NSF Mandates Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR) Training

All research proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF) after January 4, 2010 must contain a certification from an OSP authorized official that UGA has a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research for all undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who receive financial support from NSF.

As a matter of policy, UGA will apply this requirement to all personnel employed on NSF research grants unless an individual or group of individuals is granted a written waiver by Regina Smith, Associate Vice President for Research in OVPR.

Currently waivers or exemptions will only be given for:

• high school students/teachers paid a stipend,
• employees working exclusively in an administrative role on an NSF research project
• individuals who have completed a commensurate program of RCR education that can be substituted for the CITI program, and
• employees whose project roles are deemed not related (for example, washing glassware or animal care).

Personnel employed on conference, travel, workshop, or symposium awards from NSF are exempt from the RCR requirement, across the board.

UGA uses an online RCR training program offered by the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) at the University of Miami to ensure appropriate training and documentation of institutional oversight and adherence.

What is CITI?

CITI is the same online program used by the Human Subjects Office to meet the federal training requirements regarding use of human subjects in research. The CITI RCR module is available in four versions: biomedical sciences, physical sciences, behavioral and social sciences, or humanities. Each version covers 7 of 9 generally accepted RCR content topics: scientific misconduct, conflicts of interest, peer review, data collection and management, mentoring, collaborations, and authorship.

CAUTION: CITI’s human subjects training module is different from their RCR module. Make sure you are taking the correct training programs, as there is no overlap between the two programs.

Criteria for Passing

The RCR program will require approximately 3-4 hours. Quizzes require a passing score of 80%. Employees may review the modules and/or take the quizzes as often as necessary to reach a passing score. The modules do not have to be completed in a single sitting.

You have one month from the date you are put on payroll for any NSF research award to complete RCR training. The CITI database will be checked by your department's Business Officer or designee to ensure that any employee added to an NSF research grant payroll (remember -conference, workshop, symposium, and travel awards are exempt from NSF’s RCR requirement) has met this requirement. Personnel paid by a NSF research award who are still on payroll after 30 days and have still not completed RCR training must be removed from payroll until training is completed. It is imperative that no one be placed on an NSF grant payroll without first verifying that training has been completed.

Questions?

Answers to frequently asked questions can be found at http://www.ovpr.uga.edu/training/faqs.

Other questions may be addressed to Dr. Regina Smith, Associate Vice President for Research, reginas@uga.edu or 583-0443.

IMPORTANT NOTE: RCR training mandated by NIH for training grant, Career award, and NSRA recipients cannot be met by use of CITI alone, and requires a very different approach that can only be met by a face-to-face course . See http://www.ovpr.uga.edu/training/boilerplate for more information.