Ethical and Responsible Conduct of Research
National Science Foundation (NSF) Requirements
America COMPETES Act Section 7008
MENTORING ACTIVITIES FOR POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH
FELLOWS
Each proposal that contains postdoctoral researchers must
include, as a supplementary document, a description of the
mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals.
The mentoring plan must not exceed one page.
This one-page limitation also is applied to proposals with
subawards, and, separately submitted collaborative proposals.
Examples of mentoring activities include, but are not limited
to:
- career counseling;
- training in preparation of grant proposals, publications and
presentations;
- guidance on ways to improve teaching and mentoring skills;
- guidance on how to effectively collaborate with researchers
from diverse backgrounds and disciplinary areas;
- training in responsible professional practices.
The proposed mentoring activities will be evaluated as part of
the merit review process under the Foundation's broader impacts
merit review criterion. Proposals that do not include a
separate section on mentoring activities within the Project
Description will be returned without review.
The Return without Review section and the Proposal
Preparation Checklist will emphasize that proposals that do
not describe mentoring activities provided to postdoctoral
researchers will be returned without review.
The FastLane project reporting format has been modified
to inform PIs of the requirement to report on the mentoring
activities provided to postdoctoral researchers during the
performance period. This includes any postdoctoral researcher
not identified in the original proposal submission!
America COMPETES Act Section 7009
RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH (RCR)
Section 7009 of the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (America
Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in
Technology, Education and Science) directed that the National
Science Foundation require that each institution that applies for
financial assistance from the Foundation for science and
engineering research or education certify that the institution has
a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the
responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduates,
graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will be
supported by NSF. While training plans are not required to be
included in proposals submitted to NSF, institutions are advised
that they are subject to review upon request.
In responding to this requirement, the NSF published a revision
to its NSF Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures
Guide requiring that for all proposals with a submission
deadline on or after January 4, 2010, institutions must certify
that, at the time of proposal submission, the institution has a
plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the
responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduates,
graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who are supported
by NSF. (NSF Responsible Conduct of Research)
NSF will modify its standard award conditions to clearly
stipulate that institutions are responsible for verifying that
undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral
researchers supported by NSF to conduct research have received RCR
training.
According to the NSF implementation guidelines individual
proposals are not expected to describe the way in which
RCR education will be offered. Institutions will, however be
expected to be prepared to provide a copy of their implementation
plan upon request. A UCR implementation
plan has been developed by a committee of faculty and research
staff from the several colleges that have NSF funding.
Please review this UCR plan to ascertain the training that
undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers
will be required to receive in order to comply with this new NSF
requirement. Note that on the e-CAF for all NSF proposals a
new certification has been added that states that:
As the UCR Principal Investigator for this proposal, I have
read and I understand UCR's plan to meet the National Science
Foundation's educational requirements for the responsible and
ethical conduct of research. I agree to comply with this
requirement and I will ensure that all undergraduates,
graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will be
supported by this NSF award will receive training and oversight in
the responsible and ethical conduct of research.
Please review: