Research Security and Integrity Training
Required Training for UIC Researchers
Annual Research Security and Integrity Training
Each year on or after May 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 by the announced due date. 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. Faculty, staff, and graduate researchers will not receive credit for completing this course.
Some researchers, such as undergraduate researchers, visitors, and occasionally master’s students, participate in short-term projects or will only be at UIC participating in research for a year or less. These researchers now have the option to complete the visitor and undergraduate research security and integrity training.
To Complete the 2025 RSIT Requirements:
- Log into the CITI Program using the UIC SSO. If prompted, 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.
- The current year’s RSIT should be automatically added if you follow the link above. If not, add the Research Security and Integrity Course. Even if you added this course, you may still need to select the course to add the annual curriculum, so go to the next step.
- Add the appropriate Research Security and Integrity curriculum.
- Add the Research Security and Integrity (May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027) curriculum.
- If you are or were participating or intending to participate in research from April 1, 2025 through April 30, 2026 and have not completed the Research Security and Integrity (April 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026) curriculum, add the Research Security and Integrity (April 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026) curriculum.
- Complete the modules of the Research Security and Integrity (May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027) and/or Research Security and Integrity (April 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026) curricula required.
Detailed instructions to enroll in the CITI UIC RSIT course for 2025
Detailed instructions to enroll in the CITI UIC RSIT Course for 2026
Please complete the curriculum described as Research Security and Integrity (May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027). If you failed to complete the Research Security and Integrity (April 1, 2025 – April 30, 2026) curriculum prior to May 1, 2026, you are still required to complete this course in addition to the Research Security and Integrity (May 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027) curriculum if you participated or intended to participate in research between April 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026.
The Research Security and Integrity (May 1, 2027 – April 30, 2028) and Research Security and Integrity (May 1, 2028 – April 30, 2029) curricula will be required to be completed in future years. If you complete these early, you will be required to repeat the course in the appropriate year(s).
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 sponsored research are required to complete training.
Research Security Training Requirements
| Agency | Deadlines | Covered Individuals | Effective Date | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture (USDA) | Not more than one year prior to applying for funding | "Applicants" | October 10, 2025 | SM-1078-014 Deviation #: 2026-USDA-0001-F |
| Annually for the duration of the award | ||||
| Department of Defense/War (DOD/DOW) | TBD | Covered Individuals (undefined) | June 8, 2023 | Policy for Risk-Based Security Reviews of Fundamental Research |
| “covered individual”, according the Chips Act of 2022, to means an individual who— (A) contributes in a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of a research and development project proposed to be carried out with a research and development award from a Federal research agency; and (B) is designated as a covered individual by the Federal research agency concerned. | 42 USC 19234 |
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| Department of Energy (DOE) | Not more than one year prior to applying for funding | Covered Individual means an individual who (a) contributes in a substantive, meaningful way to the development or execution of the scope of work of a project funded by DOE or proposed for funding by DOE, and (b) is designated as a covered individual by DOE. | May 1, 2025 | FAL 2025-02 |
| new subs within 30 days of initiating the project. | DOE designates as covered individuals any principal investigator (PI); project director (PD); coprincipal investigator (Co-PI); co-project director (Co-PD); project manager; and any individual regardless of title that is functionally performing as a PI, PD, Co-PI, Co-PD, or project manager. Status as a consultant, graduate (master’s or PhD) student, or postdoctoral associate does not automatically disqualify a person from being designated as a “covered individual” if they meet the definition in (a) above. Individuals committing no measurable effort or “as-needed” effort are not automatically exempt from being designated as a covered individual. The prime applicant’s listing of an individual in the “Senior/Key Person” section of an SF-424(R&R) budget serves as an acknowledgement that DOE designates that person as a covered individual. |
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| National Aeronatics and Space Administration (NASA) | Not more than one year prior to applying for funding | Training is required for PI's and Co-PI's (regardless of level of effort) and for Co-I's that propose to spend 10% or more of their time in any given year on a NASA-funded award. | August 5, 2026 | GIC 26-02 |
| NASA may designate additional personnel categories as covered individuals on a project-by-project basis which will be explicitly stated in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). | ||||
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Not more than one year prior to applying for funding | Senior/key personnel listed on the application for a research and development award will be required to take the training. | October 10, 2025 | Important Notice No. 149 |
| Senior personnel who later join an existing project will also have one year from the time of joining. | ||||
| National Institutes of Health | Not more than one year prior to applying for funding | Senior/key personnel listed on the application for a research and development award. | October 1, 2025 | NOT-OD-25-133 |
| January 26, 2026 | NOT-OD-26-017 |
When must training be completed?
Training must be completed each year between May 1 and June 30.
If you are hired during a period outside of the annual training period, you are required to complete training either prior to applying for US federal sponsored projects or upon notification of other sponsored 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.
Proposals for US federal sponsored programs will be held until all key personnel on the award have completed training at least once in the one year prior to the proposal, if required by the agency.
Initial awards for all sponsored programs will be held until all key personnel on the award have completed training appropriate to that individual. Noncompeting renewal awards will be held until all personnel participating in the award have completed training appropriate to that individual.
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 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 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.
UIC may require the subawardee to certify that all personnel have completed the RS or RCR/RECR requirements.