Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) Policy for NSF

1. Background

The Connecticut College Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) Policy for the National Science Foundation (NSF) was created in response to NSF’s implementation of Section 7009 of the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act (42 U.S.C. § 1862o–1), as amended. This section of the Act requires that “each institution that applies for financial assistance from the Foundation for science and engineering research or education describe in its grant proposal a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and other senior/key personnel supported by the proposed research project. Such training must include mentor training and mentorship.”

2. Policy

Consistent with NSF guidelines, Connecticut College requires all undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and other senior/key personnel who will be supported by NSF to conduct research to obtain training in the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) and certification of training. The Principal Investigator (PI) on an NSF grant is responsible for ensuring that all researchers supported by their NSF grant(s), including co-PIs and other senior/key personnel, receive the necessary training and certification within sixty (60) days of being named on the grant.

3. Training Plan

Guidelines for training plans are available at the Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations (CFGR) office and on the College’s CFGR web page.

3.1 Training plan for undergraduate students, graduate students, or postdoctoral researchers

To meet the training requirements, all students or postdoctoral researchers working on NSF-supported research must:

  1. Complete the applicable modules on the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) website (https://about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/) and print out their CITI certificate of completion, and
  2. Participate in a roundtable discussion on ethical conduct in research with the project PI and other individuals working on the NSF-supported research.

Roundtable discussions will be held twice yearly, one per semester, and organized and led by NSF-supported PIs on campus. 

To access the CITI training modules, go to https://about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/, press the “Register” button, and create a new account, affiliating yourself with Connecticut College. Users who already have a CITI account should select the “Log in” button and affiliate the existing account with Connecticut College. 

Only the CITI course titled “Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Basic” will meet the training requirements. 

Students or postdoctoral researchers shall obtain refresher training in RECR every three years while working on NSF-supported research.

3.2 Training plan for faculty PIs and other senior/key personnel

To meet the training requirements, all faculty PIs and other senior/key personnel working on NSF-supported research must:

  1. Complete the applicable modules on the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) website (https://about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/) and print out their CITI certificate of completion.

To access the CITI training modules, go to https://about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/, press the “Register” button, and create a new account, affiliating yourself with Connecticut College. Users who already have a CITI account should select the “Log in” button and affiliate the existing account with Connecticut College. 

Only the CITI course titled “Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Basic” will meet the training requirements.

Faculty PIs and other senior/key personnel shall obtain refresher training in RECR every three years while working on NSF-supported research.

3.3 Documentation of training

The Principal Investigator (PI) on an NSF grant is responsible for documenting that all researchers supported by their NSF grant(s) have received the necessary training. The PI shall provide this documentation promptly after training has been completed using the RECR/RCR Training Report Form. The PI shall complete, sign, and date the RECR/RCR Training Report Form and email it with any applicable CITI certificates of completion attached to the Associate Dean of the Faculty, CCing Alex Barnett (abarnett@conncoll.edu).

Copies of all RECR/RCR Training Report Forms and CITI certificates of completion will be kept on file by the Office of Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations.

4. Oversight

The College’s Research Integrity Officer (RIO), currently the Associate Dean of the Faculty, will oversee compliance with the RECR training requirement.