Institutional Review Board (IRB) Training

Research teams (including principal investigators, research assistants, major advisors, and staff) conducting research with human subjects are required to successfully complete an IRB training course. Only one of the courses listed below is necessary, not both. The human subjects training should not be confused with the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training (these are separate requirements). A current human subjects training certificate (less than 3 years old) must be submitted with all levels (exempt, expedited, and full reviews) of new IRB applications and with any request for extension. Mandatory IRB training meets the requirements of TWU’s Federalwide Assurance granted by the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). 

The TWU IRB accepts training certificates from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). Researchers should verify with the IRB prior to protocol submission whether training certificates from other sources will be approved.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR RESEACHERS RENEWING THEIR TRAINING: If you have completed the NIH modules in the past and wish to renew your NIH certificate, take the following steps to insure that your new certificate has the current completion date rather than the date of your first certificate: 1) Log in to the site using your previous password, 2) Select “Edit User Info” from the menu on the right side of the Main Menu; this will take you to the “Edit Profile” page, 3) Scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Retake Course.” This will clear and reset all your tracking data and your certificate. 

 A human subjects refresher course is also available on the TWU CITI site.

NIH Protecting Human Research Participants

The NIH tutorial is a free, web-based course that presents information about protections for human participants in research. The tutorial is designed for those involved in the design and/or conduct of research involving human subjects. The six training modules can be completed in multiple log-on sessions. Completion time is approximately 2-3 hours. The program automatically generates a printable certificate of completion. Additional certificates can be generated by re-entering the site using the same usernames and passwords. Click here to access the NIH training. 

CITI Human Subjects Research Training

Each of the two curriculums offered through CITI contains general IRB information in addition to information more specific to the type of research: Biomedical or Social & Behavioral. The CITI human subjects training modules can be completed in multiple log-on sessions and total completion time is approximately 2-3 hours.  A Course Completion Report will be generated when all required quizzes are completed with a total score of at least 80%.  Click here to access the Human Subjects CITI training.  As a member of CITI, TWU offers several training options for researchers. Please note that Responsible Conduct of Research Training and Human Subject Research training are different modules and fulfill different requirements. Make sure you are accessing the human subjects course when completing the training for this requirement.