Scope

This training requirement applies to all personnel, faculty and students at University of Nebraska at Omaha who obtain research funding through National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF) or National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Policy Statement

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is committed to an environment of research integrity, in part through Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training and education. The Office of Research and Creative Activity (ORCA), with administrative support from the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (OSP) and Research Compliance, oversees the delivery of RCR training at UNO. 

NSF: NSF requires RCR training for all faculty, senior personnel and trainees (including students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers) who are involved as researchers in projects supported by NSF funds.  For PIs and senior personnel, this training needs to be completed prior to work on the NSF funded research project, and as soon as possible once student researchers are selected or hired on the project, but not later than the end of the first semester of involvement in the NSF-funded project. PIs on NSF awards are responsible for ensuring that they and all other personnel, including students and trainees on their award complete RCR training, and provide documentation of the completion of training along with any other requirements of the award. Failure to complete the training may result in disciplinary action, including placing a stop order on the NSF funds until the training is complete.

NIH: NIH requires all NIH-funded trainees, fellows, participants and scholars to complete the training no less than once every four years. NIH recognizes that online RCR courses are valuable training supplements but does not consider them adequate as a sole means of instruction. This RCR regulation applies to certain National Institutes of Health awards. When applying for an award with an RCR training requirement, the request for proposals will specify that investigators are required to submit an individual plan for RCR training directly in the proposal. Each proposal needs to include a plan that meets the requirements specified in NIH regulations. This plan may include online CITI but please note that these courses alone are insufficient to meet some of the NIH project-specific requirements, which requires a face-to-face training component. This Notice 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.

NIFA: The U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture requires RCR training. All program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and any staff participating in research and research-related activities (i.e., research, education and extension) supported by a NIFA (competitive grant, capacity grant, cooperative agreement or special project) must participate in RCR training.

Reason for Policy

Research projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) each have RCR training requirements.

Procedures

Delivery of RCR training: UNO uses a series of online interactive tutorials on the “Responsible Conduct of Research” available to groups affiliated with university. Most requirements can be satisfied through completion of CITI Program’s RCR series, which researchers can complete through online courses (anyone with UNO credentials can use our CITI training modules). More information: https://www.citiprogram.org

History

Policy approved by the Chancellor’s Cabinet on 2/16/2010.  Policy revised on 11/28/2012. Policy revised on 01/24/2024 to include revised NSF requirements and to provide additional guidance regarding NIH requirements.