This is a reminder of a long-standing requirement that all students (undergraduate and graduate) and postdoctoral scholars supported by National Science Foundation must receive formal education in the responsible and ethical conduct of research. Since the federal America COMPETES (America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science) Act went into effect in 2010, UCLA has met this training requirement with an online RCR course developed by a UCLA faculty committee.
All students (undergraduate and graduate) and postdoctoral scholars, who are supported by NSF research grants and subawards are required to take the course. They can access the course on the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) site at https://www.citiprogram.org using their UCLA single sign-on. Individuals who complete the course while supported on one NSF grant or subaward will not have to retake the course if they move to another NSF grant or subaward while at UCLA. Individuals who may have previously completed an RCR course at another academic institution will be expected to complete the UCLA course.
While NSF Principal Investigators, other academic appointees, and staff employees supported by NSF funds are not required to complete the course, they are encouraged to do so. They can also access the course on the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) site at https://www.citiprogram.org using their single sign-on.
For more information on RCR requirements and instructions to access the online training through CITI, please visit https://rpc.research.ucla.edu/responsible-conduct/.
Sincerely,
Ann Pollack
Associate Vice Chancellor-Research
UCLA Research Policy and Compliance
310-794-0387
Email: apollack@research.ucla.edu