Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
Dartmouth College

As of January 2010 the National Science Foundation will require that, “at the time of proposal submission to NSF, a proposing institution has a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research.” The following plan has been developed to meet these requirements. RCR training is mandatory for all undergraduate students, graduate students and post docs paid from NSF funds.

View RCR presentation schedule and register for a session.

GRADUATE STUDENTS:

All first year graduate students at Dartmouth are currently required to complete the Professional Ethics Program. This is an institution-wide program of training in the basics of professional ethics. Information can be found in the Graduate Studies Office and on-line at: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gradstdy/grdethics.html.

This program has been in place for several years and meets the requirement for NSF RCR training for graduate students.

POST DOCS:

There are three options to fulfill the RCR requirement.

1. Complete the Graduate Student Professional Ethics Program (described above) or complete the "Train the Trainer" portion of Professional Ethics Program.
2. Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI)
   • Dartmouth has been a member of this on-line training program for several years. The program has recently added Responsible Conduct in Research modules for: Biomedical; Social & Behavioral Studies; Physical Science; and Humanities. Within each module are seven sections: Introduction; Research Misconduct; Data Acquisition and Management; Peer Review; Mentor & Trainee Responsibilities; Conflict of Interest; and Collaborative Research. Each section will take approximately 20 – 30 minutes to complete. The modules does not need to be completed all at once.
3. Presentation: The Office of the Provost and the Office of Sponsored Projects will offer a 90-minute presentation to provide an overview of the elements of Responsible Conduct in Research described above. Contact Elizabeth Bankert in the Provost Office for further information.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:

Options (b) or (c) above will fulfill the undergraduate requirement. The PI has the responsibility to help the student register for the option that she/he wishes to take.