Please see the attached memo from Ishwar K. Puri, Senior Vice President, Research and Innovation
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I am writing to inform you of new requirements for Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RCR) training for NSF proposals submitted on or after July 31, 2023.
Under the new requirements, all faculty and other senior personnel named on NSF proposals must complete RCR training. Additionally, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates are still required to complete RCR training before conducting NSF-supported research. These requirements are outlined in the National Science Foundation’s latest Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG).
At USC, we satisfy NSF’s RCR training mandates by completing an online course offered by the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (“CITI”), available at https://sites.usc.edu/ori/responsibleconduct-of-research/. The course takes approximately 2-4 hours to complete and covers the following topics:
1. Data acquisition, management, sharing, and ownership
2. Conflicts of interest and commitment
3. Research misconduct
4. Publication practices and responsible authorship
5. Mentoring and healthy research environments
6. Peer Review
7. Collaborative research
8. Human subjects in research
9. Animal welfare
10. Research, ethics, and society
If you conduct or intend to conduct NSF-sponsored research, I encourage you to complete the training at your first opportunity so that awards will not be delayed or otherwise adversely impacted.
As a reminder, responsible and ethical conduct of research is critical for excellence and maintaining the public’s trust in the world-class research conducted at USC. As an institution, we are committed to fostering a robust research environment, in part through RCR training and education. RCR education aims to inform all individuals engaged in the research process about the key issues, current standards, and best ethical practices.
For information on creating a USC CITI account and beginning the RCR training module, please visit RCR Training. If you have any questions or concerns about these new requirements or require assistance accessing the CITI RCR program, please contact Kristen Grace, Research Integrity Officer (RIO), at gracekri@usc.edu.
Thank you for your cooperation in this critical initiative.