Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research

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Overview

Principal Investigators are encouraged to review the College’s institutional training plan for Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (pdf). Participation is mandatory for all PIs and senior personnel, students, and postdoctoral research associates on projects funded by the National Science Foundation and for all personnel supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health awards for which RECR training is required (including training awards and others as specified by the solicitation).  PIs on such projects are encouraged to use the resources detailed in this plan to devise their own project-specific plans. PIs on projects with other sources of external support are also encouraged to avail themselves of these resources in training students and others under their supervision.

Training is provided via two mechanisms:  

  1. The College maintains a subscription to online training offered by CITI (https://www.citiprogram.org/).  The CITI program directs Bates researchers to RECR, Research Security, IACUC, IRB, and IBC training modules as needed based on the specific needs of the individual’s career stage and project(s).  See instructions for accessing CITI training below.
  2. Faculty frequently provide information and mentorship to students working in their labs on topics relating to RECR. Faculty are encouraged to make note, in laboratory records or other well-maintained files, of occasions on which they have instructed individual students or laboratory groups in topics relating to the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research.

Faculty members conducting research are responsible for tailoring RECR training plans to the specific requirements of their research projects and ensuring that students and key personnel meet all applicable requirements.  

Faculty are responsible for providing documentation of RECR training for each student and others they supervise to SPaRC.  Please download and complete the Bates RECR Training Checklist for each trainee, then email the completed and signed checklist to sparc@bates.edu.

CITI RERC Training Access Instructions

  1. Go to https://www.citiprogram.org/login, then click on the REGISTER tab if you do not have an account already established. Follow the registration prompts to complete the account setup.
  2. Once logged in, click on the “Courses” page.
  3. Click on one of the “View Courses” links for the course listing of interest.
  4. Click on “Add a Course” which takes you to the course enrollment questions where your responses will add Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) module
  5. For undergraduate students and postdoctoral students, click “Students-RCR” and select the discipline that most aligns with your work (Biomedical, Social and Behavioral, Physical Science, or Humanities).
  6. Click “Start Now” button on the RCR module to begin your training

Please email completed certificates and address any questions to the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Compliance (sparc@bates.edu).