Division of Biology and Medicine
Office of Graduate Studies

Responsible Conduct of Research Training (RCR)

The Division's primary training takes place in the Fall of each year and we offer subsequent advanced training throughout the Fall and Spring semesters.  

The Division of Biology & Medicine, along with most of the agencies that sponsor biomedical research, require instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research. This training takes place at various intervals in a scientist's career. The NIH requires that this training includes "substantial face to face discussions." For more information about requirements from the NSF and NIH, please go to their sites. The Division's primary training takes place in the Fall of each year and we offer subsequent advanced training throughout the Fall and Spring semesters.  

The Fall RCR training sequence organized by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies is required for all entering PhD students in the Division of Biology and Medicine. Others, including postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty with career development grants are welcome to participate in this training or one of the more advanced trainings listed below. Any other trainees may also request to take this course by contacting Melissa Walsh at Melissa_hoh@brown.edu.

Fall 2024 Responsible Conduct of Research Basic Training will be held on Tuesday's from September 17, 2024 through December 10, 2024 from 4 - 5:30 pm.

Additional RCR Programming

RCR Advanced Training

The Office of Graduate Studies offers a more advanced ethics training for postdoctoral researchers and fourth-year pre-doctoral students in the Division of Biology and Medicine that satisfies the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) requirements for the Responsible Conduct of Research. The course comprises three in-person sessions lasting 3h each and is offered twice per academic year, once during the fall semester and once during the spring semester. To complete this training, trainees must attend all sessions of a cycle. 

Fall of 2024 Training
November 25, December 2, and December 9, 9 am to 12 noon

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Spring of 2025 Training
March 24, March 31, and April 7, 9 am to 12 noon

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Research Integrity Series for Junior Faculty

Co-sponsored by the Advance RI-CTR, BioMed offers a Research Integrity Series as part of Brown's Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training available to all junior faculty. Postdocs funded through K-awards are also welcome to take this series. The goal of this series is to provide attendees with the opportunity to review and discuss the most current and pressing matters related to research integrity and scientific misconduct with senior faculty and experts in the field. Sessions will be held monthly (October-May) from 3:30 - 5 pm covering topics such as Rigor & Reproducibility, Research Misconduct, Mentorship, Data Management, and Responsible Authorship. Sessions will be held on Brown's main campus or Zoom. For more information, please contact Audra Van Wart, Associate Dean for Training and Program Development. View the Brown Research Integrity Series for Faculty 2024-2025 syllabus.

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