Training Information

Human Subjects Research Training

All personnel engaged in human subjects research activities and named in the protocol, including students, must complete and maintain current, IRB-approved training in human research protections prior to IRB protocol approval and throughout the conduct of the research. UNC Charlotte subscribes to the CITI Program for online human subjects research training. For community research partners, CITI training or CIRTification training is accepted.

Important Notes for New University Faculty, Staff, and Students

If you are new to human subjects research at UNC Charlotte, please review this guide for information on how to: 

  • create a new CITI account affiliated with UNC Charlotte
  • affiliate an existing account with UNC Charlotte
  • add training courses to your CITI curriculum

Failure to affiliate your account with UNC Charlotte prior to submitting an IRB protocol may cause delays in application processing.

Human Subjects Research Training Requirements

  • Researchers must complete, at a minimum, a CITI Basics Course (Social & Behavioral, Biomedical, or Data or Specimens Only Research).
    • Refresher courses are only valid for users who can provide documentation of a passing score in a Basics course. Without this documentation, Refresher courses will not satisfy IRB training requirements, and you will be required to complete a Basic course.
  • Depending on the details of the research as proposed in the protocol application, additional CITI courses may be required:
    • “Good Clinical Practices” is required for personnel engaged in NIH-funded research or clinical trials.
    • “Health Information Privacy” may be required for educational research or clinical trials.
    • “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act” (FERPA) may be required for studies that will use FERPA-protected information.
  • CITI training completed at another institution is acceptable if the training is current (i.e., completed within the last four years) and includes all required course modules. Submit course completion reports within your IRB protocol so the IRB Office can verify that these requirements are satisfied. 
  • For CITI certifications to be populated into Niner Research, new investigators must follow these instructions. The day after your CITI ID is successfully associated with your Niner Research Profile, any CITI training you complete will be logged in Niner Research. Your certifications may take longer to appear within an existing IRB protocol.

Note: Do not confuse Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training with human subjects research training. The CITI courses have similar course names. RCR training does not fulfill the human subjects training requirement.

Training for Community Partners

As members of the study team, community partners are required to complete human research protections training. To fulfill this requirement, the UNC Charlotte IRB and IRB Office recommend the use of CITI Program’s Human Subjects Research Basic course, selecting the version that best aligns with the research discipline. Refer to this guide for instructions on creating a UNC Charlotte-affiliated CITI account and adding courses to your training curriculum. Alternatively, the CIRTification: Community Involvement in Research Training course is acceptable for community partners with limited research experience. Depending on the nature of the research and the responsibilities of the community partner, the IRB may require supplemental training.

When CIRTification is used to meet the training requirement, a copy of the course certificate must be included in the IRB protocol.

Instructions for CIRTification Registration & Training

CIRTification training is available in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. Follow these steps to register and complete your course:

  1. Open the CIRTification page: https://training.ccts.uic.edu/.
  2. In the top right corner, click “Register.” 
  3. Click “I am not from UIC.”
  4. Complete the required fields. Select “University of North Carolina, Charlotte” as your site, then click “Register” to submit your registration form.
  5. Open the course catalog. Two options will be listed: a Refresher course, and the CIRTification: Community Involvement in Research Training course. Click “Learn More” under the CIRTification: Community Involvement in Research Training. The Refresher course is not acceptable for new personnel. 
  6. Select “Enroll” under the course that is delivered in your preferred language.
  7. Answer the Pre-Enrollment questions and submit your responses.
  8. Launch the course. CIRTification training takes about 4 hours and can be completed in multiple sessions. You can log back into your portal at https://training.ccts.uic.edu/.
  9. Once all modules have been completed, and after you pass the quiz at the end of the course, you will receive a training certificate. Please send a copy of your certificate to the UNC Charlotte study PI. Your certificate must be submitted with the IRB protocol. 

Continuing Education Requirements

Each CITI or CIRT certificate is valid for four years. It is the researcher’s responsibility to promptly renew each expired certificate by completing the required training. Personnel who successfully completed a CITI Basic course or a CIRTification: Community Involvement in Research Training course within the last four years may thereafter complete the corresponding Refresher course to fulfill ongoing general training requirements. Separate refresher courses are not available for other human research protections courses.