Georgia Tech students and trainees engaged in research at the undergraduate, graduate and post‐doctoral levels shall receive formal instruction in ethical considerations and decision‐making in Responsible Conduct of Research. See www.rcr.gatech.edu for the current policy, guidelines, and procedures. This policy is intended to comply with the requirements of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) implementation of the requirements of Section 7009 of theAmerica Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act(42U.S.C. 1862o–1) found in the NSF Award and Administration Guide, Chapter IV, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) requirements found in NOT‐OD‐10‐019.
It is the policy of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s RCR Compliance Policy that all graduate students, all students who participate in Georgia Tech's Undergraduate Research Program, and any student receiving research funds or who participates in research activities funded by NIH or NSF shall engage in a program of study in the Responsible Conduct of Research that includes, at a minimum, the following elements (RCR elements):
- Conflicts of interest (personal, professional, and financial)
- Policies regarding the use of human subjects in research
- Policies regarding the use of vertebrate animals in research
- Laboratory safety, biohazard management, chemical safety, and polices regarding the use of radioisotopes and radiation sources in research
- The responsibilities and relationships of mentors and mentees
- Collaborative research
- The peer review process
- Data acquisition and laboratory tools; management, sharing and ownership of data and research tools
- Research misconduct and policies for handling research misconduct
- Authorship and publication
- Science and Engineering in Society: the scientist and engineer as responsible members of society and ethical issues in research and the environmental and societal impacts of scientific research
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigators of NSF and NIH‐funded projects to ensure that all students engaged in research are informed of the requirement and that the requirement has been met. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to provide mentoring in RCR through discussions of RCR topics and through oversight of students’ research.
This policy applies to all Georgia Tech Faculty, Staff, and Students
Definitions:
| Responsible Conduct of Research | Responsible Conduct of Research(RCR) is defined as the practice of scientific investigation with integrity. It involves the awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance of all activities related to scientific research. |
5.1 Principal Investigators
Principal Investigators of NSF and NIH-funded projects are responsible for ensuring that all students engage in research are informed or the requirement and that the requirement has been met.
| Revision Date | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 01-02-2014 | OSP | Rev 1.0 |