for analyzing data and creating or working with digital images); record-keeping practices, including methods such as electronic laboratory notebooks
8. Secure and ethical data use; data confidentiality, management, sharing, and ownership
9. Research misconduct and policies for handling misconduct
10. Responsible authorship and publication
11. The scientist as a responsible member of society, contemporary ethical issues in biomedical research, and the environmental and societal impacts of scientific research

Timing and frequency of RCR training

Per NIH policy, RCR training must be completed the sooner of once every 4 years or in the first year of every career stage. 

NSF requires all individuals supported on any NSF award to have training in the responsible and ethical conduct of research. This requirement applies to all awards submitted or received after July 31, 2023. 

All levels of personnel are required to complete RCR training. This includes undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, faculty and research staff named or supported on NSF-funded projects. 

Format of instruction

The online CITI Program RCR Basic Course fulfills the NSF RCR requirement. There is an additional requirement for faculty mentors to have specific mentorship training. The Office of Faculty Affairs coordinates the faculty mentorship training. In addition, CITI offers a 1-hour webinar on mentorship that is separate from the RCR Basic Course. 

Timing and frequency of instruction

• PIs, co-Is, and named senior or key personnel on a project must have documentation of RCR training at the time of award. Documentation of RCR training is required for PIs, co-I's and named senior personnel on an award prior to award setup and release of award funds.
   
• Students, postdocs and other research personnel supported by the NSF award are required to complete RCR training within 30 days of employment.

After the award is activated, PIs are responsible for identifying new project personnel who may need to complete the RCR Basic Course. At the time of hire, PIs should email rcrtraining@ku.edu with the individual’s name and KU email address so the RCR administrator can verify RCR training and coordinate registration for CITI training if necessary. Training must be completed within 30 days of registration.

USDA-NIFA requires that all individuals supported by USDA-NIFA funding complete training in the responsible and ethical conduct of research. 

Format of instruction

General content, at minimum, must focus on research ethics related to authorship and plagiarism, data and research integration, and reporting misconduct. The online CITI Program RCR Basic Course fulfills the USDA-NIFA RCR requirement. 

Timing and frequency of instruction

• PIs, co-Is, and named senior or key personnel on a project must have documentation of RCR training at the time of award. Going forward, documentation of RCR training will be required for PIs, co-I's and named senior personnel on an award prior to award setup and release of award funds.
   
• Students, postdocs and other research personnel supported by the USDA-NIFA are required to complete RCR training within 30 days of employment.

After the award is activated, PIs are responsible for identifying new project personnel who may need to complete the RCR Basic Course. At the time of hire, PIs should email rcrtraining@ku.edu with the individual’s name and KU email address so the RCR administrator can verify RCR training and coordinate registration for CITI training if necessary. Training must be completed within 30 days of registration.