National Science Foundation (NSF) Requirements
The Office of Research Services will directly comply with the federal regulations in response to the 2007 America COMPETES Act. This act states that undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers participating in an awarded NSF research project that was proposed on or after January 4, 2010, will be required to attend the RCR training.
In response to the CHIPS and Science ACT of 2022, the NSF has amended their grants policies. For all NSF proposals submitted after July 31, 2023, Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR formerly RCR) training is mandated for all undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and other senior personnel (i.e., principal investigators, co-investigators, and other academic appointees). This requirement can be found in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 23-1.
Students (undergraduates and graduates), postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and other senior personnel who receive NSF funds (support from salary and/or stipends to conduct research on NSF grants) must complete online CITI training, which provides information on core topics to consider in efforts to conduct research in a responsible manner. Some of these topics include:
Instruction for registration and requirements for students/postdocs and for faculty/senior personnel can be found here:
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Requirements
NIH requires all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars supported by NIH training grants, career development awards, and dissertation research grants to receive instruction in the responsible conduct of research. The 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. Other NIH-funded programs may also require instruction in responsible conduct of research, and will clearly state this requirement in the relevant funding opportunity announcements. View the complete NIH RCR policy for more details.
If a student/postdoc is required to complete RCR training because of support through the NIH or another PHS agency, or if you need additional information, please contact Sogol Rasouli at sogol.rasouli@ou.edu.
