What is Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)?
Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) “is the awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance for all activities related to scientific research.” The Research Ethics and Compliance Office (RECO) in the Office of Research administers the Responsible Conduct of Research Certification Program by upholding requirements set forth by granting bodies and UC Davis policies.
The RCR Certificate Program is designed to satisfy federal regulations that require RCR training as a part of grant or contract terms and conditions. RCR introduces and reinforces ethical principles to guide the performance of scientific research activities by combining engaging and relevant live Zoom workshops and challenging on-line modules.
Who must participate in RCR Training?
RCR training is strongly encouraged for all students and faculty or staff and may be required if you are working on a project funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
UC Davis RCR Certificate Program Requirements
RCR requirements may differ by study, or funding agency. The UC Davis RCR program is designed to satisfy requirements of all funding agencies including National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
NIH supported researchers must take the CITI Course and attend eight live Zoom workshops.
NIH requirements include that all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support must complete face‐to‐face instruction, discussions, or video conferencing of a minimum of eight contact hours. UC Davis RCR meets the agency’s requirements by providing engaging and relevant live Zoom workshops. RCR certification requires that all attend at least eight of the one-hour live Zoom workshops offered to satisfy this requirement.
NSF supported researchers must take the CITI RCR Course.
UC Davis undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, including short-term visitors, paid by NSF under a research or educational award are required to complete the RCR training.
NIFA supported researchers must take the CITI RCR Course.
UC Davis faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and any staff participating in the project must complete RCR training.
How to complete the RCR training modules via CITI (CITI Login)
- Register with CITI
- RCR Training Certification is valid for three years.
- The minimum passing score for each module is 80%. You may retake the quiz from any module that you did not pass.
- Participants enroll in the RCR courses for all learners.
- Courses Include:
- Introduction to RCR, Authorship, Collaborative Research, Communicating with the Public, Conflicts of Interest and Commitment, Cybersecurity and Compliance Considerations for Safeguarding Research, Data Management, Export Compliance for Researchers, Financial Responsibility, Introduction to Export Compliance, Introduction to Undue Foreign Influence Impacts and Concerns in Academia, Mentoring and Healthy Research Environments, Peer Review, Plagiarism, Presentation of Research Findings, Reproducibility of Research Results, Research Involving Human Subjects, Research Misconduct, Research, Ethics, and Society, Using Animal Subjects in Research.
- Courses Include:
How to attend at least eight live Zoom workshops (link to schedule)
- Offered the fourth Monday of every month from 11:00 am to noon via Zoom at https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/97617129322
- Every RCR learner must participate in eight live Zoom workshops, facilitated by faculty or staff, to receive the RCR Certificate.
- No registration for a live Zoom workshop is required.
- Participants must join the session using a valid UC Davis NetID and provide a UC Davis email address.
NOTE: These RCR courses do not satisfy the basic courses for human subjects or lab animal welfare.
Additional Information
NIH Requirements
For NIH, both of the training requirements apply to all NIH Institutional Research Training Grants, Individual Fellowship Awards, Career Development Awards (Institutional and Individual), Research Education Grants, and Dissertation Research Grants. The programs are listed as: 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.
NSF Requirements
NSF expanded their responsible and ethical conduct of research (RCR) training. It is now required for both Principal Investigators and for senior personnel (i.e., faculty and other academic appointees).
UC Davis will permit NSF researchers to complete only the asynchronous CITI component, which satisfies the NSF RCR requirements, during fiscal year 2025. We will continue to review and refine our Responsible Conduct of Research Program to ensure we deploy strategies that comply with federal regulation and minimize faculty administrative burden.
Receiving your RCR certificate
- Once you have completed the CITI RCR training and the required eight live Zoom workshops.
- Send a request for your certificate to the Research Ethics and Compliance Office, Compliance Coordinator, at RECO.
- Upon verification, your certificate will be emailed to you.
- Certificates are processed at the end of the month in which your request is received.
- Questions should be addressed to the Research Ethics and Compliance Office, Compliance Coordinator, at RECO.
Helpful CITI Information
- If you have a CITI account with another University, this will tell you how to affiliate the past account with UC Davis.
- If you do not have an existing CITI account this will instruct you on how to set up your CITI account.
- If you have an existing CITI account and need to enroll in the RCR component of CITI, this will assist.
Address questions to the Research Ethics and Compliance Office, Elizabeth “Liz” Chase at RECO
