Dear Faculty Colleagues,
We are writing to share new training requirements from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). These are in addition to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy (DOE) training requirements announced in April.
The NIH has issued new guidance requiring institutions that receive support to implement research security training. Training must address the NIH’s requirements for the disclosure of other support to ensure researchers fully understand their responsibility to “disclose all resources made available to the researcher in support of and/or related to all of their research endeavors, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value and regardless of whether they are based at the institution the researcher identifies for the current grant.”
The USDA’s research training requirement was established in the July 8, 2025 Secretary’s Memorandum SM1078-014.
Please review the key policy updates below, which will affect submissions to the NIH and USDA beginning on October 1, 2025:
- All personnel named on an NIH or USDA proposal must complete the CITI Research Security training module prior to proposal submission. Completion takes approximately one hour.
- Training must be renewed annually.
- Personnel on existing NIH or USDA awards must complete training prior to submitting a Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR). PIs are responsible for completing a certification with the RPPR that confirms all personnel have completed the required training.
- Any new personnel added during the course of an existing NIH or USDA award must complete training prior to charging salary to an NIH or USDA award.
Please visit this website for more information and instructions for completing the CITI Research Security training. It is important to follow these instructions and to select Lehigh University as your Organizational Affiliation when creating a CITI account. This ensures that we can access your completion records and send you timely reminders about annual renewal.
Thank you for your cooperation in complying with these important federal sponsor requirements. Please contact Naomi Coll or Cynthia Kane with any questions or concerns.
Best regards,
Anand Jagota, Vice Provost for Research
Dominic Packer, Senior Advisor to the Vice Provost for Research
Cynthia Kane, Associate Vice Provost for Research and Sponsored Programs
Naomi Coll, Director of Research Policy and Compliance