Welcome to USC's Research Training Finder

Staff training sessions covering topics such as the biology, care, and use in research of common laboratory animal species; disease problems of laboratory animals and updates on health surveillance programs as well as topics related to occupational health and safety.

This course covers the institutional policies and procedures for research involving administration of hazardous substance to animal research. The policies and procedures have been established by the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to protect occupational exposures of hazardous materials during administration, husbandry, and disposal of animals treated with biological and chemical hazards. The course provides safety guidelines for researchers and husbandry personnel.

Course consists of species-specific web courses, audiovisual presentations and self-exams. Training materials are assigned according to the species listed and procedures described in the approved Institutional Animal Care and Use (IACUC) Protocol Synopsis Form on which the ‘trainee’ is listed. Individuals to be trained must also be listed on the applicable IACUC protocol synopsis for by the principal investigator.

In addition to the initial training course, the IACUC requires that each investigator offer an annual animal refresher course using the materials on dar.usc.edu on animal care and use at USC to their laboratory staff on an annual basis. A DAR veterinarian is also available, on request, to perform this training instead of the investigator. Please email a DAR veterinarian to schedule this. Note that completion of the annual refresher training is mandatory for all labs utilizing animals in research. However, do not send your checklist or personnel sign in sheet to the Department of Animal Resources. This documentation must be maintained with your laboratory records and must be available for inspection by the IACUC on request.

This web-based course is offered through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program). CITI will add soon Human Subject Research Protections (HSR) Refresher (Spanish) (to be taken every 3 years)   An HSR-Biomed (Spanish) Refresher is not yet available from CITI. There is no anticipated date of availability. Recertification remains every 3 years.

The course is a combination of didactic presentations and practical exercises regarding the fundamentals of biosafety level 3. The course will cover classification of microorganisms, biosafety levels, risk assessment, personal protective equipment, and infectious research best practices and procedures. This course will be a pre-requisite to BSL-3 onsite training and medical clearance. The BSL-3 fundamentals training can be accomplished in-house or through an approved vendor.

Anyone working with or has the potential to be exposed to human or non-human primate blood, blood products, cell lines, bodily fluids, or other potentially infectious materials must attend.

BBP Refresher may be completed: (a) In-house by PI as part of the Annual Safety Refresher. Use the checklist as a guide. OR (b) via The Bloodborne Pathogen and Aerosol Transmitted Disease Online Training as assigned by the PI.

So you’ve submitted your budget and proposal to the sponsor, now what happens? There are many steps to accepting and setting up an award, and this course will unlock the mystery. Discussion focuses on pre-award negotiations and actions such as revised budgets and advance spending; the award acceptance process; post-award management issues, including project changes, budgeting, subawards and subaward monitoring; cost sharing obligations; and fulfilling project reporting obligations.

Maintaining the highest ethical standards is critical to our work as researchers.  This course reviews regulations and policies related to conflict of interest, including terminology, concepts and procedures for disclosing and reviewing a financial interest.  Numerous examples and role-playing opportunities guide participants as they learn to complete forms and identify and assess factors that increase concerns related to a personal financial interest. Key resources are identified for addressing researcher questions.

Gift? Grant? Not sure? This course demystifies the classification of awards as gifts, grants or contracts. Instructors provide an overview of the award classification and gift acceptance processes using case studies and other methods.

A step-by-step primer on preparing a proposal budget. Topics include: cost components of a budget, universal cost principles applicable to preparing proposal budgets, budgeting techniques and practice, cost sharing, calculating F&A costs and budgeting tools and resources. 

Preparing and submitting grant applications to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of USC’s largest sponsors, can be a daunting process. This course will help you gain the information and tools necessary to prepare and submit grants utilizing the grants.gov system or PHS 398 applications. Topics include preparing applications for submission, modular grants, the just-in-time process and post-award management.

Let us help you navigate the policies, procedures and regulations specific to the National Science Foundation (NSF).  We will demonstrate the use of FastLane, NSF’s official system for submitting and reviewing proposals, the submission of annual and final project reports and all other post-award notifications and requests.

Learn the basics for preparing a proposal, including securing the appropriate approvals and submitting to the funding agency. Topics include types of proposals, interpreting sponsor guidelines, completing sponsor application forms and internal USC forms. 

How do we protect the fruits of our labor? Providing a basic understanding of intellectual property — in its many forms — as it relates to the administration of research at USC, this course covers topics including ownership of research records; invention disclosure; publishing; copyrights; patents; trade secrets; material transfer agreements; and tangible research products (e.g., tissue, animal models, cell lines, viruses, chemical compounds and transgenic animals).

This introductory course will welcome you to the world of research administration at USC and will assist you in mastering key concepts necessary for effective management of sponsored projects. The course covers: the USC research environment and its principles; roles and responsibilities among the research community; general terms and policies associated with USC’s research and creative endeavors; and the lifecycle of a proposal and award.

This course will demystify the process of setting up a subaward and highlight major issues at the Pre-Award and Post-Award stages. Topics include distinguishing between subaward & vendor, budgeting subawards, conflicts of interest, subrecipient monitoring, reviewing subrecipient invoices and much more.

Do you feel like contracts are written in a foreign language? Let us help you crack the code. This course will provide an overview of contract types for both government and industry funding, and discuss the issues of greatest importance to USC.

Export Control regulations govern the shipment, transmission, or transfer of certain regulated items, information or software to foreign persons or entities. It is necessary to know about export regulations since compliance is the responsibility of the individual exporting or disclosing information and materials. This class is a guide for anyone who administers international research and foreign students at USC, exports materials and equipment, works with disclosure-restricted technical information, travels internationally or who manages international financial transactions. It is designed to provide sufficient information for research administrators to be able to recognize and appropriate respond to export control issues.

Each semester, the Center for Excellence in Research under the Office of Research Initiatives and Facilities organizes workshops for USC researchers. These courses are designed to provide faculty, research staff, postdocs, PhD students and graduate students across all fields of study with specialized skills and knowledge in seeking funding from government, foundation, and corporate organizations as well as a variety of other topics.

The CRC course provides clinical research professionals with basic training tailored to the CRC’s fundamental role in the conduct of clinical trials. It is designed for new CRCs and can be used by organizations as onboarding training. It may also be useful to those pursuing a career in clinical research.

The CRC Advanced course covers advanced topics, including: project management for clinical trials; preventing and identifying misconduct and noncompliance; training and mentoring; financial management of clinical trials; subject recruitment and retention; statistics and data management of clinical trials; and specialty areas and regulatory requirements.

All controlled substance (Sch I-V) users at USC are required to complete the online Controlled Substances Training on Trojan Learn.

A complimentary course to train staff, students, and faculty on COVID-19 safety for their return to campus.

Gain insights to guide strategic planning surrounding COVID-19 operations in Higher Ed.

This introductory course is designed to enable researchers and other employees to understand the kinds of activities that may raise export control considerations so that they can proactively engage with the Office of Culture, Ethics and Compliance (OCEC) for guidance on whether the regulations apply in specific situations. The target audience for the course is USC faculty and staff who conduct restricted research, and research units and other departments affected by export controls. The course must be completed in Trojan Learn.

General Lab Safety Refresher may be completed: (a) In-house by PI as part of the Annual Safety Refresher. Use the checklist as a guide. OR (b) via the Online General Lab Safety Training Course in Trojan Learn. The course covers hazardous materials, lab hazards, engineering and administrative controls, personal protective equipment, and hazardous waste management. Anyone working in USC laboratories must attend. High school students must complete the course and provide a signed Parent Consent Form to their USC research advisors prior to working in USC laboratories.

The course covers hazardous materials, lab hazards, engineering and administrative controls, personal protective equipment, and hazardous waste management. Anyone working in USC laboratories must attend. High school students must complete the course and provide a signed Parent Consent Form to their USC research advisors prior to working in USC laboratories.

This training introduces learners to the Universal Shop Safety Rules and participation in a Culture of Safety. 

