NSF and NIH Training Plans
National Science Foundation RCR Training Plan
Completion of RCR training is mandatory for all undergraduate and graduate students, and postdocs supported on any National Science Foundation (NSF) award. If this applies to you, you must complete the RCR training within the first budgetary period (usually the first year) of the date you begin charging such an NSF award. There are two ways to complete your required RCR training:
Online, via the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). RCR training using CITI is highly recommended and takes about five hours to complete. Within CITI, you may select the appropriate RCR course related to your professional interests (e.g., biomedical, social and behavioral, physical science and engineering, or humanities).
In person via lecture/classroom settings. Students and postdocs also have the option of taking RCR courses that are available in lecture/classroom settings. For those who select this option, they can take a minimum of eight (8) hours of approved in-person RCR instruction.
To identify in-person training opportunities, visit the Office of Research Integrity & Compliance (ORIC) training page and look for event listings in OVPR’s Research Updates e-newsletter.
National Institutes of Health RCR Training Plan
Students, faculty and other researchers supported on certain National Institutes of Health (NIH) training, career development, research education, and dissertation research grants[1] are required to take eight hours of live RCR training :
- at least once during each career stage throughout a scientist’s career (e.g. at the undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, predoctoral, postdoctoral, and faculty levels); and
- at a frequency of no less than once every four years.
The Office of the Vice President for Research provides this training through lectures, workshops, and courses that are qualified for RCR live training credit. To identify in-person training opportunities, visit the ORIC training page and look for event listings in OVPR’s Research Updates e-newsletter.
Visit the NIH Office of Research Integrity website
[1] This NIH requirement applies to the following programs: D43, D71, F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F37, F38, K01, K02, K05, K07, K08, K12, K18, K22, K23, K24, K25, K26, K30, K99/R00, KL1, KL2, R25, R36, T15, T32, T34, T35, T36, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TU2, and U2R. This policy also applies to any other NIH-funded programs supporting research training, career development, or research education that require instruction in responsible conduct of research as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements.