The Fall session of Responsible Conduct of Research (“RCR”) is scheduled for September 8th, from 1:00 pm till 3:00 pm in Palko Hall, Room 130. RCR training is beneficial for any person involved in research and should be taken no less than once every four years.

TCU requires RCR training for any student (graduate and undergraduate) paid from grant funds and all postdoctoral fellows/associates*.

PhD students of Harris College receive RCR training through their required eight week ethics course embedded in the college’s PhD degree plan and therefore, are exempt from being required to attend the Office of Research training. 

*NIH and NSF have specific RCR training requirements that may go beyond the minimum requirements set by TCU.  If your research and/or scholarly activity is federally-funded and you are unsure of the RCR training requirements for your personnel, please contact Research Compliance at research@tcu.edu or (817) 257-5070.

http://libguides.tcu.edu/scholcomm/data

The mandatory Vivarium Training meeting will be held on Monday, August 27, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.  The meeting will be held in Winton Scott Rm. 228.  Please distribute this email to the graduate and undergraduate students that work in your laboratory.  This meeting is an important reminder of a) the rules for the daily operation of the vivarium,  b) the value of providing the best animal care and housing for the animals under our care, and c) the importance of animal research.  We will be taking attendance (grad and undergrad) at the meeting.  Those not able to attend the meeting will be required to complete online training within 1-week of the meeting.  The online training includes a 20-question test that must be passed (70% or better) for training to be considered completed (repeated testing is allowed).  The link to the training will be sent following the meeting on Monday.  No test will be given at the in-person training.

The in-person training will also allow students to meet and ask questions to the Facilities Manager (Lindy Bledsue), Vivarium Coordinator (me), IACUC members, as well as other vivarium-related personnel (veterinary staff, vivarium professors, etc.).

Please remember that vivarium access will be restricted to only those individuals who complete their annual training.

Effective October 1, 2017, NIH funded researchers will no longer have to request a Certificates of Confidentiality (“CoC”), nor will they receive an actual certificate. The CoC will be issued automatically to NIH funded grants, cooperative agreements, contracts and intramural research projects research funded wholly or in part by the NIH that collects or uses identifiable, sensitive information. Compliance with the requirements of the law will become a term and condition of award. All research that was commenced or ongoing on or after December 13, 2016 and is within the scope of this policy is issued a Certificate through this policy.  Read the NIH notice here: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-17-109.html

The Office of Research has revised its research misconduct policy.  The policy entitled “Ethical Conduct of Research and Creative Activities” has been superseded by the “Research Integrity” policy and procedures.  The Research Integrity policy and procedures may be found on the Office of Research website.

Research Policies and Procedures

The Protection of Human Subjects in Research Policy and related procedures have been revised.  Please review these policies and procedures that are published on the TCU Office of Research website.

On August 2,  NIH announced that it was withdrawing its proposal to list the names of all research personnel associated with a grant on the RePORTER system pending “further review of the policy”.

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-16-126.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Have you wondered how/when rats, mice, and birds that are bred for research are protected by U.S. federal law?

Learn more about the topic here: https://speakingofresearch.com/2016/05/23/when-are-rats-mice-birds-and-fish-protected-by-us-federal-laws/