The GLS Meet and Greet is a workshop that:
- Introduces new USC researchers to EH&S Research Safety staff.
- Promotes the exchange of safety information, anecdotes, or experiences between colleagues.
- Connects researchers with EH&S staff to assist in addressing questions or concerns.

This web-based course is offered through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program); course content is tailored to GCP for Clinical Trials with Investigational Drugs and Biologics. The GCP for Clinical Trials with Investigational Drugs and Biologics Refresher course must be completed every 3 years to maintain certification.

The GCP for Clinical Trials with Investigational Drugs and Biologics Refresher course must be completed every 3 years to maintain certification.

This web-based course is offered through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program). The course content is tailored to GCP for Clinical Trials with Medical Devices (U.S. FDA focus).

The GCP for Clinical Trials with Medical Devices Refresher course must be completed every 3 years to maintain certification.

This web-based course is offered through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program). The course content is tailored to GCP for Clinical Trials in Social-Behavioral research.

The GCP for Clinical Trials in Social-Behavioral research refresher course must be completed every 3 years to maintain certification.

This course will provide a brief overview of appropriate authorship practices and equip Principal Investigators with the tools necessary to better understand ethical practices in peer review. 

This course will enable Principal Investigators to recognize possible conflict of interest scenarios and initiate a conflict of interest disclosure. 

This course will define the concept of “data” and cover the obligations and responsibilities of the Principal Investigator as it relates to recording and storing data. 

This course will provide an overview of federal cost principles as well as the basics of financially managing a sponsored award.

This course will cover the common types of funding mechanisms often associated with sponsored awards as well as the various regulatory bodies that exist at USC. 

This course focuses on the ins and outs of managing a sponsored award, including project closeout. 

This course will cover what research misconduct is, why it is important, and how allegations of research misconduct are addressed at USC. 

This course will cover the core responsibilities of being a Principal Investigator as well as the various internal systems a PI is likely to interact with during the course of a sponsored award.  

So you’ve submitted your budget and proposal to the sponsor, now what happens? There are many steps to accepting and setting up an award, and this course will unlock the mystery. Discussion focuses on pre-award negotiations and actions such as revised budgets and advance spending; the award acceptance process; post-award management issues, including project changes, budgeting, subawards and subaward monitoring; cost sharing obligations; and fulfilling project reporting obligations.

This introductory course will welcome you to the world of research administration at USC and will assist you in mastering key concepts necessary for effective management of sponsored projects. The course covers: the USC research environment and its principles; roles and responsibilities among the research community; general terms and policies associated with USC’s research and creative endeavors; and the lifecycle of a proposal and award.

All researchers who propose or conduct research sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services (NIH, CDC, HRSA) must complete training at least once every four years regarding conflicts of interest in research. USC offers online training on the requirements of federal regulations and USC policy, as well as on diSClose, USC’s online disclosure system. The required initial training is the CITI online USC Conflict of Interest training. Refresher training must be completed in Trojan Learn and is offered every other year in conjunction with the annual disclosure process.

Course covers all aspects of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the protection of the privacy of individually identifiable health information.  PLEASE NOTE: This does not replace the "Research HIPAA" course.

This HSR web-based course is offered through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) and has a biomedical focus covering the historical development of human subjects protections as well as current information on regulatory and ethical issues.

Mandatory course for Principal Investigators and Key Personnel who have previously completed a human subjects training course and will continue conducting human subjects research. The (HSR) Biomedical Refresher course must be completed every 3 years to maintain certification. 

This web-based course is offered through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) and has a social-behavioral focus covering the historical development of human subjects protections as well as current information on regulatory and ethical issues.

Mandatory course for Principal Investigators and Key Personnel who have previously completed a human subjects training course and will continue conducting human subjects research.

This course provides a foundation in human subjects research and research review for  IRB Community members, including a review of the principle that guide ethical research, informed consent, research regulations as well as  regulations specific to vulnerable research populations. HIPAA privacy protections and conflicts of interest in human subjects research are also covered.

