The University of Delaware Research Office and the Office of Graduate and Professional Education will hold an all-day training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at the Trabant University Center.

The training session will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with registration beginning at 8 a.m. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is required and may be completed at this website. Registration closes Jan. 24.

The training will include an overview of basic principles and guidelines, from ethical considerations in performing research to requirements relating to the involvement of human subjects or animals. Other topics include authorship and plagiarism, intellectual property, data management, laboratory safety, export controls laws, and the disclosure and management of potential conflicts of interest.

Who should attend? It is the responsibility of each faculty member and principal investigator (PI) to ensure that all personnel funded by their projects and required to complete RCR training do so in a timely manner consistent with University and federal agency policies.

• Under National Institutes of Health policy, RCR instruction, which is expected to include substantive hours of in-person training, is to be completed by all trainees, fellows and scholars receiving NIH support through any training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant or dissertation research grant. Training is to be completed at least once during each career stage and repeated every four years. 

• Per the National Science Foundation’s requirement, undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers receiving NSF funding to conduct research must complete RCR training.

• National Institute of Food and Agriculture dictates that program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and any staff participating in a funded research or research-related project receive appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research.

All members of the UD research community are welcome and encouraged to participate in RCR training. Online training is available throughout the year at www.citiprogram.org. Online training fulfills the requirements listed above with the exception of NIH, which prescribes in-person instruction. Attendance during the full-day program is expected and a requisite to satisfy the NIH training requirement. More information about the RCR options at UD can be found on the Research Office website.