Policies and Procedures

The following policies and procedures outline the RCR training requirements for Michigan Tech, organized by category of researcher. 

*in person training requirement for all personnel on grant to be completed by PI and is explained in each applicable NIH grant

Regulations

General topics to be covered in RCR training may include, but are not limited to:

• conflict of interest personal, professional, and financial and conflict of commitment, in allocating time, effort, or other research resources
• policies regarding human subjects, live vertebrate animal subjects in research, and safe laboratory practices
• mentor/mentee responsibilities and relationships
• safe research environments (e.g., those that promote inclusion and are free of sexual, racial, ethnic, disability and other forms of discriminatory harassment)
• collaborative research, including collaborations with industry and investigators and institutions in other countries
  peer review, including the responsibility for maintaining confidentiality and security in peer review
• data acquisition and analysis; laboratory tools (e.g., tools for analyzing data and creating or working with digital images); recordkeeping practices, including methods such as electronic laboratory notebooks
• secure and ethical data use; data confidentiality, management, sharing, and ownership
• research misconduct and policies for handling misconduct
  responsible authorship and publication
• the scientist as a responsible member of society, contemporary ethical issues in 

Funding agency specific RCR Regulations

• NIH - requires eight hours of face-to-face training every four years for trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars.  The plan for meeting these requirements is included in the grant application.  Please visit NIH Responsible Conduct of Research Training for additional information.
• NSF - All principal investigators, co-investigators, faculty, key persons, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students supported by NSF funding at Michigan Tech must be trained in Responsible Conduct of Research.  Please visit NSF Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research for additional information.
• USDA NIFA - All principal investigators, co-investigators, and participants supported by a USDA NIFA award must be trained in Responsible Conduct of Research.  Please visit USDA NIFA Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research for additional information.  

CITI Training

Creating a Citiprogram Account

To begin, visit Citiprogram.org click on the register link at the top of the page or the register button under “Create an account.” You will be guided through each of the seven steps in the registration process. If you have already taken courses through the CITI training program and are affiliated with Michigan Tech, you do not need to re-register.

Enrolling in CITI Online Courses

After creating an account, log in at citiprogram.org using your CITI username and password. 

From the Main Welcome page, click on the “View Courses” box for Michigan Technological University. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.  In Learner Tools for Michigan Technological University, click "Add a Course."

The CITI training courses offered by Michigan Tech are grouped into five categories, select Responsible Conduct of Research.  Select either “Advanced RCR Training” or "Undergraduate Researcher, RCR Training” based on your requirement.  

Completing your Online Training

Each course contains several modules that can be completed at your own pace. You may want to complete the training in several sessions. The program remembers which modules you have completed. Returning to the site requires signing in with your username and password.