Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK), Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM), The Rockefeller University (RU), and the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) have strong affiliations and collaborations that advance our respective medical, education, and research missions and support the next generation of clinicians and scientists. To maintain institutional cultures that promote and support research integrity for the shared research trainee populations among our institutions, we offer a biannual Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course. This course is intended to fulfill mandated requirements for RCR instruction as required by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and other sponsoring agencies.

The course is designed for research trainees and others interested in ethical considerations regarding the responsible conduct of research in the scientific enterprise, and as such is required for all first-year graduate students and MD-PhD candidates. At MSK, WCM, and HSS, all first-year postdoctoral researchers are also required to take the course (with requirements for those in clinical fellowship programs being applicable only if involved in federally funded programs or projects that require the training). The course is mandatory for individuals appointed to specific federally funded training programs or projects that require initial and refresher, as applicable, RCR and/or the responsible and ethical conduct of research training.

The intent is that this course be thought-provoking and useful, and that it provides participants with a foundation of information that will support their scientific journeys. The future of science depends on attracting the most talented, energetic, and morally strong people to research. It is incumbent on all of us in the research community to learn and work together to create a research environment dedicated to the highest ethical standards as we advance the cause of good science.

Course Goals and Objectives

• Awareness: heighten awareness of participants to ethical considerations relevant to the conduct of research
• Knowledge: inform participants of federal, state, and institutional policies, regulations, and procedures 
   
• Skills: provide participants with critical-analysis and problem-solving skills for ethical decision-making​​​​​​​

Course Components

The course will be offered in its entirety twice a year — in the fall from September to December and in the spring from January to April. Participants may register for one or the other, but it must be completed within a single semester. Those who start and don’t finish successfully will be required to repeat the course in its entirety the following semester.

Participants are required to complete the online training modules and participate in a series of in-person and virtual workshop and discussion sessions for a total of eight (8) hours of instruction within the semester. Participation in each program component is recorded and tracked for compliance purposes.

Research faculty of the institutions are expected to serve as effective role models for their trainees, fellows, and scholars in each area of RCR in day-to-day interactions throughout the trainee experience. Training faculty and sponsors/mentors are also invited to contribute to formal and informal instruction as discussion leaders, speakers, and lecturers.

Who MUST Participate

• All 1st year Gerstner Sloan Kettering (GSK), The Rockefeller University (RU), Weill Cornell Graduate School (WCM), and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) graduate students and MD-PhD candidates
• All 1st year MSK, WCM, and HSS postdoctoral researchers (regardless of rank) 
• Individuals appointed to NIH-funded National Research Service Award Institutional Training Programs (e.g., NRSA T32, T34, R25) and other Career Development awards (e.g., F, K). See NIH Guidelines for full list of applicable awards
• Individuals named on NSF-funded projects or any other agency that requires RCR training
• Anyone who was required to take the course in a previous term and either did not successfully complete the course or had to defer
• Others if specifically required and directed by an institution or program (e.g., GSK, HSS, MSK, RU, WCM)​​​​​​​
• GSK Institutional Contact
  • David McDonagh - [email protected]
• HSS Institutional Contact
  • Nicole Seate-Martin - [email protected]
• MSK Institutional Contact
  • [email protected] 
• WCM Institutional Contacts
  • Graduate Students: [email protected]
  • Post Docs: Leslie Krushel - [email protected]
  • CTSC: Ashley Ovalle - [email protected] and [email protected]
  • MSCB / MSBI: Lucia Li - [email protected]
• RU Institutional Contacts
  • Kristen Cullen - [email protected]
  • Emily Harms - [email protected]

Additional Notes

• Anyone who took RCR training more than four years ago and remains involved in a federal research project/project that mandates RCR training must take RCR refresher training
• An abbreviated summer RCR Course is offered to medical students and others studying at MSK through an R25 award or similar short-term program

Contact [email protected] for additional information on refresher training or the summer program.

Course Components & Criteria

The course will be offered in its entirety twice a year — in the fall from September to December and in the spring from January to April. Participants may register for one or the other, but it must be completed within a single semester. Those who start and don’t finish successfully will be required to repeat the course in its entirety the following semester.

Participants are required to complete the online training modules and participate in a series of in-person and virtual workshop and discussion sessions. Participation in each program component is recorded and tracked for compliance purposes.

Research faculty of the institutions are expected to serve as effective role models for their trainees, fellows, and scholars in each area of RCR in day-to-day interactions throughout the trainee experience. Training faculty and sponsors/mentors are also invited to contribute to formal and informal instruction as discussion leaders, speakers, and lecturers.

Course Topics Include:

• 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
• Disclosure and reporting requirements associated with export control and research security matters
• 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

2024 Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Course
Spring Semester Registration​​​​​​

January 24 – April 30

Registration for Spring 2024 is closed. RCR will be offered again during Fall 2024. Please stay tuned for event dates and registration information.

Questions on course content, your obligation to participate, or waivers can be addressed to: [email protected]