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Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research

Please note: The format of the NIH required Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research will be changing. The course will be offered after January 1, 2014 and will consist of both online and in-person classroom experiences.

The NIH requires instruction in the responsible conduct of research for all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through the following programs: 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, U2R

In response to this requirement, the MCW Office of Research, in collaboration with the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities, is offering an instructional program in the responsible conduct of research.

Note that this program is available only to MCW employees.

Instruction

Individuals participating in this instructional program will be required to complete two educational modules.

The first module is an online educational module consisting of eight lessons delivered through ANGEL, the College’s web-based learning system. The lessons will provide the basis for understanding the ethical issues related to basic scientific and medical research, including conflict of interest, animal and human subject research policies, safe laboratory practices, research misconduct, mentor/mentee responsibilities, authorship and publication, and the scientist as member of society. Participants are expected to complete the online training module within eight weeks of their start date and before participating in the second module. Participants will work at their own pace within the eight week timeframe to complete the module.

The second module is a face-to-face discussion series consisting of five two-hour sessions. These sessions will focus on ethical issues that commonly arise in biomedical research, will reinforce the basic content presented in the online activity, and will offer illustrative examples of ethical issues for analysis and discussion. Discussions will be co-facilitated by a Bioethics faculty member and a faculty member from the basic sciences. All sessions will be held at the Medical College of Wisconsin (room TBD). Participants are expected to attend all five sessions.

Trainees are required to receive a minimum of eight hours of face-to-face instruction in the responsible conduct of research. Participants in this instructional program may miss no more than one discussion session in order to meet the minimum training requirements.

Participants are encouraged to complete the online activity before proceeding to the discussion series, although this is not required. The online activity may be completed simultaneously with the discussion series.

Policy

In November 2009, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided new policy guidance on the requirement for instruction in the responsible conduct of research for all recipients of NIH Institutional Research Training Grants, Individual Fellowship Awards, Career Development Awards, Research Education Grants, Dissertation Research Grants, or other grant programs with a training component that requires instruction in the responsible conduct of research.

The complete NIH Notice, NOT-OD-10-019 is available for review.