National Institutes of Health RCR Training

  1. Compliance & Safety
  2. Research Integrity and Ethics
  3. National Institutes of Health RCR Training
  4. National Institutes of Health RCR Training

Overview

The University's Institutional RCR Plan is structured to meet NIH's requirements to "foster a research environment that promotes research integrity and the responsible conduct of research" (42 CFR 93.300). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) education for individuals receiving support on certain NIH sponsored funds as described below.

NIH RCR Training FAQs

What are the NIH's requirements for RCR training?
NIH requires RCR training for all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, and dissertation research grant (NOT-OD-10-019, NOT-OD-22-055). 

The specific RCR training requirement applies to the programs listed below. It also applies to any other NIH-funded programs supporting research training, career development, or research education that require instruction in RCR as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements.

  • International Research Training ‒ D43, D71 
  • Fellowships ‒ F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F37, F38
  • Career Awards ‒ K01, K02, K05, K07, K08, K12, K18, K22, K23, K24, K25, K26, K30, K99/R00, KL1, KL2
  • Research Awards ‒ R25, R36
  • Institutional Research Training ‒ T15, T32, T34, T35, T36, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TU2
  • International Cooperative Agreement ‒ U2R

Who needs RCR training?
The University requires RCR training of all individuals supported on NIH sponsored funds as detailed in What are the NIH's requirements for RCR training.

What are the responsibilities of Principal Investigators (PIs)? 
Principal Investigators (PIs) are responsible to ensure RCR education is completed and documented for individuals paid on NIH sponsored funds (CAM RP-06).

When should RCR training take place?
NIH encourages RCR instruction at every stage of a researcher’s career (undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, predoctoral, postdoctoral, faculty) and at a frequency of no less than once every four years. NIH also highly encourages that initial RCR training for predoctoral researchers takes place as early as possible in graduate school.

Note that the NIH's requirements for Research Security Training have different timelines. 

What topics should RCR training cover?
As part of its RCR Program, the University's Institutional RCR Plan encourages that all individuals involved in research or appointed to sponsored research funds receive a comprehensive education which includes, at a minimum, the Core Topics specified by federal agencies. These topics include those specified by the NIH:

  • conflict of interest personal, professional, and financial and conflict of commitment, in allocating time, effort, or other research resources
  • policies regarding human subjects, live vertebrate animal subjects in research, and safe laboratory practices
  • mentor/mentee responsibilities and relationships
  • safe research environments (e.g., those that promote inclusion and are free of sexual, racial, ethnic, disability and other forms of discriminatory harassment)
  • collaborative research, including collaborations with industry and investigators and institutions in other countries
  • peer review, including the responsibility for maintaining confidentiality and security in peer review
  • data acquisition and analysis; laboratory tools (e.g., tools for analyzing data and creating or working with digital images); recordkeeping practices, including methods such as electronic laboratory notebooks
  • secure and ethical data use; data confidentiality, management, sharing, and ownership
  • research misconduct and policies for handling misconduct
  • responsible authorship and publication
  • the scientist as a responsible member of society, contemporary ethical issues in biomedical research, and the environmental and societal impacts of scientific research

PIs are encouraged to suggest additional educational opportunities, professional development, and team discussions of integrity-related issues that are relevant to their team's research.

How should RCR training be delivered?
The NIH's guidance specifies that RCR training must be completed substantially in-person with at least eight contact hours. The NIH highly encourages faculty participation in this face-to-face training. Individuals are able to fulfill these requirements by attending in-person rostered courses or workshops offered on campus that are structured to meet the NIH's guidelines. Contact OVCRI at rcrtraining@illinois.edu for information on such training opportunities.

Individual departments and PIs are permitted to provide their own RCR training which includes, at a minimum, the topics listed under What topics should RCR training cover.

How should RCR training be documented?
Training requirements for individuals paid on NIH funds requiring RCR are automatically assigned in the OVCRI Training Portal, where completion of training is also recorded. PIs and individuals who have not completed RCR training requirements receive an automated email reminder.

PIs can view the RCR training completion status for individuals and manually document training provided via the OVCRI's RCR Reporting System, which is only accessible to PIs and assigned delegates. PIs may delegate one or more staff members to access the OVCRI's RCR Reporting System to view completion status, receive reminders, and document training completion. 

What if I have additional questions?
Contact OVCRI at rcrtraining@illinois.edu. 

Updated 21 August 2025