Human Subjects Responsible Conduct of Research Course
Registration is now full for Spring 2025 Human Subjects RCR. You can register below to be put on the waitlist. The course runs from March 31, 2025 – May 23, 2025.
register for the Spring 2025 course
This RCR course is designed for researchers who work with human subjects or data derived from human subjects (e.g. clinical, survey, EHR, or ethnographic data). The course is comprised of video and in-person lectures, readings, case studies, and weekly real-time small group discussions via Zoom. It addresses requirements and regulations for human subjects research, including IRB approval and consent.
Responsible Conduct of Research is an 8-week course. Participants are expected to devote at least 4 hours per week to individual work and small group discussion. Receiving a passing grade in the course requires attending a one-hour discussion session by Zoom every week. There are no exceptions to this rule. Topics include:
- Overview of Human Subjects Research Regulations
- Informed Consent & IRB Review
- Legacies of Scientific Racism
- Authorship & Data Sharing
- Research in Resource-Poor Countries
- Research Misconduct, Conflicts of Interest, & Reproducibility
- Ethics in Big Data Research & Learning Health Systems
- Ethics in AI-Based Research
The course is offered twice a year, in Fall and Spring Quarters and administered by UCSF Bioethics. Registration for each course will open in the preceding Quarter.
Spring 2025 Dates:
March 31, 2025 – May 23, 2025
There will be a wide variety of days and times for the weekly discussion sections – learners will select their discussion section during the first week of the course.
Week 1 (03/31 - 04/04) includes one in-person lecture and welcome event on Thursday Apr 3rd, 11am-12pm in Medical Sciences 214 at Parnassus. Co-director Sara Ackerman will give a broad overview of research ethics and outline what you can expect in the course. This event will give you a chance to meet your group leaders and peers in person.
There will be a wide variety of days and times for the weekly discussion sections – learners will select their discussion section during the first week of the course.
Human Subjects RCR Course Contacts
Sara Ackerman, PhD, MPH
[email protected]
Associate Professor, UCSF Bioethics
Associate Professor, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Spring RCR Course Director
Julia Brown, PhD
[email protected]
Assistant Professor, UCSF Bioethics
Assistant Professor, Humanities & Social Sciences
Fall RCR Course Director
Chanel Matney, PhD
[email protected]
Program Manager, UCSF Bioethics
RCR Course Assistant