SARI @ PSU (Scholarship and Research Integrity) is a responsible conduct of research (RCR) education program for students, postdocs, and faculty at Penn State. The SARI program is designed to create an awareness of ethical principles and established professional norms in the performance of all activities related to scholarship and research. Ultimately, the goal is to foster trust among scientists and to increase the public’s support for research. All scholars confront ethical issues in their professions. Training is critical to prepare students and researchers to address ethical challenges that may arise when conducting research. This training is a requirement of all graduate students at Penn State.

The SARI program has two components.

Online Training

The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program provides an online training platform for you to complete this University SARI requirement. As a graduate student in the MPS program, you will complete the Biomedical Human Subjects Research (IRB) Course. You should realistically plan for approximately 6 - 8 hours of time to complete this online training.

In the training modules, you will learn about the following topics:

- - - ethical frameworks for and history of human subjects research
    - basic institutional review board (IRB) regulations and types of approvals
    - informed consent
    - conflicts of interest

Upon completion of this training course, you will have a stronger understanding of what is and what is not considered Human Subjects Research. You will also gain a better understanding of the IRB and the approval processes for research, such as "exemption" protocols. It is important to keep your own capstone project research question and project in mind as you learn more about these topics. Doing this will help you see how this content applies to your project. For example, it is important to know that MPS student capstone projects are IRB "exempt" and do not qualify as human subjects research. Later in the course, you'll be submitting your project to the IRB for exemption using a protocol and procedure, so pay attention to this specific information.

Discussion-based Education

Participate in a minimum of 5 hours of in-person, discussion-based educational activities that address topics related to the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) before graduation. You will meet this requirement with some of the assignments in this module (e.g., meeting with ethics committee member and nutrition in ethics reflection) along with an ethics module that you complete(d) in NUTR 850.

These University training requirements will help you learn more about the ethics and integrity aspects of research as well as inform your capstone project design and approval.