UW Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training Plan

1  Background

The University of Wyoming (UW) is committed to supporting responsible and ethical conduct of research and scholarship among its faculty, staff and students. Responsible conduct of research should foster a climate of intellectual honesty and a commitment to ethical responsibilities by academia. All members of the University community share responsibility for developing and maintaining standards to assure ethical conduct of research and detection of abuse of these standards.

The University of Wyoming’s Research and Economic Development Division provides guidance and support for the implementation of training for Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). This RCR Institutional Training Plan has been developed to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research.
Responsible and ethical conduct of research is critical for excellence, as well as public trust, in science and engineering. Consequently, education in RCR is considered an essential in the preparation of future scientist and engineers.

2  Requirements

The RCR training courses are available to everyone at UW and the UW research community is encouraged to go through the training. However, the RCR training is mandatory for those supported by NSF, NIH and USDA NIFA as stated below and encouraged for everyone else anticipating support:

2.1  National Science Foundation (COMPETES ACT, 42 U.S.C. 1862O-1)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) requires that at the time of proposal submission to NSF, a proposing institution’s authorized representative certify that the institution has a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will be supported by NSF to conduct research. While the RCR institutional plan are not required to be included in the proposals submitted to NSF, the institution is required to have a plan in place. NSF may request a copy of the plan at any time. This policy applies to all proposals submitted on or after January 4, 2010.

There is no action required by the PI at the time of proposal.

2.2  National Institutes of Health (NOT-OD-10-019)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, and dissertation research grant must receive training in RCR. This policy is effective with all new and renewal applications submitted on or after January 23, 2010, and for all continuation (Type 5) applications with deadlines on or after January 11, 2011.

An RCR plan will need to be included within the proposal and in some cases the solicitation may request that a copy of the RCR Institutional Plan be submitted with the proposal. In order to meet each program’s requirement, follow the directions on the specific solicitation.

2.3  U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

USDA,National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) requires that program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and any staff participating in the research project receive appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research and that documentation of such training will be maintained. Grantees are advised that the documentation of the training is subject to NIFA review upon request. This policy is effective for award subject to the February 2013 (and subsequent) Research Terms and Conditions.

There is no action required by the PI at the time of proposal.

3  RCR online training program

The UW Research and Economic Office has registered with the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) program to allow UW affiliated researchers the opportunity to participate in online research ethics education. The CITI RCR course is available to the entire UW community and can be accessed through the Research and Economic Development Division website at www.uwyo.edu/research/compliance/responsible-conduct.html.
The RCR courses available:
•    Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research Course
•    Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research Course
•    Physical Science Responsible Conduct of Research Course
•    Humanities Responsible Conduct of Research Course
•    Responsible Conduct of Research for Engineers
•    Responsible Conduct of Research for Administrators The RCR modules include:
•    Research Misconduct
•    Data Management
•    Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship
•    Conflicts of Interest
•    Collaborative Research
•    Mentor/Trainee Responsibilities
•    Human Subjects
•    Animal Welfare

UW recognizes that training in RCR is most effective in the context of the day-to-day activities of the trainees. Principal Investigators are expected to make RCR part of their discussions with postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students, which will foster interaction among faculty and students.

4 Occurence of RCR training

UW encourages Principal Investigators to promote that graduate students, undergraduate students, and postdoctoral researchers obtain the online RCR training as soon after being hired on the sponsored project.

5  Responsibility of RCR

It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigators of NSF, NIH and USDA NIFA funded projects to ensure that all appropriate training has been completed by all appropriate personnel associated with the funded work. The Research and Economic Development Division will, on a periodic basis, monitor completion of CITI training. The PI will be notified of any individuals who have not satisfied this training requirement.

6  Iinstructions to take RCR online training

To register for the on-line course, please visit www.citiprogram.org/ and select "New users register here." Create an account, choose the University of Wyoming, and pick the RCR learner group appropriate for your discipline.

If you have any questions, please contact Farrell Rapp at 307-766-2047.