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Required Training in Human Research Protections

CITI Training

The UConn IRB requires all individuals conducting research at Storrs and its regional campuses to complete the human subjects safety training offered by CITIprogram.org every three years and prior to the approval of new applications, amendments or re-approvals.

Who needs to take the CITI Training?

All Investigators and “Key Personnel” who are “engaged in” research with living human beings, human tissue samples, or identifiable private information, are required to complete the CITI Training. Key Personnel are UConn faculty, staff, and students who:

  • enroll individuals;
  • obtain subjects’ informed consent by doing more than handing out or collecting forms or telling subjects how to get in touch with the Investigators;
  • intervene or interact with subjects by performing invasive (e.g., drawing blood) or non-invasive (e.g., survey) procedures on them;
  • collect data directly from or follow-up directly with participants;
  • collect identifiable private information from participants;
  • have access to information that links participants’ names or other identifiers with their data, or
  • act as authoritative representatives for the investigators.

Undergraduate or graduate students conducting research that meets the criteria for filing an IRB-1 or  IRB-5 Application are required to complete the same (biomedical or social/behavioral) CITI Training course as their faculty member.

Undergraduate or graduate students in a Research Methods or similar course conducting research that meets the criteria for filing an IRB-7 Application should complete human subjects safety training as determined by their faculty member. The IRB recommends, but does not require, that all or part the CITI training course is completed (specifically, selected modules of the Group 3 IRB Reference Resource course).

The IRB may accept evidence of CITI training taken at another institution in lieu of the UConn CITI Training. If the basic CITI training from another institution has expired, the UConn CITI refresher course is required.

How do I complete the CITI basic course?

To create an account in CITI, on the citiprogram.org home page, click on the Register button in the upper right. Click on “Log in through my Organization” at the top of the page. Enter “University of Connecticut – Storrs and Regional Campuses” in the search box. Then click “Continue to SSO Login/instructions.” The CITI Single Sign-on (SSO) will use your UConn NetID and password for your account. (The system will ask you if there is another CITI account you would like to associate with your NetID account, and this option can be used to merge an old account with your new SSO account.) Follow the prompts to create a new account.

Once you are logged in and under the UConn affiliation, select “add a course” and then “I would like to review the Human Subjects Research (HSR) courses” on the course enrollment page. Choose the appropriate course: Group 1 Biomedical or Group 2 Social/Behavioral. Please note that the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Courses DO NOT satisfy the human subjects training requirement.

A copy of your Completion Report will automatically be sent to the IRB and will also be accessible to you and the IRB at any time from the CITI program. Therefore, in most cases, investigators will not have to submit this report with an application to the IRB. Click here to access instructions for uploading CITI completion reports as part of your IRB submission.

How do I complete the CITI refresher course?

The CITI Basic Course certification expires after three (3) years at which time the CITI Refresher Course must be taken to maintain certification. Sixty (60) days before your Completion Report expires, you will receive an automatically generated reminder notice via e-mail directly from CITI. The notice includes instructions about how to complete the refresher course.

Who do I contact for help?

  • Questions regarding your requirements for human subjects training should be sent to
  • Technical issues with the CITI Program should be addressed to support@citiprogram.org or 888.529.5929.

Department of Navy (DON) CITI Training Requirements

In order for the University to conduct human subjects research supported by the Department of Navy (DON) through contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or through other arrangements such as collaborations with DON personnel, the UConn IRB obtained a DOD-Navy Addendum to the FWA held by UConn. The DON Human Research Protection Program requires training for Extramural Performers. To meet the requirements for continuing education, all personnel who conduct, review, approve, support, manage or oversee DON-supported human research must complete three to six hours of continuing research ethics and human subject protections training every three years.

UConn researchers (PIs, Postdoctoral Fellows, Research Assistants, Graduate/Undergraduate students) are considered Extramural Performers as are IRB Members, IRB Staff and the University’s Institutional Official. All Extramural Performers, regardless of their role in research, will complete the CITI training course “DON-Supported Extramural Performers.”

There are several options available to meet the continuing training requirement, including a new Refresher Course on the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) website. Personnel who completed initial training through CITI may now access and complete the Refresher Training course in order to fulfill continuing education requirements for Extramural Performers.

Investigators who plan to apply to the Department of Navy for funding are strongly encouraged to plan accordingly and to contact Research Compliance Services before the research proposal is submitted to discuss these and other requirements.

    1. Login to CITI using your UConn NetID username and password.
    2. Under the Main Menu second bullet select the link for “Affiliate with another institution.”
    3. Go to the “Participating Institutions” pull down menu and select “Department of The Navy” and click “Submit.”
    4. Complete the required member information fields. In the “Your Command” field select “DON Extramural Performers” and click “Submit.”

You will now be asked to answer a series of questions. Please select the following:

  1. What kind of research are you conducting? Select the first option, “I am conducting, planning to conduct, or am otherwise involved in research with human subjects, tissues from humans and/or patient records” and click “Next.”
  2. Social/Behavioral Science Question. Select “The Biomedical Sciences” since the UConn IRB reviews both Biomedical and Social and Behavioral Science research. Click “Next.”
  3. Are you taking initial or refresher? Select “Initial” and click “Next.”
  4. What is your role? Select “DON-Supported Extramural Performers – Biomedical” and click “Next.”
  5. Are you required to complete the CITI Good Clinical Practice Course? Select “No, not at this time” and click “Next.”
  6. Are you required to complete the RCR training? Select “No, not at this time” and click “Next.”
  7. Do you want to review IRB Reference Resource materials? Select “NO – Perhaps some other time” and click “Next.”
  8. Now, you should be back to the Main Menu and the Department of the Navy “DON-supported Extramural Performers, Initial Training” course should be listed as “Incomplete.” Click the “Re-enter” link.
  9. The required modules should be listed. You may receive credit for prior modules completed at UConn. If so, the module name and completion date will be listed in green. Click “The Integrity Assurance Statement” link, read the statement and select the appropriate assurance statement. Click “Submit.”
  10. Now, you should be back to the required modules list. The first module you will need to complete should be underlined. Click this link and complete the module. Continue to complete all the modules until the course is completed. Note that some modules do not have an exam.