PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION IN THE RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH (RCR)
Note to T32 TG PIs: You should include text indicating which of your training faculty are
involved in RCR training. These could be, for example, FYG advisors and co mentors.
You can get a list of FYG advisors either from Anna O'Connell aboconnell@unc.edu in
the Office of Graduate Education. If your training grant faculty are not adequately
represented in the RCR course, please contact Anna O’Connell about ways they can
participate in the RCR training in the future. This is a requirement for T32 training grants
and reviewers will expect to see this.
Note to graduate students using this boilerplate for F31 applications: This text can
serve as a starting point for trainees who need to describe RCR training for graduate
students at UNC. You will need to amend this text to fit onto 1 page and you will also
have to describe your specific plans to engage in refresher RCR training either on a
continuous basis or at least in a substantive way during year 4 of your PhD as required
by http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-019.html. You could
suggest that once a month your PI will lead a case study discussion during lab meeting
on one of the topics listed in the boilerplate document. You could also propose to attend
the 5-day RCR training offered by NC TraCS (described below). There are also ethics
lectures series you could propose to attend to get the continued training. You can pick a
relevant series from this link: http://bioethics.unc.edu/lectures-series/ Using this RCR
description without modification for a fellowship application will appear generic and could
be seen as a liability in your training plan.
PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION IN THE RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH (RCR)
Instruction in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) is a feature of training for all graduate
students at UNC. The School of Medicine, BBSP, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and the
Center for Bioethics at UNC have partnered to oversee biomedical graduate student training in
ethics and research conduct. Anna O’Connell, Director of Biological and Biomedical Sciences,
at the University of North Carolina leads the collaboration and coordinates training.
Our biomedical graduate student RCR training program includes: 1) mandatory RCR training, 2)
a defined process for graduate students to address RCR issues, 3) continuous evaluation and
improvement of our RCR training program, and 4) conferences, seminars and workshops on
RCR to provide continuous training opportunities during a graduate student’s career.
The mandatory RCR training takes place in seven 90 minute sessions that are part of the BBSP
first year group (FYG) curriculum; thus, there are 10.5 hours of small group contact time
involving students, faculty and biomedical postdoctoral scholars. Discussion groups consist of
no more than 16 students. One faculty member from the Center for Bioethics is assigned to
work alongside the faculty mentors of each FYG in preparing for each topic prior to discussion.
Topics covered in the interactive discussion sessions include:
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Mentorship and social responsibility,
Animal and human subject use,
Plagiarism,
Research Misconduct and Statistics,
Authorship and intellectual property
Peer review and conflict of interest.
Contemporary topics in bioethics and RCR
Students download pertinent background reading material and the case studies from a secure
student site one week before the group discussion. When possible, students also receive links
to relevant online videos and modules developed by the NIH Office of Research Integrity, the
Collaborative Institution Training Initiative (CITI) and other peer reviewed sources. To ensure
that students read the assigned material prior to class and that they will be prepared to discuss
RCR concepts, a pre-class written assignment is due 24 hours before each session. The
students respond online to 2-3 short essay prompts based on the case studies and assigned
reading. Students’ responses are conveyed to the FYG leaders and co-mentors who serve as
discussion facilitators. For each session at least two faculty are present, and they provide realworld examples from their own experiences; discussions are typically engaged and lively.
In order to receive credit for completing RCR training, students must attend 100% of the casebased discussions and complete all pre class assignments. The BBSP office, the Office of
Graduate Education, and individual graduate programs work together to ensure compliance of
their students. Meeting these requirements has not proven problematic since a student with a
scheduling conflict can attend another regularly scheduled discussion session or can make up
the session the following year.
Formal instruction for advanced graduate students at UNC is available through the North
Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS) in the form of a 5-day
workshop. Many PhD programs participate in this training. The topics covered include:
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Policies regarding human subjects research
Principles for the ethical use of animals in research
Safe laboratory practices
Conflict of interest
Mentor/mentee relationships
Peer review
Authorship and publication
Data acquisition, management, sharing, ownership
Research misconduct
Collaborative research
Contemporary issues biomedical research
Discussion sessions on the above topics using case studies
In summary, graduate student RCR training at UNC begins immediately in the first year of
graduate school and entails 1) individual reading assignments supplemented by online material,
2) pre class written assignments, and 3) 10.5 contact hours of case-based group discussion
with peers, faculty, and trained postdoctoral discussion facilitators. Refresher and follow up
RCR training is available to graduate students throughout their time at UNC through seminars
and workshops planned by the Parr Center for Ethics, the Office of Graduate Education,
individual graduate programs, and in lab meetings led by the students’ principle investigator.