Background
The National Science Foundation (effective January 4, 2010) requires that any institution that receives funding from them (including subcontracts) for research grants must certify that: “it has a plant to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will be supported by NSF to conduct research.” This plan must include a required training on the Responsible Conduct of Research for the groups identified above, as well as the Project Investigator, research associates, and subawards received by Brockport, and include tracking of those who have been trained. As National Institutes of Health has a similar requirement, this policy will apply to all federal awards.
Online Training Requirement
To comply with this requirement, SUNY Brockport has identified an online Responsible Conduct of Training Tutorial through the University of Miami’s CITI Program. (This is the same source of mandated training for those conducting research involving human subjects.) This online site is available 24 hours a day and will provide an electronic certificate of completion to the trainee and to the Scholar and Grants Development office and the Research Foundation for SUNY office upon completion of the course.
In all cases where a federal research grant is received at the college, affected persons shall be required to successfully complete the CITI RCR Training Program at the aforementioned website prior to any involvement in the funded research.
There can be no participation in research until training is completed successfully. Project Investigators are responsible for informing affected persons, as listed above, of this policy and shall not permit participation by these individuals in the research prior to successful completion of the online training program. Note, training must be renewed every fourth year.
Accordingly, no student or other affected person shall be paid from a grant that requires RCR training for any period of time that predates completion of the RCR training program. Research Foundation will verify a training certificate has been awarded prior to any award funds being disbursed to personnel or subcontractors.
Approved by Lous Spiro, Vice President Administration and Finance/Research Foundation Operations Manager
Updated 5/25/2010