An essential element of training future generations of scientists is transmission of the standards and expectations of our field with respect to responsible conduct of research (RCR). We pay particular attention to those situations postdocs may encounter at this time in their career and discuss the responses, resources, and support that are available to them. We also deal with issues that will be part of their transition to the next phases of their careers.
The formal venue for this training is the required, focused, and intensive course on responsible conduct of research dedicated to postdocs. We know that many of our postdocs will bring to the course their personal experiences.
Plan for instruction
In-person course
The course is structured to encourage a high level of participation. Following an orientation meeting some weeks before the class, you will be divided into six groups of approximately six postdocs. Each group will meet with one of the two lead faculty members to plan the agenda for their session. Together with the faculty, they decide which of the many issues associated with the topic to emphasize, what material to assign for the class as a whole to read before the session, and how to present the material to raise the major points and engender discussion.
The class meets in four sessions spread over about two weeks; each session lasts 2-2.5 hours and significant additional reading and preparation is required of postdocs outside of class. Each session begins with a faculty presentation, during which the instructor discusses the pertinent rules, principles, and practices that apply. Then the sub-group of postdocs responsible for that session presents their material, invoking the required readings, in a format designed to elicit discussions involving all postdocs.
The course covers eight of the following topics. Six of the eight topics are devoted to discussions led by the postdocs themselves:
- Within the lab: including mentoring, responsibilities of the mentor-postdoc relationship, scientific record keeping
- The scientific community: including authorship, peer review and confidential information, and collaborative research
- Misconduct versus error: the core definition – plagiarism, falsification and fabrication (PFF), misconduct beyond PFF, reproducibility, and retraction
- Scientific misconduct: including definitions, consequences and responses
- Humane and ethical use of laboratory animals
- Human subjects in biomedical research
- Intellectual property: rules and practices of licensing
- The relationship between academic research and the private sector
- Publication practices
- Promoting participation in science of members of our society who are under-represented
Faculty
Professors Yukiko Yamashita and Robert Sauer serve as lead faculty and are present at each RCR session. Other departmental faculty members may join them to share expertise in specific topics. RCR sessions for graduate students and postdocs include faculty discussion interspersed with presentations by students or postdocs.
Attendance
This course is required, and attendance is taken at each session. Postdocs who miss a session must write a 10-page paper on the topic they missed, which is evaluated by one of the lead faculty. Postdocs who miss two sessions must repeat the entire course the following year.
Required readings
The required readings may include relevant chapters from the text Responsible Conduct of Research by Shamoo and Resnik. Each group also selects and assigns the articles that typically form the basis for discussions, including case studies, analyses of issues and problems relevant to RCR, and stories from the mainstream press. The lead and guest faculty will assist in identifying articles from which to draw.
Online courses
After completing the in-person course, all postdocs are required to complete two online courses in responsible conduct: Responsible Conduct of Research for Biomedical Sciences offered by CITI and the MIT required training for Human Subjects Research.
The CITI course lays out general principles and definitions, presents many case studies, and requires postdocs to pass a quiz to demonstrate their understanding. These exercises reinforce the principles put forward in class and help postdocs to integrate the material from different sessions. Satisfaction of the department’s training requirements includes satisfactory completion of these exercises.
Additional training and resources
Issues related to RCR can arise in the context of working in a particular laboratory or a particular field of science, and thesis advisors frequently provide domain-specific training or advice. Throughout their graduate careers, our postdocs have many opportunities to engage issues involving interactions between modern biology and society. For example, such issues as gene therapy, the complexities of genetic counseling, environmental carcinogens, synthetic biology, and sequencing/genotyping projects are touched upon in classes and inspire extended discussion.
In addition, there have been forums and lecture series on various aspects of science and society, which we publicize and encourage our postdocs to attend. There are other formats for discussion of responsible conduct of research, most notably forums organized by the provost’s office. Some of our faculty, postdocs, and postdocs have been active participants in these forums. We will continue to advertise these events and encourage our postdocs to participate in these programs.
During the in-person course, postdocs are provided with information about MIT policies and the many people and offices at MIT that they can turn to for help with concerns about responsible conduct. The course instructors explain whom in the department postdocs can talk with, and what obligations those people have to report certain sorts of conduct.
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