Required Training for UIC Researchers
Annual Research Security and Integrity Training
Each year on approximately April 1, the Research Security and Integrity Training period will be announced as part of the UIC Research Security Program. An annual Research Security and Integrity Training (RSIT) curriculum in the CITI Program must be completed prior to May 31. The annual curriculum will be comprised of one or more modules, and all modules must be completed to meet the training requirements.
The annual CITI Program Research Security and Integrity courses for the University of Illinois Chicago are custom built for UIC. These courses meet the research security (RS) and responsible conduct of research (RCR), also known as responsible and ethical conduct of research (RECR), training requirements of most federal agencies and funding organizations, with the exception of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH requires in-person RCR training for specific training programs and mentored projects. Please see the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training page for more RCR/RECR information.
The OVCR and ORI are collaborating with the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) to offer training to meet the requirements of the federal regulations and UIC policy. Training can be accessed through the CITI Program website. In the text box, enter “Illinois Chicago” to log into the system using the UIC single sign on (SSO). You must sign in through the UIC SSO to complete this training. Once signed into the CITI Program system, add the Research Security and Integrity course and the Research Security and Integrity (2025) curriculum. The Research Security and Integrity (2025) curriculum has three (3) modules that must be completed to satisfy the 2025 training requirement before May 31, 2025 or prior to applying to the Department of Energy.
To Complete the 2025 RSIT Requirements:
- Log into the CITI Program using the UIC SSO.
- Add the Research Security and Integrity Course.
- Add the Research Security and Integrity (2025) curriculum.
- Complete the 3 modules of the Research Security and Integrity (2025) curriculum.
Please only complete the curriculum described as Research Security and Integrity (2025). The Research Security and Integrity (2026), Research Security and Integrity (2027), and Research Security and Integrity (2028) curricula will be required to be completed in future years.
RSIT Training
Who must complete training?
All faculty members, staff, investigators, personnel, students, trainees, fellows, visitors and volunteers who participate or intend to participate in federal sponsored research are required to complete training.
When must training be completed?
Training must be completed each year between April 1 and May 31.
If you are hired during a period outside of the annual training period, you are required to complete training either prior to applying for Department of Energy (or other, as required) projects or upon notification of other federal sponsor awards.
What happens if I don't complete training?
Failure to complete Research Security and Integrity Training will result in any sponsored programs being held at award after May 31, 2025.
Initial awards for all sponsored programs will be held until all key personnel on the award have completed training. Noncompeting renewal awards will be held until all personnel participating in the award have completed training.
Do subcontractors, sub-awardees, and partners use UIC research security and integrity training?
Subawards (assuming partners will be subawardees) should NOT use the UIC RSIT to meet research security training (RST), responsible conduct of research (RCR) or responsible and ethical conduct of research (RECR) training requirements. There may be some exceptions for higher research security risk projects, but this is expected to be rare.
Subawards may have flow-through requirements for RS, RCR, and/or RECR, but this will not be for all awards. This will be one of those areas where the subawardees will need to review the contract terms and determine how best to meet the requirements.
When RS training requirements flow down (all federal sponsors in the next year), the NSF has free training that the subawardees could utilize. UIC is using a modification of this training through CITI, but we cannot have partners/subawardees using our CITI training for this. The subawardees could use any method that meets the requirements of the specific federal sponsor.
When RCR/RECR is required (NSF, USDA, and some NIH, others may add), the DHHS ORI has information for RCR/RECR training. Subawardees are already obligated by grant terms from some agencies to complete RCR/RECR training, and UIC does not support subawardees or partner training for RCR/RECR training.