Integration of The Research Ethics Program into Research Compliance and Integrity

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 training requirements in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), will no longer be offered by the Research Ethics Program. While the course will no longer be offered, the federal RCR training requirement remains in effect for students, trainees, and faculty supported by Federal research funding.

Beginning January 2026, RCI will ensure that alternate methods of meeting Federal RCR requirements are available and will include a combination of training modules such as CITI, seminar/webinar series, and other RCR courses that are ongoing. Departments/Schools that wish to create options for educating those who require RCR education are encouraged to contact RCI (rci@ucsd.edu) or Dr. John Baumann, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Compliance and Integrity (jobaumann@ucsd.edu). Resources that may be useful are located on the REP website. 

RCI will provide more detailed information in the coming months. Thank you for your continued commitment to research integrity at UC San Diego.

Education

The Research Education Program offers the UC San Diego research community a variety of courses, including the quarterly Scientific Ethics course and both custom and regularly offered workshops. 

Our educational goal is to foster a campus learning community centered around exploring the ethical, legal and social implications of the research conducted by our faculty, students, staff and trainees. We do this by offering educational opportunities, including courses, workshops and seminars, where attendees can identify and address ethical challenges across the research lifecycle (e.g., planning, conducting and reporting of research). Our Scientific Ethics course aligns with requirements for Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training set forth by federal agencies that support academic research [NIH, NSF, and NIFA/USDA].