Institutional Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Plan | Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation (OVCRI)

1. Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation (OVCRI)

2. Institutional RCR Coordinator

Christopher Lehmann, Ph.D., Research Integrity Officer (RIO); Email rcrtraining@illinois.edu

3. Background/Purpose

a. Background: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U. of I.) encourages all individuals engaged in research to be educated in principles of integrity, including those values expressed in the General Principles on the Ethical Conduct of Research and Scholarship. Federal agencies sponsoring U of I research may specify topics to address as part of ethics education. The following federal research sponsors have a specific requirement to provide Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) education for individuals supported on sponsored research funds:

i.The National Science Foundation (NSF); see NSF's Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research

ii. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA); see USDA-NIFA's Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research

iii. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), including trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through NIH training, career development, research education, or dissertation research awards and grants as described in NIH's Update on the Requirement for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (NIH Notice NOT-OD-10-019)

b. Purpose: The purpose of this document is to outline the elements of the U of I’s RCR Plan to comply with federal research sponsor RCR education requirements for affected individuals supported on sponsor agency funds.

4. Scope and Affected Individuals

The scope of this plan includes the RCR education of individuals supported on sponsored research funds subject to the agency requirements outlined above in Section 3a, including but not limited to faculty, research staff, and graduate students.

5. Policy Statement

To foster an environment that promotes a positive research climate and the responsible conduct of research, and discourages research misconduct, all faculty, research staff, students, and others engaged in U of I research, regardless of funding source, are encouraged to complete the Primer in the Responsible Conduct of Research at the University of Illinois, available through the OVCRI's Training Portal. In addition, the U of I is obligated to meet specific research sponsor RCR education requirements for affected individuals. The U of I follows the federal agency mandates that affected individuals subject to federal RCR requirements complete training in research ethics, including those obligations pursuant to subawards received from and sent to other institutions.

6. Education Requirements

Affected individuals must complete the following education requirements:

NSF	USDA-NIFA	NIH
1) Complete training online via modules offered by the CITI Program or U of I, attend in-person ethics seminars or rostered courses offered by individual departments, or participate in RCR education provided within their research group and 2) complete training in mentoring and mentorship	Complete training online via modules offered by the CITI Program or U. of I. or Attend in-person ethics seminars or rostered courses offered by individual departments or Participate in RCR education provided with their research group	Attend in-person rostered courses offered on campus that are structured to meet NIH’s 8 contact hour RCR education requirement or Participate in at least 8 contact hours of RCR education provided within their unit or research group, including subject matter as suggested by NIH

NSF

USDA-NIFA

NIH

1) Complete training online via modules offered by the CITI Program or U of I, attend in-person ethics seminars or rostered courses offered by individual departments, or participate in RCR education provided within their research group

and

2) complete training in mentoring and mentorship

Complete training online via modules offered by the CITI Program or U. of I.

Attend in-person ethics seminars or rostered courses offered by individual departments

Participate in RCR education provided with their research group

Attend in-person rostered courses offered on campus that are structured to meet NIH’s 8 contact hour RCR education requirement

Participate in at least 8 contact hours of RCR education provided within their unit or research group, including subject matter as suggested by NIH

7. Communication of Requirements

Principal Investigators (PIs) who are subject to federal RCR education requirements receive email notifications from OVCRI informing them of their specific requirements when grants with such requirements are awarded. The Pis are requested to inform all individuals appointed on applicable funds of how they can meet the RCR training requirements.

8. Timelines and Tracking

The OVCRI maintains an online training management system to track completion of RCR education requirements. Individuals with an RCR training requirement receive an email notifying them of the specific requirement at the beginning of the funding award. The notification includes a link to available online training options, if applicable to that funding source. Thereafter the PIs receive a notification at the beginning of each month if there are individuals paid on funds from the grant who have not yet completed the RCR training requirement. Online training completed via the available online training modules is tracked automatically. Other RCR training can be logged manually within the online system. PIs may delegate one or more research staff members to access the RCR training management system and update records.

9. Subawards Received and Disseminated

The RCR education requirements flow down from prime recipient institutions to subrecipient institutions. The U of I entrusts subrecipient institutions to complete agency RCR requirements as part of the terms and conditions of the award. It is ultimately the responsibility of the U of I PI and subawardee PI(s) to ensure that that RCR education requirements tied to subawards received are met.

10. Ancillary Topics

In addition to the required RCR content, ancillary RCR elements (for example, open science, social responsibility, rigor and reproducibility) are integrated into the U of I online RCR training modules. Optional programming including in-person presentations focused on select topics, such as generative AI, authorship and publication, and research security, is also encouraged by U of I Units.

11. Plan Review and Revision

This plan will be reviewed each academic year by the Institutional RCR Coordinator, and revised as necessary, to ensure it meets current federal sponsor requirements.

12. Exceptions

Federal agencies do not specify allowable exceptions to RCR education requirements. The Institutional RCR Coordinator may consider limited instances when the requirements may not be applicable to an individual on a case-by-case basis in specific circumstances. Such circumstances should be documented, including the reason the individual would not be required to complete the RCR education requirement.

13. Non-compliance

Individuals who are non-compliant with federal RCR education requirements may be subject to one or more of the following actions:

informing the Unit Executive Officer of non-compliance,
informing the Office of University Audits, and/or,
withholding or revocation of federal salary funds for affected individuals.

14. Revision History

2024-10-28 Interim Document