Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
updated May 2015
BioMed Division Training Grants – Text on Module on RCR Training
RCR Training in the Division of Biology and Medicine:
All first-year graduate students in the Division are required to successfully complete “The Ethics
of Responsible Conduct in Research”. It is also recommended that newly hired postdoctoral
trainees participate in this training.
http://www.brown.edu/about/administration/biomed/graduate-postdoctoral-studies/responsibleconduct-research-rcr
This seven-week introduction to the scope and complexity of ethical situations that confront
modern biologists is led by the Division's Associate Dean for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
and taught by BioMed Division faculty. This training covers multiple topics including: i) the
context and history of ethical research practices within scholarship; ii) the peer review process
and its purpose; iii) data acquisition, storage, and privacy; iv) legal and ethical considerations in
animal research; v) publication practices and responsible authorship; vi) practical and ethical
issues in human-subjects research; vii) the mentoring relationship and associated
responsibilities of mentors and trainees; viii) recognizing and navigating conflicts of interest and
research misconduct; ix) electronic data management issues; x) copyright and intellectual
property issues; xi) individual development plans (IDP); and xii) rigor and reproducibility of data.
Discussion of the ethics of diversity is incorporated throughout to convey an appreciation for the
fact that differences of race, culture, age, gender, (dis)ability, and religion can affect the conduct
and interpretation of research.
The training includes presentations, short illustrative films specific to biomedical research
issues, and small group discussion of hypothetical and real scenarios drawn from current
literature and news media. Division faculty and University staff participate as presenters and
discussants along with students. The emphasis is on dialog and the contextualization of ethical
decision making in the biological sciences.
RCR training is conducted at the start of the academic year so that students are able to
incorporate this important information into their coursework and early research experiences. To
successfully complete the course, students must participate in all sessions, complete homework
assignments, and score 75% or better on the final examination. Students receive certificates of
completion and their Graduate Program Directors are notified. Students who do not successfully
complete training must fulfill additional RCR assignments. This required introductory Divisionwide training is a starting point for ongoing instruction by individual graduate programs and
faculty mentors, who are urged to stimulate dialogue regarding ethical conduct in science as
relevant situations arise in research projects or the laboratory.
BioMed RCR Refresher Course:
In addition, in accordance with recommendations by the National Institutes of Health, we require
graduate students to receive a refresher course in RCR training during their 4th year of graduate
school by completing our BioMed RCR Refresher course. These are a series of 2.5h sessions
held on the last Wednesday of the months of January, May, and September. As with the main
RCR course, the sessions are led by the Associate Dean for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
and BioMed Division faculty. The sessions are as follows:
o Session I
 Authorship
 Mentoring
 Reproducibility
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Session II
 Conflict of Interest
 Misconduct
 Animal Subjects
Session III
 Peer Review
 Collaborative research
 Data Management
 Human Subjects
In order to satisfactorily complete the BioMed RCR Refresher Course, the student must attend
all 3 sessions or attend 2 sessions and complete the CITI RCR refresher course online with at
least 80% grade on the module quizzes. For details on Brown’s use of the CITI program,
please visit http://www.brown.edu/research/nsf-responsible-conduct-research-trainingrequirement.
RCR Programming across fields:
While training courses fulfill the necessity of focusing on discipline-specific ethical issues, Brown
University feels that it is critical to bring students of all disciplines into dialogue with each other
about ethics as an academy-wide aspect of graduate education. This interdisciplinary
programming places the ethics of biological research in a larger context. The Academy in
Context series (http://www.brown.edu/academics/gradschool/academy-context), sponsored by
the Graduate School and the Office of Student Life, brings graduate students and faculty from
across the University together to discuss ethical issues with faculty speakers and outside
experts. The focus on ethics has allowed us to invite speakers on a very wide range of topics—
from the way computer technology is altering human bodies, or the intersections between
governmental policymaking and the scientific community, to the ethical dimensions of
negotiating ownership of the past in archaeological excavations. The large dinner-seminar is
complemented by smaller group discussions that focus on specific ethical applications. These
workshops synthesize questions, identify other readings on the topic, and make suggestions for
aspects that can be woven into the curriculum of courses across the campus. Rather than being
divided along disciplinary lines, participants are part of teams that include engineers, humanists,
social scientists, and physical scientists. They not only learn about the issues, but they also see
how people with different backgrounds think about the issues.
Faculty involved with the RCR classes are:
Topic
Responsible authorship &
publication
Faculty
Professors David Badre, Anne
Hart, Barry Connors, David
Sheinberg, Diane Lipscombe
Mentor/ Mentee
responsibilities
Professors Julie Kauer, Anne
Hart, Karla Kaun, David
Berson, Dima Anso, Gilad
Barnea, Anita Zimmerman,
Elena Oancea, Qing Lu
Professors Leigh Hochberg,
Tara White, Dima Anso, Dan
Dickstein, Jake Kurtis, Eric
Morrow
Human Subjects
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Department/ Program
Departments of Cognitive,
Linguistic, and Psychological
Sciences (CLPS) and
Neuroscience
Departments of Neuroscience,
CLPS, Medicine, and
Molecular Phamacology,
Physiology, & Biotechnology
(MPPB)
Departments of Neuroscience,
CLPS, Behavioral & Social
Sciences (BSS), Psychiatry &
Human Behavior, Pathology &
Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Animal Subjects
Collaborative science with
academia and industry
Data Management/ Big Data
Data Sharing
Handling Misconduct
Conflict of Interest
Data reproducibility and rigor
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Laboratory Medicine,
Molecular Cell, Molecular
Biology & Biochemistry
Professors Lara Helwig, Diane
Animal Care Facility and
Hoffman-Kim
Department of MPPB
Professors Justin Fallon, Kristi Departments of Neuroscience,
Wharton, Kim Boekelheide
MCB, and Pathology &
Laboratory Medicine
Professors Thomas Serre, Ian
Departments of CLPS,
Wong, Casey Dunn, Kate
Engineering, Ecology &
Smith, Robbert Creton, Beth
Evolutionary Biology (EEB),
Brainard, Nicola Neretti, Will
MCB, and Computational
Fairbrother
Molecular Biology (CCMB)
Professors Christopher Moore Departments of Neuroscience,
and Will Fairbrother and
MCB, CCMB
Librarian Andrew Creamer
Associate Dean Elizabeth
BioMed
Harrington
Professors Janet Blume,
Departments of Engineering,
Jeffrey Morgan, Anatoly
MPPB, Pathology &
Zhichkovich
Laboratory Medicine
Professors Thomas Serre,
Departments of CLPS, MPPB,
Eric Darling, Thomas
Pathology & Laboratory
Bartnikas
Medicine