THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH

RESEARCH INVESTIGATOR HANDBOOK

5. BEING RESPONSIBLE

5.5 "RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH" (RCR) Requirement on Federal Awards

Federal training grant proposals normally include a requirement that all trainees are provided with instruction in the "Responsible Conduct of Research" (RCR).   An RCR program normally covers these areas:  ethics, conflict of interest, responsible authorship, policies for handling misconduct, data management, data sharing, and policies regarding the use of human and animal subjects. 

Federal awards that require that RCR training include:

• NIH and NSF training awards (Institutional and Individual Training Awards) for all pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees. 
• Some NIH K (Career Development) awards specifically require RCR training for PIs on these awards.  As there are a variety of K awards, you should review each announcement to determine if RCR training is required.  
• Other federal agencies may also include RCR requirements in training award announcements.      

In all cases, review the terms of each federal training award in detail to see if RCR instruction is required.  

At UCSF, the RCR training requirement may be met in any of the following ways:

• https://www.citiprogram.org/default.asp (online course available through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). Create login and begin course.) 
• http://www.epibiostat.ucsf.edu/courses/schedule/responsible_conduct.html (classroom) 
• http://career.ucsf.edu/ct/ethics.html (classroom) 

For further information contact either Joseph dos Ramos: joseph.dosramos@ucsf.edu or Joan Kaiser:  joan.kaiser@ucsf.edu.