Boilerplate language for RCR/Ethics requirements

The NIH requires detailed information on an Ethics training plan for any postdoc, training or career grant. Below you can find example boilerplate language that we recommend you edit to fit your training/research plan.

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A regular quarterly series of interactive workshops on the “Ethical Conduct of Research” is held on Friday afternoons throughout the year and is hosted by the Postdoctoral Association (PDA) and Office of Postdoctoral Affairs in the Biological Sciences Division at The University of Chicago. These workshops cover the NIH-required topics including authorship and data ownership, fraud and misconduct, ethics of animal research, human subjects research, and conflicts of interest, and are presented by the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, lawyers from the Office of Legal Counsel, the Director of Academic Affairs, the Associate Dean and Director of Postdoctoral Affairs and University Faculty. Case studies from the University of Chicago or elsewhere will be featured while maintaining confidentiality. In addition, other aspects of ethical behavior are discussed; for instance, a session on “Identifying Methods to Recognize and Respond to Ethical Dilemmas”, was recently presented by the Director of Employee Relations, an interactive video experience "The Lab: Avoiding Research Misconduct " developed by the Office of Research Integrity at the US Department of Health and Human Services was presented and most recently, Terrie Vasilopoulos, the PDA vice-president presented topics discussed at the “Quest for Research Excellence Conference” hosted by the Office of Research Integrity. The seminar was interactive and ethics responses from the 2012 PDA survey were also presented. At present, the ethics series is required of all postdoc trainees on T32, F32 and K-awards and strongly recommended for other postdocs. Attendance is recorded. This RCR series is specifically designed for postdocs, and presented with an assumption of more experience than the graduate student courses.

In addition the “Summer Series on Scientific Integrity and the Ethical Conduct of Research” sponsored by Dr. Julian Solway through the Institute for Translational Medicine is available every year and is open to postdoctoral scholars and fellows. http://itm.uchicago.edu/training-education/translational-research-workshops/btrw/ These seminars are held every Tuesday afternoon, July – August, and cover topics relevant to translational and clinical research such as humane treatment of animals, ethics of human experimentation and vulnerable populations and group risks.