Training - Responsible Conduct of Research

Ensuring the responsible conduct of research is the responsibility of every member of the research community. At the University of Delaware faculty, students, and staff are held to the highest standards of conduct in every aspect of the University’s academic and research charge. In addition to University policies, researchers are subject to a complex set of international, federal, and state rules and regulations that set boundaries and define acceptable practices for the different scientific fields.

It is the objective of this training to inform about the basic rules that apply to the responsible conduct of research; from ethical considerations in performing research, to the appropriate ways of investigating with human subjects or animals, to the permitted used of research funding, among many others. RCR training is designed to provide the research community with a compiled reference to the guidelines and resources available at UD to responsibly conduct research.

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Who is required to complete RCR training?

All members of the UD research community are encouraged and welcomed to participate in RCR training. In addition, several federal funding agencies have distinct requirements as to who needs to complete RCR training:

• Under NIH policy, RCR instruction is to be completed by all trainees, fellows, and scholars receiving NIH support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, and dissertation research grant. Under the NIH requirements RCR training should be taken at least once during each career stage, at a frequency of no less than every four years, and involve substantive contact hours.


• Per NSF requirement, undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers receiving NSF funding to perform research are required to complete RCR training.


• NIFA dictates that program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and any staff participating in a funded research or research-related project receive appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research.

RCR training at UD is provided in two different formats to facilitate participation.

• An in-person RCR all-day training session is offered annually by the Research Office and the Office of Graduate and Professional Education. Traditionally, the program is scheduled at the end of the winter session and includes presentations and interactive discussions on a complete portfolio of topics related to RCR and tailored to UD such as Research Compliance and Research Ethics.
  
  For graduate student participants, attendance will be noted as a non-credit course completion on their transcript. Pre-registration is required, a link will be provided when training becomes available.
• Training can also be completed online through the CITI Program. As an alternative to in-person RCR instruction, training is available online 24/7 to all members of UD. To complete online training, please register at the CITI program site and affiliate with the University of Delaware. Select the Responsible Conduct of Research course from the Member Information page. You must then select the course that corresponds to your status at the University. To successfully complete training you will have to pass all required modules with a minimum passing grade of 85% overall. Once you have completed all training requirements, you will receive a completion report. A copy of the completion report is automatically sent to Research Office.