UD Research Office and Graduate College are pleased to announce the annual Responsible Conduct of Research Conference, back in person on February 1, 2024.  This half-day conference will focus on research ethics and topics relevant to UD, and provides a collected reference to the guidelines and resources available at UD to conduct research ethically and responsibly.  In order to fulfill training requirements, participants will also need to complete the online RCR course detailed below prior to the conference.

Online training is available throughout the year at citiprogram.org. This training offers an overview of the basic principles and regulations that apply to the responsible conduct of research–from ethical considerations in performing research, to requirements related to the involvement of human subjects or the use of animals. More information about the RCR training options at UD can be found in the Research Office website. Online RCR training is valid for four years and sufficient to fulfill the NSF, and NIFA requirements. NIH prescribes that formal and informal in-person discussions on these topics should also be part of RCR instructions. 

Attendance to the UD RCR conference, in addition to completion of the CITI online training,
is a requisite to satisfy the NIH training requirement.

Who is required to complete RCR training? Federal funding agencies have distinct requirements as to who needs to complete RCR training. It is the responsibility of faculty and PIs to ensure that all personnel funded by their project(s) and required to complete RCR training do so in a timely manner consistent with the applicable agency policy.

• Under NIH policy, RCR instruction is to be completed by all trainees, fellows, and scholars receiving NIH support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, or dissertation research grant. NIH prescribes the expectation that RCR training will involve substantive hours of in-person training. Training is to be completed at least once during each career stage and repeated every four years.
• Per NSF requirement, undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers receiving NSF funding to conduct research must complete RCR training.
• NIFA 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.

Questions about RCR requirements and conference details can be directed to RCR-training@udel.edu