Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

Responsible Conduct of Research at Detroit Mercy

On August 20, 2009, NSF announced the implementation of a requirement for training in RCR for all undergraduate and graduate students, and all post-doctoral researchers supported by NSF to conduct research. This requirement became effective with proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 4, 2010. Applicant institutions must certify that they have a training plan in place at the time of NSF proposal submission. 

On November 24, 2009, the NIH published an "Update on the Requirement for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research."  This update applies to all NIH Institutional Research Training Grants, Individual Fellowship Awards, Career Development Awards (Institutional and Individual), Research Education Grants, Dissertation Research Grants, or other grant programs with a training component that requires instruction in RCR as noted in the Funding Opportunity Announcement.

In support of the NSF and NIH requirements, Detroit Mercy has identified a program – offered through CITI (The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative at the University of Miami) – to meet this RCR requirement.  Specifics are described below. While this new requirement only applies to NSF and NIH funded personnel as defined above, we extend and encourage this RCR training for all faculty, staff, students and researchers at Detroit Mercy with an interest in ethics education and the responsible conduct of research and scholarship.

The Detroit Mercy Plan for Fulfilling the RCR Requirement

The CITI public access course in the Responsible Conduct of Research is available to the Detroit Mercy research community free of charge. Discipline specific courses are available for biomedical, social & behavioral research, the physical sciences, humanities, engineers, and administrators.

The RCR topic areas include research misconduct; data management; conflict of interest; collaborative science; responsible authorship; mentoring; peer review; lab animals and human subjects. Please note that investigators who conduct research with human subjects are already required to complete the CITI Human Subjects curriculum.  The new requirement includes all NSF-funded research, regardless of the involvement of human subjects.

You can also find CITI training modules specifically on human subjects research and lab animal welfare. Each training section takes about 20 to 30 minutes to complete, and each module does not need to be completed all at once.

Upon completion of the RCR course, you will receive a certificate of completion.

Note to Faculty Researchers

It is a principal investigator’s responsibility to inform undergraduate students, graduate students or postdoctoral fellows paid from NSF or NIH funds of the mandatory RCR training.

How to Begin

(1) Go to CITI Course to register for CITI online training.

(2) Click on New Users Register Here.

(3) Under Select your institution or organization page select University of Detroit Mercy.

(4) Next, proceed to create your own username, password, and then select the Learner Group.

Once you have completed the preceding steps you are logged in and registered for the course. You may begin the appropriate course or log out and return at another time. If you chose to log out, when you return to the CITI homepage you will not need to register again. You will login with the username and password you have already created. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Ann Serra
Director of Sponsored Programs
University of Detroit Mercy
4001 W. McNichols Road
Detroit, MI  48220
Phone: 313-993-1469 
serraam@udmercy.edu