Required: Graduate Student Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
Required: Graduate Student Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
What is the required RCR training?
Purdue University requires all degree-seeking graduate students to complete training in Responsible Conduct of Research. This training provides important guidance to all graduate students who will benefit from an understanding of how research is conducted. Students on certain research grants (NSF, NIH, etc.) may have additional requirements or earlier deadlines; check with your research advisor. Please also see resources at the end of this handout.
- All Graduate Students: Complete the CITI online course on Responsible Conduct of Research Training – Faculty, Postdoctoral, and Graduate Course (CITI-RCR) within 30-60 days of starting your graduate study (30 days if paid from grants, 60 days for all others), and, if applicable, before participating in research sponsored by NSF. The CITI-RCR online course includes multiple modules. Each module takes approximately 30-60 minutes to complete and ends with a short multiple-choice quiz. Students can enter, leave, and re-enter the course and each module as many times as they would like prior to taking the quiz. Students must achieve an average score of at least 80% on all quizzes in the required modules. When students have completed all the quizzes, they can print out a certificate of completion.
- In addition, mandatory for on-campus graduate students and optional for fully online students: Attend a follow-up seminar or workshop within the first year. The seminar or workshop may be given by the graduate program or the Office of Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars (OGSPS) either in-person or online. The seminar should be 2 hours in length and allow students to ask questions and discuss RCR-related issues with the speaker.
Why do students need to complete this training even if they are not conducting research?
Even if a student does not plan to conduct research at Purdue, the RCR training will be valuable. It is likely that a person with a graduate degree in engineering from Purdue will be involved with research at some point in their career – as a collaborator, a supervisor, a data manager, or a colleague. Even when simply using information from journal articles, it is important to understand potential RCR issues. Understanding the ethical issues that researchers face makes these future employees more valuable collaborators and better managers.
How do students complete the CITI online training requirement?
Each engineering school may establish a specific process to follow, so students should check with their graduate program office with any questions. Some schools include the CITI training as part of a first semester course; others require students to complete the training prior to receiving a registration PIN for the second semester.
Once you have your BoilerKey/Career Account login and password, you can use the following steps as a guide to complete the online training:
- Visit www.citiprogram.org and select “Log In” and then “Log In Through My Institution.”
- Click on Purdue University. Log in with your BoilerKey and complete the registration process.
- Once logged in, click to add courses and select the Responsible Conduct of Research Training – Faculty, Postdoctoral, and Graduate Course.
- Complete all required modules. This will meet the CoE online training requirement.
- Your School or research project may require additional courses. If unsure, check with your research advisor.
At the completion of the CITI course, a certificate of completion will be displayed. This will also be available to the Purdue RCR Office. Your graduate program office may ask you to submit a copy of this completion certificate. Your School may provide additional guidance on how they would like you to submit your completion certificate.
How do students complete the seminar/workshop requirement?
Each engineering school can determine whether to have students complete a school-sponsored seminar/workshop or have students attend an RCR workshop hosted by the OGSPS. (See offerings on their website.) Once determined, each school should communicate to students what they need to accomplish and how they should show proof of completion to the Graduate Administrator. Students will also need to submit the completed training through Purdue’s RCR tracking system (see next question).
How is RCR training tracked?
Students must submit their seminar/workshop attendance through Purdue’s RCR tracking system, available on the EVPRP RCR website under Tracking Your RCR Training. Schools may also request students to submit their CITI-RCR certificate of completion and proof of seminar/workshop attendance to the graduate administrator (since they cannot directly access the information in Purdue’s system).
Does the CITI-RCR training ever expire?
The OGSPS requires all graduate students to recertify every 5 years. Graduate students working on active grants from certain federal agencies may need to recertify more frequently and should follow their grant requirements.
Do students who have taken the CITI online training at a previous institution need to retake it?
Students may be able to transfer the online training credits and should follow the instructions at the bottom of the quick reference card here: https://www.purdue.edu/research/docs/pdf/RCR%20Quick%20Reference%20Card.pdf. Transferred credits for training completed at other Institutions may or may not match the required credits/modules for Purdue RCR training requirements. You may need to complete additional modules to get full credit for the training required by Purdue. Even if the online training credits are transferred, on-campus students will still need to attend the follow-up workshop.
Do non-thesis students need to complete the RCR training?
Yes. All degree-seeking graduate students are required to complete the CITI-RCR online training; additionally, all on-campus graduate students must attend a follow-up workshop or seminar.
Do non-degree students need to complete the RCR training?
Non-degree students should complete the RCR training if they are working toward a certificate. Non-degree students taking an individual class are not required but are strongly encouraged to complete the training.
Do students earning their degrees online need to complete the RCR training?
Yes. RCR training is beneficial and required for all degree-seeking graduate students. Online students must complete the CITI-RCR online certification. An additional workshop or seminar is strongly encouraged but not required. Many excellent workshops are presented online.
Resources (Any changes in university guidelines will supersede information presented in this handout.)
Purdue University OGSPS RCR Info: https://www.purdue.edu/academics/ogsps/research/rcr/index.php
Purdue EVPRP RCR Info: https://www.purdue.edu/research/oevprp/regulatory-affairs/responsible-conduct.php
General questions: RCRTraining@purdue.edu
Questions on CoE requirements: Janet Beagle, Ph.D., Managing Director of Graduate Programs, jbeagle@purdue.edu
Updated August 2025