Responsible Conduct of Research:
Training Requirements

The RCR education program is flexible, allowing covered individuals three methods to complete the required education, including:

  1. Completion of an approved research ethics course — Successfully completing an approved credited research ethics course. Courses that are currently approved to complete this requirement are: BIO 500/BES 500, BES 510, CHM 500, CHE 570, MAF502, NEU 504, NUR649, PHC 693 and ENG 510/511.
  2. Attendance and participation in 3 hours of the RCR Education Workshops offered by ORI. Please see the list of offerings on the Seminar tab.
  3. Completion of the online RCR education program — Successfully completing the online RCR education program provided by the Collaborative Institutional Education Initiative (CITI). For more information on how to navigate the CITI website, please refer to the URI CITI Guidance.
  4. If you have a specific grant with additional RCR hours required, you may use any combination of training options offered by ORI, your department and CITI to meet the grant requirements.

Custom-designed workshops, forums, and classes, or existing classes and seminars offered by the college or department may supplement or potentially replace the RCR education requirement if approved by ORI.

RCR Education is a one-time training, no refresher training is required. Completion of the RCR Education Requirement is verified through an approval by ORI on the Dissertation/Thesis Proposal Approval Form prior to approval by the Department Chair/Graduate Director.

Please review our RCR FAQ. This document answers many of the FAQs asked by graduate students and faculty looking to complete the RCR training requirement.