Responsible Conduct of Research Training Information

NSF’s award policies include a requirement for training in the Responsible Conduct of Research for all graduate students, undergraduate students and post docs working on NSF grants. The CITI RCR training module and exam below must be completed by all students and post docs supported by NSF funds.

National Institute of Food and Agriculture policy 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. The CITI RCR training module and exam below must be completed by all individuals involved with the NIFA project.

The National Institutes of Health 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 instruction in responsible conduct of research and applies to all programs that require instruction in responsible conduct of research as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements. In addition to online training, NIH policy requires at a minimum, 8 hours of face-to-face instruction in responsible conduct of research. To comply with this, the University of Idaho offers the CITI RCR training module and in addition, offers training seminars that cover the following topics:

     a. policies regarding human subjects, live vertebrate animal subjects in research, and safe laboratory practices
     b. research misconduct and polices for handling misconduct
     c. mentor/mentee responsibilities and relationships
     d. collaborative science
     e. peer review
     f. data management
     g. publication/authorship
     h. the scientist as a responsible member of society, contemporary ethical issues 

BIO 553 also satisfies the RCR training requirement in lieu of attending the seminars

1. Go to citiprogram.org.
2. Click on the Register button on the home screen.
3. Type University of Idaho in the text box to affiliate yourself with our institution then press Continue to Step 2.
4. Step 2 requests that you enter your first and last name along with your email address.
   • Enter your name as you would like it to appear on your completion report received at the end of the course.
   • While not required, they do encourage entering a secondary email address. It will assist in the recovery of your account if you forget your username or password and no longer have access to your primary email address.
5. At step 3 you will choose a username and password for your account. Please follow the on screen instructions. Passwords are case sensitive.
   • During this step you will also select and answer a security question. This question will be used to assist in the recovery of your account if you have forgotten your username or password. Please select a question that is applicable to you and you can comfortably answer for the tech support team.
6. Step 4 collects demographic information. All information provided is voluntary. Use the blue information question marks for more information on specific categories.
7. Professionals seeking credit for CITI Program courses can make their selection for Continuing Education (CE) credits during Step 5. Please note that CE credits is not required for completion of courses for University of Idaho purposes.
8. Step 6 is institution-specific. The Institutional email address is your UI email address. Please specify if you are an undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral student under the Job Title field.
9. The questions in Step 7 enroll you in CITI Program course. Please read each question carefully and check the box(es) you wish to take. Check "not at this time" if the topic does not apply to you. 
   • Export Controls (Question 2)
   • Responsible Conduct of Research (Question 3)
     • Choose the appropriate RCR group.
       • SBE - Social, Behavioral, Educational Research
       •  Biomed - This would be appropriate if doing more biomedical research
   • Conflict of Interest (Question 4)
10. If your registration is complete, click on Finalize Registration.
    • Your learner account registration is complete.
      On the Main Menu, click on the course name to begin the course. If you need to change your course registration, click on "Add a Course or Update Learner Group."

1. Go to citiprogram.org and log in with your username and password.
2. Ensure you are affiliated with the University of Idaho. If you are not, go to the Main Menu and click on Click here to affiliate with another institution.
3. Type "University of Idaho" in the text box.
4. Once affiliated, enroll in CITI Program courses. Please read each question carefully, and check the box(es) that match your applicable "learner group." The University of Idaho currently offers learner groups within the following training topics:
   1. Export Controls (Question 2)
   2. Responsible Conduct of Research (Question 3)
      Choose the appropriate RCR group.
      1. SBE - Social, Behavioral, Educational Research
      2. Biomed - This would be appropriate if doing more biomedical research
   3. Conflict of Interest (Question 4)
5. Click Submit
6. On the Main Menu, select University of Idaho Courses and click on the course name to begin.
   If you need to change your course registration, click on Add a Course or Update Learner Group.