Research Office announces update to training requirements

3:32 p.m., Aug. 23, 2013--The University of Delaware Research Office has announced a major update to the training requirement for researchers working with human subjects at UD. 

UD policy (Research policy 6-4) and federal law require research involving living human subjects to be reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). All investigators (UD faculty, staff and students) working with human subjects (i.e., directly interacting with participants, or having access to identifiable private information) are obligated to complete formal training in the protection of human subjects prior to seeking review and approval from the IRB. 

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Effective immediately, UD will only accept online completion of training in the protection of human subjects from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program as proof of fulfillment of the training requirement. Additionally, all personnel actively engaged in research with human subjects must complete a refresher course every three years to maintain their trained status.

To complete online training, register at the CITI site and affiliate with the University of Delaware. Depending on your field of study, select either the Biomedical or the Social and Behavioral Basic Human Subjects course. You must then select the Learner Group that corresponds to your current status at the University (e.g., graduate students must select the Graduate Students Learner Group). 

A refresher course from CITI must be completed within three years of the date of the initial training (basic course) and every three years thereafter.

To successfully complete training, a minimum overall passing grade of 85 percent is a requisite. Once the training requirement has been fulfilled, a completion report is generated. A copy of the completion report is automatically sent to the Research Office.

For all currently trained research personnel actively engaged in research, the following will apply:

• If the most recent training completed is the Human Subjects Research Basic Course from CITI and was finished within the last three years, no action is needed until that training expires. In order to maintain trained status, a refresher course needs to be completed on or before the three-year expiration date of the original training, and every three years thereafter. 
• If current training is older than three years (prior to September 2010), the Human Subjects Research Basic Course from CITI needs to be completed. A refresher course will then have to be completed within three years of the original training date and every three years thereafter.
• Please note that while Research Office staff are available to introduce the topic of human subjects research to students during scheduled classes, attending those presentations will not be considered fulfillment of the training requirement. In-person training no longer will be offered.

If you have questions about this notice, contact hsrb-research@udel.edu or 831-2137.