Research Security Training Requirements

Pursuant to National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (“NSPM-33”) and the CHIPS + Science Act (2022) recipients of federal research funding are required to implement comprehensive Research Security programs. These comprehensive programs, which apply to both research and non-research functions, seek to mitigate the risk of unintended foreign interference in institutional operations. Many federal sponsors now require that, at a minimum, Principal Investigators (PIs) and Senior/ Key Personnel receive annual Research Security training. Some agencies require that all project personnel receive annual training.

Federal Research Security training requirements are continually evolving. Key personnel are encouraged to review these requirements frequently to ensure that all “Covered Individuals”, as defined by the agency and/or project, who are anticipated to work on and/or are currently working on a funded project have successfully completed training.

Who Must Complete Research Security Training?

PIs and Key Personnel performing work on most federally funded research projects are required to complete annual training prior to proposal submission, acceptance of an award, and/or joining an in-progress project.
ALL project personnel(including PIs, Key Personnel, post docs, students, and volunteers) on Department of Energy (DoE) awards must complete training prior to beginning work on the project.
Please refer to the Research Security Training Requirements Matrix for information on each agency’s requirements.

What Happens if I Haven’t Completed Training?

Failure to complete training may result in delayed proposal submission, delayed acceptance of an award, and/or delayed submission of progress reports.
Many sponsors require that Covered Individuals complete training prior to proposal submission, acceptance of an award, and/or receiving funding from an on-going project.
Some sponsors require certification of training completion on the Biosketch and/or Current & Pending Support disclosure.

How To Access Required Research Security Training:

FIU has partnered with the CITI Program to provide security training options that satisfy federal agency training requirements. The CITI Program has two online training options available for the FIU Research Community as follows:

Research Security Training (Initial Combined Course)- The combined course is a condensed training course based on the NSF SECURE Center Consolidated Training Module (CTM) V.1 which condenses the four NSF modules in a single succinct training that meets the requirements of Section 10634 of the CHIPS and Science Act as well as the NIH Other Support training requirement.
Research Security Advanced Refresher (Annual Refresher)- Subsequent annual compliance with federal training requirements will be addressed via fulfilling the annual Research Security Training Refresher. This course must be taken within 12 months after completing the initial training.

Below are the steps to access the training course:

Go to http://www.citiprogram.org
If you are a “new” user, you will need to register and select “Florida International University” from the Participating Institutions
If you are an “existing” user, then login with your CITI Program username and password
When asked which course you plan to take, please select “Research Security”
Select the “Research Security Training (Combined Course) or the Advance Refresher course”