Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation requires that at the time of proposal submission Dartmouth has a plan to provide “appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research.”In accordance with the America COMPETES Act (42 USC 1862o–1) and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 (“CHIPS and Science Act”), NSF requires training in the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research for all:

• Undergraduates
• Graduate Students
• Postdocs
• Faculty and other senior personnel

Institutional Responsibilities

An institution must have a plan in place to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and faculty and other senior personnel  who will be supported by NSF to conduct research. For faculty and other senior personnel, the RECR training requirement applies to all proposals submitted or due on or after July 31, 2023, to conduct research. Additional detail regarding the NSF RECR requirements is available in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures (PAPP) Guide and on related NSF webpages.

Source: NSF Award and Administrative Guide, Chapter IV, Grantee Standards

Principal Investigator Responsibilities

As described above and in the NSF PAPPG, RCR training is required for undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs and faculty and other senior personnel paid on NSF grants.  The PI plays an important role in assuring RCR training especially with respect to undergraduates.   See below for recommended options for various roles.

National Institutes of Health

All NIH research training programs are required to consider including instruction on the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). Researchers should understand topics like:

• Conflict of interest
• Responsible authorship
• Policies for handling misconduct, data management, data sharing, as well as properly using human participants and laboratory animals

Information concerning NIH requirements for RCR can be found on the NIH Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) website at https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/research-integrity/rcr 

Please note that NIH requirements specify that  “discussion-based instruction format of instruction”  is “a key feature of RCR training and to include substantive face-to-face interaction among participants and faculty. However, recognizing that advances in video conferencing now allow for effective face-to-face discussions to occur electronically, institutions may wish to consider incorporating video conferencing options into their RCR instruction, provided that those options are utilized in a way that fosters discussion, active learning, engagement, and interaction among the participants.”    As such, CITI training is likely not an option to fulfill NIH RCR requirements.  However, other options outlined on this website will fulfil NIH requirements.  

Options for RCR/RECR by Role

Graduate Students

All first year graduate students at Dartmouth are currently required to complete an in-person facilitated ethics training. This is an institution-wide program of training in the basics of professional ethics. Information can be found in the Graduate Studies Office and on-line at: http://graduate.dartmouth.edu/support/training/ethics-training. 

This program has been in place for several years and meets the requirement for NSF RCR training for graduate students. 

Postdocs

There are three options to fulfill the RCR requirement.

Complete the in-person Spring Postdoc Responsible & Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) Workshop Series   This workshop series provides postdocs the opportunity to discuss responsible and ethical conduct in research, including topics connected to professionalism, authorship, mentoring, data collection, and rigor and reproducibility. Developed by the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies in collaboration with the Ethics Institute at Dartmouth, this interactive series involves five two-hour face-to-face sessions. Case studies will be used to provide a framework for discussions on ethical issues occurring in scientific research and foster discussions on a range of topics of practical relevance to junior scientists. There will be approximately 30 minutes of prep for each session. This series is aligned with NIH expectations for postdoctoral trainees supported by National Research Service Awards.

Complete the in-person facilitated ethics training for first-year graduate students (described above), usually offered in Fall term.

Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI)  Dartmouth has been a member of this on-line training program for several years. The program has recently added Responsible Conduct in Research modules for: Biomedical; Social & Behavioral Studies; Physical Science; and Humanities. Within each module are seven sections: Introduction; Research Misconduct; Data Acquisition and Management; Peer Review; Mentor & Trainee Responsibilities; Conflict of Interest; and Collaborative Research. Each section will take approximately 20 – 30 minutes to complete. The modules does not need to be completed all at once.

Faculty and Other Senior Personnel 

The Office of Sponsored Projects and Office of Research Integrity have developed an in-house training for PIs and other senior key personnel who may need to fulfill NSF RCR requirements.   The training is available in Dartmouth’s online learning system in Canvas.    All PIs and Senior Key Personnel on NSF grants are required to have training in the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RCR): NSF Award and Administrative Guide, Chapter IV, Grantee Standards.  To comply with the requirement, log into Canvas to self-enroll in the Dartmouth RCR Refresher Course at this link: https://canvas.dartmouth.edu/enroll/KAPWHR 

Undergraduate Students

CITI Training will fulfill the undergraduate requirement. The PI has the responsibility to help the student register for the option that she/he wishes to take.

Who should I contact if I have questions?

For questions on sponsor requirements:

Director, Research Integrity

or

Jill Mortali, Director, Office of Sponsored Projects

For questions related to Postdoc training:

Cindy Rosalbo

Senior Associate Director, DCAL
Director of Postdoctoral Affairs, Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies