The UC San Diego Research Ethics Program is being reorganized within the Office for Research Compliance and Integrity (RCI). The Scientific Ethics course, which has long served as an option for meeting federal Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training requirements, will no longer be offered by the Research Ethics Program.
The federal RCR training requirement remains in effect for students, trainees, and faculty supported by applicable federal research funding.
Starting January 1, 2026, RCI will offer and/or coordinate the required RCR training for federally funded researchers. There are various options for completing the training required by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health. These are detailed on the Responsible Conduct of Research Institutional Plan webpage, blink.ucsd.edu/sponsor/rci/responsible-conduct.html.
Consulting and train-the-trainer modules for RCR will continue to be offered by RCI. Please contact RCI at rci@ucsd.edu or Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Compliance and Integrity John Baumann at jobaumann@ucsd.edu.