The course covers laser classification, safe work practices, and personal protective equipment (PPE). All laser operators are required to attend.

This research forum will cover updates and guidance related to policies for research during COVID-19, including talks about USC Health, Environmental Health and Safety, Campus Access, Human Subjects & Field Research, Animal Research, Contracts & Grants, Core Facilities, and COVID-19 Funding Landscape & Opportunities.

Course clarifies what is considered "research" and provides information regarding vaccines and the efforts made to create a COVID-19 vaccine. The course also reviews the role, rights, and responsibilities of participants/subjects in a research study and considers reasons why to participate, or not, in research studies. It also provides guidance on how to identify/join a vaccine trial.

This course is for all USC Principal Investigators conducting research in a laboratory setting and will: 1)  articulate your safety responsibilities as a PI; 2) help you create an implement a health and safe working environment; and 3) advise on best safety practices and procedures.

This course covers safe practices for handling and containment of biological materials including human blood, human pathogens, recombinant DNA, and biological toxins.

The course covers radioactive materials (RAM), radiation sources, and radiation-producing devices, safe work practices, personal protective equipment (PPE), and radioactive waste management.

Course describe the fundamentals of contact tracing and its public health role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Additional topics presented include: a) the clinical course of COVID-19 infection, b) COVID-19 transmission and methods to prevent spread, c) the three types of COVID-19 testing, d) COVID-19 treatment options and e) contact tracing steps.

This web-based course is offered through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program). This course covers requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the responsibilities of researchers and organizations for meeting HIPAA’s privacy requirements and the appropriate data security protections that are necessary to protect privacy. The Research HIPAA Refresher course must be completed every 3 years to maintain certification.

Respiratory Protection training provides guidance for respirator selection, explains limitations, proper storage, use and care of respirators. If you are required to wear a respirator, you must first be medically cleared by a physician and attend training annually.

Requirement to take RCR course varies depending on NSF & NIH funding source. The CITI course should be completed if the funding source is NSF.  Topics include: scientific integrity, misconduct and fraud in science, data acquisition and management, collaborative research, responsible authorship, conflicts of interest, innovation advancement and patents, animal welfare, human subjects, mentor/mentee responsibilities and professionalism in scientific relationships.

Learn steps for proper shipping of bio samples. Participants are required to renew their training every two years.

This web-based course is offered through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program). CITI will add soon Human Subject Research Protections (HSR) Social Behavioral Refresher (Spanish) (to be taken every 3 years).  An HSR-SB (Spanish) Refresher is not yet available from CITI. There is no anticipated date of availability. Recertification remains every 3 years.

USC is a world class institution and that means its also a prime target for bad actors. As a system owners at USC, you have a responsibility to prevent cybersecurity incidents through preparedness, planning, and urgent action in the case of an incident. In this course, you’ll learn about the foundational action items you can use to help keep USC CyberSafe.

While the University supports the widest range of research engagement and collaboration, international activities carry with them responsibilities that may not be readily apparent. The US government, as well as a range of federal sponsors, have expressed growing concerns regarding inappropriate influence by external entities over federally-funded research and are requiring greater transparency from both institutions and faculty when it comes to their global engagements and affiliations.  The course must be completed in Trojan Learn.

This course provides guidance on the safe operation of golf/utility carts and low speed vehicles (LSVs) and applies to all certified and authorized drivers.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 is a federal law regarding the privacy of student education records and establishes requirements related to the release of the records and the access provided to the records.  As a leading educational institution, it is important that the Trojan community is aware of the USC FERPA policy and practices related to student education records. By taking this course, you will gain information on how to respond to student privacy issues and what you can do to protect the privacy of student information.

This course is designed to teach researchers the safety concerns surrounding the use of viral vectors.

Review the vaccine candidates for COVID-19. Describe the process of vaccine development through approval. Discuss the policy decision making process for COVID-19 vaccination. Address some of the most common concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccines. 

This course covers aspects of radiation safety for users of Diffraction type radiation producing machines.