Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs

• Responsible Conduct of Research

Responsible Conduct of Research

BIOMEDICAL POSTDOCTORAL PROGRAMS (BPP)
RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH (RCR)

BPP requires all of its Biomedical Postdoctoral Fellows to be trained in Responsible Conduct of Research. Our program is composed of a number of components including mandatory and elective options, which the trainee selects to meet the NIH Guidelines. 

The BPP RCR Program includes the following:

Required completion of the CITI RCR training modules (covers content and provides a framework for discussions) within the first year of postdoc training and eight contact hours of RCR training within each career stage. Seminar series with discussions are led by faculty mentors. A minimum of twelve 60 minute sessions (see 2023 schedule below) will be offered per year covering the required topic areas. 

Although the NIH Guidelines state that there “are no specific curricular requirements”, our on-line RCR training and seminar sessions will include these topic areas:

1. conflict of interest – personal, professional, and financial – and conflict of commitment, in allocating time, effort, or other research resources
2. policies regarding human subjects, live vertebrate animal subjects in research, and safe laboratory practices
3. mentor/mentee responsibilities and relationships
4. safe research environments (e.g., those that promote inclusion and are free of sexual, racial, ethnic, disability and other forms of discriminatory harassment)
5. collaborative research, including collaborations with industry and investigators and institutions in other countries
6. peer review, including the responsibility for maintaining confidentiality and security in peer review
7. 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
8. secure and ethical data use; data confidentiality, management, sharing, and ownership
9. research misconduct and policies for handling misconduct
10. responsible authorship and publication
11. the scientist as a responsible member of society, contemporary ethical issues in biomedical research, and the environmental and societal impacts of scientific research

Additional topic areas addressed:

1. scientific rigor and reproducibility
2. implicit bias
3. civility issues in research environments, including but not limited to, harassment, bullying, and inappropriate behavior
4. social and environmental impacts of research

Annually, we hosts the Responsible Conduct of Research Symposium in April.  The symposium serves as an introduction to all RCR subject topics, including Scientific Rigor and Reproducibility, adopted by the recent National Institution of Health (NIH) recommendations (FY 2022 Updated Guidance: Requirement for Instructions in the Responsible Conduct of Research NOT-OD-22-055).  This year's Responsible Conduct of Research Symposium is schedule for Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 09:00 AM - 1:00 PM in the Biomedical Research Building, (BRB) Gaulton Auditorium and Lobby. 

Boilerplates

RCR Postdocs Training Boilerplate for Individual NIH Fellowships (2024)

Annual Programs

BPP Events List (FY 2024-2025)
BPP Events List (FY 2023-2024)
BPP Events List (FY 2022-2023)

Additional References: 

Office of the Vice Provost for Research | NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy (2023)
Biomedical Graduate Studies RCR & SRR
Principles of Responsible Conduct
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
NIH Guidelines
NIH Annual Review of Ethics (Case Studies)
Office of Research Integrity
ORI Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research

*Last updated on 02/11/2025

2025 Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training Schedule

We are in the process of finalizing the Spring 2025 training schedule for the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR).  Our workshops, open to the entire Penn community, provides training to ensure ethical research practices, professional integrity and federal regulation compliance.

Penn and CHOP faculty volunteers play a crucial role in leading our RCR training workshops. If you are a faculty member interested in leading a RCR training workshop, please sign up using the link below.

Faculty interested in being a part of our 2025 faculty rotation schedule, please sign up or contact dcrawley@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.