U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Requirements for Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) 

USDA NIFA considers education in RCR critical for excellence, as well as public trust, in science and engineering. The agency requires that program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and any staff participating in the awarded research project receive appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research; documentation of such training must be maintained and provided to NIFA upon request.  

NIFA specifies general requirements for RCR training and indicates that grantees consider CITI training specifically. Therefore, all required research personnel supported by NIFA are required to complete, at a minimum, the CITI online training in the Responsible Conduct for Research at https://www.citiprogram.org/. 

 It is the responsibility of the PI to ensure that appropriate training has been completed by all individuals associated with the funded work. The Division of Research Office of Research Integrity and Oversight will, on a periodic basis, monitor completion of CITI training. The PI will be notified of any individuals who have not satisfied this training requirement.