PIs and RCR Responsibilities

The purpose of this page is to summarize the main compliance responsibilities that a principal investigator/project director (PI) has related to the RCR components of covered projects.

PRE-AWARD

Routing Form

The RCR Project Plan Addendum to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) Routing Form must be included with an NSF research proposal, applicable NIH proposal, or USDA NIFA proposal when it is being submitted or with subawards supported by these federal programs.

 

POST-AWARD

Mentoring and Supervision

It is the responsibility of the PI to ensure that all applicable research team members are informed of the RCR training requirements, including whether re-training is necessary. Moreover, it is the PI’s responsibility to provide appropriate mentoring through discussions of RCR topics and through oversight of the research project. 

Deliverables

An annual certification of RCR training to OSP must be made through the OSP Contract Information System. This is accomplished in the following ways:

  1. Clicking the link in the OSP Deliverable notification email, in the Deliverables portlet of the My Pages section of GTCrossroads, or on the Deliverables tab of the OSP Contract Information System.
  2. Checking the box under RCR Report, which certifies that “all students (undergraduate, graduate) and postdoctoral researchers funded by this project are in compliance with the Georgia Tech Responsible Conduct of Research Compliance Policy.” 

Checking this box certifies that all trainees on the project who are required to have completed their RCR training by the annual certification date have done so. Trainees have 90 days after appointment to the project to complete the CITI RCR online course and one year to complete the in-person training. Note that newly appointed trainees for whom the training is not yet due are considered in compliance with the policy for the purposes of the current year’s certification; their training should be certified during the next annual certification cycle.

Documentation of In-Person Training

Documentation of in-person training that has been taken to satisfy the RCR Compliance Policy is the responsibility of the PI, unless the training has been completed through an OSP-approved RCR training event or through an approved RCR course. OSP-approved RCR training events will be documented in the Research Education Training System; RCR courses will be documented in Banner.

For training completed outside of OSP-approved events or approved RCR courses, the PI should document the date, attendance, agenda, and number of contact hours spent discussing RCR topics. This documentation must be included in the project file.