Required Research Trainings

Virginia Tech is committed to a high standard of animal care and use, as well as a high standard of occupational health and safety for its faculty, staff, and students. Quality training and educational activities are essential to help us meet and exceed these standards.

The Virginia Tech Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee requires that animal users and handlers complete four training elements before the processing of a protocol will be initiated.

To learn more about the requirements and to take training, visit the IACUC website.

Research conflict of interest training is required every four years for the principal investigator, co-principal investigator, project director, and any other person deemed responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of sponsored research. The applicable researcher will be notified if they are required to take this training. Virginia Tech utilizes the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative Program for research this training, which takes approximately one hour to complete. The refresher course takes approximately 45 minutes to complete.

Training for principal investigators, co-principal investigators, graduate assistants, and other project personnel is required when the research project becomes restricted due to acceptance of publication, access and dissemination controls, or if a defense article is involved in the research. The research project may become subject to U.S. export regulations or trade sanctions depending on the contractual terms of the award or funding contract.

Training is available for personnel who are engaging in export controlled restricted research projects, such as International Traffic in Arms Regulations or Export Administration Regulations, that require a Technology Control Plan. This training is targeted at project specific requirements for safeguarding export controlled research and the security protocols that must be followed.

Environmental Health and Safety  actively promotes a positive, responsible, integrated safety culture at all levels of the university community, advocates providing a safe and healthy living, learning, and working environment for all, and assists departments with complying with regulations and mandates. This university office is responsible for ensuring that all university employees receive the required training under federal and state regulations and other non-regulatory agency guidelines.

Virginia Tech’s Human Research Protection Program uses industry standard training required at peer universities and federal research institutions. The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative training is transferrable and meets requirements for collaborative or multi-site studies. If a researcher has previously taken human protection training either at Virginia Tech or at another institution, they can affiliate with Virginia Tech through their account to transfer completed courses without retaking them.

Virginia Tech’s Institutional Biosafety Committee provides oversight of research that involves the use of biohazardous agents, including recombinant and/or synthetic nucleic acid molecules. The committee is charged with the planning and implementation of the campus Biosafety Program with a purpose to ensure the health and safety of all personnel working with biohazardous agents.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) requires that all undergraduate and graduate students, and post-doctoral research fellows, who are supported on NSF projects, receive Responsible Conduct of Research training. Online and in person training is provided through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative.