IRB Basic Training on the Protection of Human Participants

Introduction

Welcome to Penn State's Social Science and Biomedical Institutional Review Boards (IRB) web-based basic training program for the use of human participants involved in any University research project. This electronic basic training course has been mandated by Federal regulations and is required before approval can be granted for the use of human participants in any University research project. In the following web pages, you will be presented information about topics such as laws and regulations, guidelines, responsibilities, resources, etc.

1. Each person proposing to conduct research involving human participants must complete the basic training at least once while at Penn State*. You may reference IRB Policy II, IRB "Verification of Training on the Protection of Human Participants" for additional information. To meet this requirement, please read the following pages at your convenience, and when you feel you have an understanding of the material presented, please click on the quiz page.
2. You will be presented with 10 randomly selected questions. Upon completion of the quiz, your answers will be scored and the results will be immediately submitted to you and the Office for Research Protections.
3. Completion of this course and a passing grade of at least 70% on the corresponding exam will fulfill the training requirement. Please note that you may re-take the exam, if needed; however, you cannot simply change incorrect answers. A new quiz will need to be completed and submitted.
4. You will NOT receive an immediate confirmation upon successful completion of the quiz. The ORP staff must confirm the quiz entry before a confirmation e-mail is sent. Please be patient during this process.
5. When submitting a research proposal to the ORP, there is no need to send in training verification if the PSU IRB training was successfully completed.
6. If training was completed at another institution, contact the ORP to see if the training qualifies as a substitute for the PSU IRB training requirement. If it does qualify, verification of the training must be sent to the ORP. However, the ORP will NOT keep a copy of the training verification. Should you need verification of training from the other institution, the ORP will not be able to supply the verification.

Please note that the quiz questions are based on the text found on each page. The hot links (external web-sites) are presented for future reference or for additional information about a particular topic.

If you have any questions about the training program or the IRBs, please contact the Office for Research Protections at (814) 865-1775.

Begin the basic training course.

* Training from other CIC Institutions will be accepted in lieu of Penn State IRB Training. Please provide a copy of certification of training to the ORP along with your application for research. CIC Institutions include:

• Indiana University
• Michigan State University
• Northwestern University
• Ohio State University
• Pennsylvania State University
• Purdue University
• University of Chicago
• University of Illinois
• University of Iowa
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota
• University of Wisconsin