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SARI Statements for Grant Proposals

Some funding agencies require a statement certifying that Penn State has a plan for RCR education. Individual agency requirements vary; please use all or part of the sample statements below as necessary. As always, we will be happy to provide assistance or answer any questions. Please contact us at sari@psu.edu.

For NSF grants:

All researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) are required to take responsible conduct of research (RCR) training, including faculty and other senior personnel. NSF requires that the training must include mentorship; Penn State meets this requirement through the RCR course in CITI with completion monitored by the Office for Research Protections (ORP). The ORP is working with Faculty Affairs on a potential in-person alternative to this requirement.  Graduate students, postocs, and undergrads must also complete the RCR course in CITI. Graduate students' participation in their unit's more extensive SARI program, with in-person programming, is still required.  will go above 

The National Science Foundation's original 2009 notice on RCR is available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-19930.htm.  

For NIH institutional research training grants:

NIH's "Update on the Requirement for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research" (February 17, 2022) (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-22-055.html) states:

"NIH requires that all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, and dissertation research grant must receive instruction in responsible conduct of research....This policy also applies to any other NIH-funded programs supporting research training, career development, or research education that require instruction in responsible conduct of research as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements." The notice provides information about the types of instruction that are acceptable, and frequency (every 4 years) of instruction, and other details such as reporting requirements and application procedures.  NIH requires a minimum of 8 hours of RCR instruction.

For NIFA grants:

Per NIFA grant terms and conditions, all associated researchers on a grant must take RCR training: 
"By accepting a NIFA award the grantee assures that program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and any staff participating in the research project receive appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research and that documentation of such training will be maintained. Grantees are advised that the documentation of the training are subject to NIFA review upon request. Note that the training referred to herein may be either on-campus or off-campus training. The general content of the ethics training, at a minimum, will emphasize three key areas of research ethics: authorship and plagiarism, data and research integration and reporting misconduct."

Upon award, Penn State notifies study teams of their RCR training requirements.

Please feel free to copy and paste the language below in your grant proposals, or anywhere that a description of the SARI  Program is required. For assistance please contact us at sari@psu.edu.

For graduate student training:

Penn State’s Scholarship and Research Integrity (SARI) program is designed to offer Penn State researchers and scholars comprehensive, multilevel training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR), in a way that is tailored to address the issues typically faced by individual disciplines. SARI programs address topics such as publication practices and responsible authorship, conflicts of interest, research misconduct, peer review, mentoring, data management, collaborative research, human subjects protections, and animal welfare. In general, SARI addresses these issues through two initiatives: an online RCR training program offered by CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative), and interactive, discussion-based RCR education. All graduate students at Penn State, who matriculated in fall of 2009 or later, are required to complete the SARI requirements prior to graduation.  Each individual graduate program develops an RCR training program for their students, which is reviewed and approved by the Office for Research Protections every three years.  Tracking of completion requirements in maintained in LionPath.  The SARI program is directed by the Office for Research Protections, which provides oversight for the program.

For postdoctoral training:

Some agencies require postdoctoral fellows to submit training plans for RCR education. All SARI program activities are available to postdoctoral fellows, although the SARI program only requires postdocs to complete online CITI training. Some agencies specify that postdoctoral RCR education must have a significant face-to-face component, and that online training alone is insufficient. By identifying SARI opportunities in their department, college, research program, or the University, postdocs are able to describe the activities in which they will participate for their planned training. The following is some suggested language that can be used (or adapted, by adding a specific training plan) to describe the opportunities available for postdoctoral fellows:

Penn State’s Scholarship and Research Integrity (SARI) program is designed to offer Penn State researchers and scholars comprehensive, multilevel training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR), in a way that is tailored to address the issues typically faced by individual disciplines. SARI programs address topics such as publication practices and responsible authorship, conflicts of interest, research misconduct, peer review, mentoring, data management, collaborative research, human subjects protections, and animal welfare. In general, SARI addresses these issues through two initiatives: an online RCR training program offered by CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative), and interactive, discussion-based RCR education. Although postdoctoral fellows at Penn State are only required to complete the online CITI training to meet SARI requirements, many interactive, discussion-based RCR educational opportunities are available throughout the University. Postdoctoral fellows may participate in SARI activities within their college or research program; they may attend events sponsored by the Rock Ethics Institute (approximately 8 seminars annually), or they may participate in SARI educational events offered by the Office for Research Protections (18-24 events annually).

The SARI program is directed by the Office for Research Protections, which provides oversight for the program. Additional information is available from the Office for Research Protections upon request.

Since 2011, the SARI program also requires participation by new full-time faculty and undergraduate researchers.  All SARI resources (courses, workshops, seminars) are available to any Penn State personnel.