Division of Research
Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training
Fulfilling Agency RCR Requirements
Options at Brown include three in-person RCR courses, which are administered over the course of several weeks in multiple two-hour weekly sessions, as well as an online course offered through CITI. Each of these options satisfy specific federal requirements; view additional information about RCR requirements on the agency guidance pages.
Brown provides templates for each of its RCR courses that can be used for National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) grant applications. The templates describe each RCR program currently offered at Brown, and address the five required instructional components outlined in the NIH Policy on Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research. Templates can be modified and should be augmented, if necessary, with applicant-specific information.
Including RCR Plans in Proposals
Which RCR Course Do I Need?
The NIFA RCR training requirement should be fulfilled by completion of the CITI online course.
The NIH RCR training requirement can be fulfilled with any of Brown’s in-person RCR courses. Since NIH RCR training requires an in-person instruction component, completion of the CITI online RCR module alone does not fulfill the NIH requirements.
The NIH requires that RCR training be completed at least once during each career stage (i.e., undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and faculty levels), and at a frequency of no less than once every four years.
Postdocs and junior faculty who have completed RCR programs in the past may fulfill RCR program requirements of NIH Individual Fellowship and Research Career Development awards by teaching or facilitating discussion sessions for BEARCORE. If you would like to discuss options for this opportunity, please contact the Office of Research Integrity.
The NSF RCR training requirement can be fulfilled with any of Brown’s in-person RCR courses or by completing the RCR CITI online course. Brown strongly recommends that all trainees supported by NSF-sponsored projects complete an in-person course if time and space allow.
Completion of other modules available in CITI (e.g., human subjects research modules) does not fulfill the NSF RCR training requirement. You must take the RCR CITI course.
The NSF defers to each institution to determine the frequency of RCR training for its NSF-supported trainees. Brown encourages NSF trainees to follow the same training frequency requirements as those enforced by NIH — at least once during each career stage (i.e., undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and faculty levels), and at a frequency of no less than once every four years.
BEARCORE Training Program
The Brown Ethics And Responsible Conduct Of Research Education (BEARCORE) program is designed to educate early-career researchers, such as graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, from a variety of academic fields on how to conduct their scientific investigations responsibly and with integrity. BEARCORE is an in-person RCR training program that fulfills NIH and NSF requirements.
BEARCORE is open to anyone in the Brown community who is working or listed as an investigator on an RCR-qualifying research grant that is administered through Brown. In sessions where spaces are limited, enrollment preference will be given to campus-based NIH/NSF trainees.
BEARCORE Course Topics
Sessions cover research-related topics including but not limited to:
- research misconduct
- rigor and reproducibility
- data management and data use
- conflict of interest
- ethical considerations in human and animal research; and
- authorship.
Sessions are co-taught by Brown faculty members and subject matter experts with in-depth topic area knowledge. The sessions are predominantly case-based and include mixed-media presentations and discussions of hypothetical and real scenarios drawn from current literature and news media.
BEARCORE Registration
Registration for the BEARCORE Program is through Workday. As a member of the Brown community you already have a Workday account; log in with your usual Brown credentials, then follow these instructions to register.
From the Workday landing page:
- Log into Workday
- Search: BEARCORE
- Select BEARCORE: Responsible Conduct of Research
- Select offering
- Check the box to select this session of BEARCORE
- Click OK, then click Submit
BioMed RCR Training
The Division of Biology and Medicine offers a primary RCR training in the fall tailored to students and trainees in the BioMed fields, with subsequent advanced training offered throughout the fall and spring semesters.
School of Public Health RCR Training
The School of Public Health (SPH) RCR Training course is held in the fall and is tailored toward individuals in public health fields. Students who are required to take the course will automatically be enrolled and receive communication from the instructor.
CITI Online RCR Course
Review of CITI's RCR materials and completion of the quizzes will take about 30-35 minutes per topic. Courses do not have to be completed in one session. A minimum aggregate score of 80% is required to pass the RCR course.
New CITI Users
If you have never been certified in the Brown University CITI RCR program, follow these instructions to create an account.
- On the citiprogram.org home page, click “Register” and choose “Brown University” under Select Your Organization Affiliation. Continue with the registration process, filling in all of the appropriate personal information.
- After completing your information, you will be taken to the Select Curriculum page. Under Question 4, select either “Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)” or “Public Health RCR,” depending on which course you want to take.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Submit.”
- You will then be brought back to the main menu, and your chosen RCR course will be available to select and begin.
Returning CITI Users
If you are a returning CITI user, log in using your previous username and password, then follow these instructions.
- Click on the link “Affiliate with another institution.” Choose “Brown University” as your institution.
- In the section "My Learner Tools for Brown University," select “Add a Course or Update Learner Groups.” This will bring you to a course selection instruction page — at the bottom of the page, click on the link to “Continue to Question 1.”
- On the next page, scroll down to Question 2 and select "Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)" and then scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Submit.”
- You will then be brought back to the main menu and the RCR course will be available to select and begin.
CITI Completion Records
Trainees who complete the RCR CITI module will be able to print out a certificate of completion. Trainees should keep a copy of that certificate in their personal files as they may be asked to provide a copy to grants or department managers, graduate school administrators or current and future PIs.
Brown’s Office of Research Integrity receives an automatic email notification from CITI whenever a Brown-affiliated trainee has completed the RCR module. Brown keeps records of all RCR CITI completers. Contact the office with any questions.
Developing an RCR Training Plan
Brown provides templates for each of its RCR courses that can be used for NIH and NSF grant applications. The templates describe each RCR program currently offered at Brown, and address the five required instructional components outlined in the NIH Policy on Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research. Templates can be modified and should be augmented, if necessary, with applicant-specific information.
Online instruction may be used as a component of the training program. PIs wishing to use supplemental online instruction as part of their training program, can use the CITI RCR course as part of their instructional plan. All the NIH required topics are addressed in the CITI RCR coursework. If used, the most relevant, discipline-specific CITI RCR course (Biomedical Research, Social and Behavioral Research, Physical Science, Humanities, or Engineering) should be specified. The CITI RCR course also offers online case studies that can be used for face-to-face discussions.
Including RCR Plans in Proposals