What is it?
The successful completion of “Responsible Conduct in Research Training” is a requirement for PhD degrees, federal training grants and fellowship awards.
When and where?
This course is held on Tuesdays 4-6pm starting in September and running through the end of October. Public health students required to take the course will automatically be enrolled and receive communication from the instructor.
General course structure:
Four face-to-face 2-hour instruction sessions (meeting the minimum 8-hour face-to-face instruction requirement of NIH), which will be a combination of lecture and discussion. Students are expected to participate in discussions. A final exam will be administered during the fifth session in late October.
Optional textbook:
The ORI Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research by Nicholas H. Steneck
Web or pdf version available at no charge here. (Links to an external site.)
Note: The textbook is for reference only; students will not be responsible for material not covered in the lectures or online modules.
Course leaders:
- Elizabeth Aston, Assistant Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences (Research); Email: [email protected]
- Guest lecturers throughout course (combination of SPH and other Brown University faculty/staff)
Overall goals:
Responsible conduct of research is defined as the practice of scientific investigation with integrity. It involves the awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance of all activities related to scientific research.
The overall goal of this course is to review and discuss what research or scientific misconduct is and the impact unethical conduct can cause within and outside of the research community. This course will specifically focus on issues faced by researchers in the Public Health fields.
Requirements for completion:
A Certificate of Completion will be e-mailed by end of the semester to each student that meets the completion requirements below.
-
Attendance/participation in all instruction sessions.
- Completion of all assignments and required online CITI modules (full list attached).
- Passing the final exam.
CITI training:
To access the CITI training modules, go to https://www.citiprogram.org/ (Links to an external site.) and sign in with your Brown affiliation (or create an account if you don't already have one by clicking “Register” and typing in Brown University under “Select Your Organization Affiliation”).
In the section called "Brown University Courses" select “Add a Course”. This will bring you to a course selection instruction page - at the bottom of the page, continue to complete Questions 1-3. When you reach Question 4, select "Public Health RCR" and then scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button. You will then be brought back to the main menu and the SPH Public Health RCR course will be available to select and begin.
If you have taken some of the modules in the past, they will show up as completed in the SPH RCR. You do not need to re-take them for this course.
To learn more about RCR at Brown, please click here.