Postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty with career development awards are welcome to participate in Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR) training. Please note, Brown's Division of Biology & Medicine, along with most of the agencies that sponsor biomedical research, require instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research. This training takes place at various intervals throughout a researcher’s career. The NIH requires that this training includes “substantial face-to-face discussions.” Postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty with career development awards should select the RCR training opportunity that is most appropriate for their experience level and funding type. The opportunities listed on the RCR page on the website for the Office of Postdocs & Early Career Programs (PECP) within the Division of Biology and Medicine.  meet NIH and NSF RCR requirements. 

Fall RCR Training Sequence

The Fall RCR training sequence organized by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies is required for all entering PhD students in the Division of Biology and Medicine. Others, including postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty with career development grants, are welcome to participate in this training by contacting Melissa Walsh, Director of Graduate Education, and requesting to take this course. More information and the dates for the Fall RCR training sequence can be found here.

RCR Advanced Training

The Office of Graduate Studies offers a more advanced ethics training for postdoctoral researchers and fourth-year pre-doctoral students in the Division of Biology and Medicine that satisfies the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) requirements for the Responsible Conduct of Research. The course comprises three in-person sessions lasting 3 hours each and is offered twice per academic year, once during the fall semester and once during the spring semester. To complete this training, trainees must attend all sessions of a cycle. More information and the dates for the RCR Advanced Training can be found here.

Research Integrity Series for Junior Faculty

Co-sponsored by the Advance RI-CTR, the Division of Biology and Medicine offers a Research Integrity Series as part of Brown's Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training available to all junior faculty. Postdocs funded through K-awards are also welcome to take this series. The goal of this series is to provide attendees with the opportunity to review and discuss the most current and pressing matters related to research integrity and scientific misconduct with senior faculty and experts in the field. Sessions will be held monthly (October through May) from 3:30 - 5 p.m., covering topics such as Rigor & Reproducibility, Research Misconduct, Mentorship, Data Management, and Responsible Authorship. Sessions will be held on Brown's main campus or Zoom. For more information, please contact Audra Van Wart, Associate Dean for Training and Program Development. More information and a link to the syllabus can be found here.

BEARCORE Training Program

The Brown Ethics And Responsible Conduct Of Research Education (BEARCORE) program is designed to educate early-career researchers, such as graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, from a variety of academic fields on how to conduct their scientific investigations responsibly and with integrity. BEARCORE is an in-person RCR training program that fulfills NIH and NSF requirements. BEARCORE is open to anyone in the Brown community who is working or listed as an investigator on an RCR-qualifying research grant that is administered through Brown. In sessions where spaces are limited, enrollment preference will be given to campus-based NIH/NSF trainees. More information can be found here.