CITI Training

Principal investigators, faculty advisors, staff members, students, or guests of the college planning to participate in a research project involving human subjects must receive training in Human Participant Protection. The required training* reviews concepts such as the use of ethical principles and federal regulations, definitions of research terms (such as Informed Consent), and a description of the roles of both the IRB and the investigator.

The College has a subscription with the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). This training is available at no cost for any researcher not otherwise trained in these areas. All members of the research team must complete training before submitting their protocol and participating in human subjects research.

*Students and Postdocs that are federally-funded such as receiving NIH or NSF funding, are required to take the Responsible Conduct for Research (RCR) training as well as the required Social & Behavioral Research course.

CITI Research Training Instructions

Bowdoin researchers, both faculty and students, guests of the College, and off-campus researchers are responsible for completing the required human subjects training as set forth by the IRB.

Researchers are encouraged to take advantage of the College’s subscription to the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).

1. To access the CITI training, please follow the steps below:

To create an account and affiliate with Bowdoin College, go to the CITI Program Website and click on "Register".
Under "Select Your Organization Affiliation", type in "Bowdoin College".
Complete the remaining steps to create your account.

2. To access the Social & Behavioral Research course, visit the Citi Training page and follow the steps below.

Log into your account.
Once you have logged in, click on “Bowdoin College Courses".
Click on “Add a Course or Update Learner Groups”. This will take you to the Curriculum page which lists several questions.
For Question #1, please choose “Social & Behavioral Research Investigators”
For the remainder of the questions, you should choose “No” or “Not at this time”. Please note that projects receiving NIH or NSF funding must complete the Responsible Conduct of Research [RCR] modules. You should select “The RCR for Social & Behavioral” under Question #4. If your project is not receiving NIH or NSF funding, you may choose “Not at this time”.
Click “Submit” at the bottom of the page.

3. You will now see the Social & Behavioral Research course available to you. Click on the title of the course to begin training.

Bowdoin College Human Subjects policy requires that PIs, faculty, and student researchers who conduct research involving human subjects complete, at a minimum, the following modules included in the Social & Behavioral Research course:

Belmont Report and CITI Course Introduction (ID: 1127)
History and Ethical Principles - SBE (ID: 490)
Defining Research with Human Subjects - SBE (ID: 491)
The Federal Regulations - SBE (ID: 502)
Assessing Risk (ID: 503)
Informed Consent (ID:504)
Privacy and Confidentiality (ID:505)
Students in Research - SBE (ID: 1321)
Unanticipated Problems and Reporting Requirements in Social and Behavioral Research - SBE (ID: 14928)
Bowdoin College (ID: 14778)

Depending on the research being conducted, additional modules may be requested by the IRB, particularly if the research involves students, protected populations such as children and prisoners, or will be conducted internationally. PIs, faculty, and student researchers are encouraged to contact the IRB Chair if they have questions about which additional modules may be applicable to their research.

If you are receiving NIH or NSF funding, the Responsible Conduct for Research (RCR) training is also required.

The IRB cannot begin the review process until proof of training certification is provided for all investigators, including faculty sponsors for students. Training certificates need to be updated every three years.

Please visit the CITI support helpdesk for other FAQs.