Research Security Training: Annual CITI Update Due

Last spring, the Office of Research notified the BU research community of new requirements for research security training (RST). Federal agencies have since determined that RST must be completed annually. This requirement applies to all covered individuals who engage in sponsored research, including non-federal and industry-sponsored research, not only those receiving federal funding. This message serves as a reminder to complete your annual update. 

For the purposes of this requirement, a covered individual is someone who:

• Contributes in a substantive and meaningful way to the development or execution of the scope of work of a project proposed for funding; and
• Is designated as a principal investigator, project director. co-principal investigator, co-investigator, co-project director, project manager, key personnel, or any individual—regardless of title (including consultants, graduate students, or postdoctoral associates)—who is functionally performing in one of these roles.

There is no refresher course for this training. You must complete the same CITI Research Security Training (Combined) course taken last year. If you previously completed the four-hour version of the NSF Research Security Training last year, please take the CITI Research Security (Combined) course now. If you have not yet taken the training, you will need to enroll in the course, which takes approximately one hour to complete.

To complete the CITI research security training course, follow these steps:

• Access the CITI website.
• Log in to your existing CITI account or register if this is your first time visiting CITI.
• When you select an email address for your registration, please use your BU email address (this enables your training certifications to connect with other University systems, such as Huron).
• To access the research security training, you must affiliate with the BU Charles River Campus (CRC). Note that in CITI you may be affiliated with other institutional accounts, such as the BU Medical Campus, however the training is only available via the CRC training portfolio.
• To affiliate:
  • Select ‘Add Institutional Affiliation’
  • Search for and select ‘Boston University (Charles River Campus)’
• If the course does not already appear in your list of ‘Courses Ready to Begin,’ under ‘Learner Tools,’ choose ‘Add a Course.’
• Under ‘Getting Started,’ select ‘Research Security.’
• Under ‘Research Security Curriculum,’ select ‘Research Security Training (Combined).’ This will add the course to your ‘Courses Ready to Begin.’
• Next, click ‘Start Now’ and take the course.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this requirement. Your compliance is greatly appreciated.

For more information, please review the frequently asked questions and the research security website. You may also contact the Director of Research Security at sbporter@bu.edu or the Research Security Office at ressec@bu.edu.

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