NSF policies and requirements for Implementation of the America COMPETES Act. America COMPETES Act contains a number of new requirements for all those funded by the NSF, including requirements regarding: - Mentoring in the ethical and responsible conduct of research and the certification of such mentoring programs. Charles F. Louis, Vice Chancellor for Research October, 2009

H. R. 2272: ‘‘America COMPETES Act’’ or the ‘‘America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act’’. Signed into law on August 9, 2007 SEC POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWS. (a) MENTORING.—The Director shall require that all grant applications that include funding to support postdoctoral researchers include a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals, and shall ensure that this part of the application is evaluated under the Foundation’s broader impacts merit review criterion. Mentoring activities may include career counseling, training in preparing grant applications, guidance on ways to improve teaching skills, and training in research ethics. (b) REPORTS.—The Director shall require that annual reports and the final report for research grants that include funding to support postdoctoral researchers include a description of the mentoring activities provided to such researchers.

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. SEC POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWS (cont.). Jean Feldman: Head Policy Office NSF

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 is being 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! SEC POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWS (cont.).

National Science Foundation NOTICE: February 26, 2009 DOCUMENT ACTION: Request for public comment on requirement for students and postdoctoral researchers involved in NSF proposals to be educated in the responsible and ethical conduct of research (RCR). SUBJECT CATEGORY: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research DOCUMENT SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation is soliciting public comment on the agency's proposed implementation of Section 7009 of the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act (42 U.S.C. 1862o1). This section of the Act requires that “each institution that applies for financial assistance from the Foundation for science and engineering research or education describe in its grant proposal a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers participating in the proposed research project.”

Questions asked by NSF of the community: What role should Principal Investigators play in meeting NSF's RCR requirement? There are likely to be differences in the RCR plans that institutions develop to respond to this new requirement. What are the pros and cons of exploring a diversity of approaches? How might online resources be most effective in assisting with training students and postdocs in the responsible and ethical conduct of research? Discuss possible approaches to verifying that the requisite RCR training has been provided. America COMPETES Act: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research

Implementation Plan: Effective January 4, 2010, NSF will require that at the time of proposal submission to NSF, a proposing institution's Authorized Organizational Representative must 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 to conduct research. While training plans are not required to be included in proposals submitted, institutions are advised that they are subject to review upon request. 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. America COMPETES Act: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research Implementation published Federal Register August 20, 2009

America COMPETES Act: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research On-line only training is less effective. Ethics training should be integrated into scientific and engineering research Multiple approaches are needed Time available for training must be considered Content can vary by disciplinary areas and career age (undergrad versus postdoc) PIs should be positively involved Mentoring can have negative effects on integrity, if the context of science and engineering is not considered – this directly leads to bad behavior Jean Feldman: Head Policy Office NSF COGR

What are the topic areas that should be included in such training? Time management and personal responsibility. Mentoring and being mentored. You and the literature. Lab note books and graphical presentation of data. Data ownership and inventions. Posters and oral presentations. Attending scientific meetings. Writing grants/obtaining funding. Writing a research article. Peer review, problem selection and problem solving. Legal issues in research and research misconduct. Research ethics. Teaching skills. Job skills and life after grad school and postdoc. NSF has been very explicit in not defining this but it could include:

America COMPETES Act: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research A new certification requirement at the time of proposal submission that would stipulate that the institution has a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in responsible and ethical conduct to undergrads/grads/and postdocs participating in the NSF-funded project; The role of the PI in describing the training proposed in the proposal; and The post award requirements for complying with the training requirement -- or is this another broader impact such as mentoring. NSF is adding “the responsible and ethical conduct of research” as a Representative Activity in the listing of Broader Impacts Representative Activities

Need to develop certification systems that are auditable. Need programs that serves the purpose of enhancing the capabilities of undergrads, grad students and postdocs that participate in this program There will clearly need to be different programs for undergrads as compared to grad students and postdocs – numbers are too great! There will clearly need to be different programs for different disciplines/groups of disciplines. Most effective programs are those conducted and lead by faculty of the discipline. America COMPETES Act: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research

Office of Research will provide some campus-wide workshops but will need volunteers to assist – currently planned 2010 workshops on grant writing, responsible conduct of research and research misconduct. Available on line materials have been evaluated and all have significant deficiencies – we will be licensing these as issues are resolved. UC-wide group is actively assisting in collating and developing possible resources; NSF also has committed to have a web site of materials. UC San Diego has an excellent set of courses that are San Diego- wide for all the schools and institutes in the city. America COMPETES Act: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research

Online Materials development with UCOP Use of 1-2 page undergraduate resource/information guide with ability to certify/track having read the information. Use of existing CITI RCR modules with ability to track/verify completion (by end of project grant cycle) through CITI website. Use of existing in-person RCR training and/or train-the-trainer faculty concept.. Phase I. Year 0 – 1 post implementation options

America COMPETES Act: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research Online Materials development with UCOP Use of 1-2 page undergraduate resource/information guide with ability to certify/track having read the information. Use of newly developed UC specific RCR modules (general and discipline specific) either on LMS or CITI site. Use of in-person RCR training and/or train-the-trainer faculty concept. Phase II. Year 1– 2 post implementation options

America COMPETES Act: SEC 7009: Responsible Conduct of Research Online Materials development with UCOP Use of 1-2 page undergraduate resource/information guide with ability to certify/track having read the information. Use of newly developed UC specific RCR modules (general and discipline specific) either on LMS or CITI site. Increased use of in-person RCR training and train-the-trainer faculty concept.. Development of advanced RCR online resources/courses. Phase III. Year 3+ post implementation options

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