Human Subject Protection Training & Outreach

Required human subject research training

Under the direction of the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Northeastern University requires completion of training on the protection of human subjects and the ethical principles of research for all human subject research (HSR), regardless of whether or not investigators have received funding to support their project. This training is mandatory for all faculty, staff, and students who conduct/supervise HSR whether on campus or off-campus.

Northeastern has an account with CITI, who offers human subject training. All NU affiliates can take this course at no charge. Please note that training is valid for 3 years at NU. Those who continue to be engaged in HSR will be instructed to complete a refresher course. Any training that was completed more than 3 years ago will not satisfy NU IRB training requirements. If you completed this training at another institution, within the 3-year period, simply go into your CITI account and indicate you are now an NU affiliate. The NU IRB will consider accepting alternative training on a study-by-study basis.

The Department of Human Research requires completion of the training module titled CITI Human Subjects Research Stage 1 Basic Course. Note that the Responsible Conduct of Research trainings do not satisfy IRB training requirements.

How to register and complete CITI training:

For new users:

Go to the CITI Program
Select the “Register” button located on the top right of the page to begin.
Select Northeastern University from the drop-down menu titled “Select your institution or organization.”
Please register using your NU email address and submit the remaining registration details.
On the “Institutional Courses” page, select “View Courses.”
On the following page, select “Add a Course.”
On the “Select Curriculum” page, go to Question 3 Human Subjects Research and select the first button choice titled “Human Subjects Research Stage 1 – Basic Course.” Please do not choose second button unless university IRB member.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “submit” button.
Complete the course as directed

For users with an existing CITI account:

Go to the CITI Program
Select the “Log In” button located on the top right of the page. Sign into your existing account and verify that your account reflects your Northeastern University affiliation.
On the “Institutional Courses” page, select “View Courses.”
On the following page, select “Add a Course.”
On the “Select Curriculum” page, go to Question 3 Human Subjects Research and select the first button choice titled “Human Subjects Research Stage 1 – Basic Course.” Please do not choose second button unless university IRB member.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “submit” button.
Complete the course as directed.

When you submit a study for review, you will need to include your Human Subjects Research course completion date.

Training Option for Community Researchers

Non-Northeastern researchers who are being added to a non-exempt study via an Individual Investigator Agreement (meaning they are not affiliated with another research institution who has an IRB – most often this applies to community members who are collaborating with NU research teams) may complete the CIRTification training instead of CITI to satisfy our training requirements. Developed specifically for community-based participatory research (CBPR), CIRTification is a human subjects protection training designed to be accessible and practical for non-scholars. It is available in both English and Spanish.

Collaborating researchers will need to keep their CIRTification training “current”, meaning having completed the initial training and/or the refresher within the last 3 years. Please see the CIRTification website for details on how to complete the refresher course. To add CIRTification to our study team form, please check “Required CITI Training” and in the checkbox, list “Alternative CIRTification training completed on <insert completion date>”.

Learn more and access the training here: CIRTification – UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science

For collaborating researchers working on exempt NU research, CIRTification is also recommended if they do not have access to other human subjects training.

Supplemental Training

The Department of Human Research team puts on outreach events throughout the year and provides on-demand outreach for groups who request it. To request a session, please reach out: