Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR): Collaborative Research

Date: 

Wednesday, December 7, 2022, 12:30pm to 2:00pm

Location: 

Online - Register via Harvard Training Portal

Register: Harvard Training Portal | Course Info
TO REGISTER: Log into the Harvard Training Portal above. Click the REGISTER button, by default any sessions with an available date are selected for registration. To view date and time details click the Session Details link next to a session, deselect any dates you cannot attend, then select the COMPLETE REGISTRATION button at the bottom of the page. You can return at any time and see if new classes of a session were added via the VIEW CLASSES button next to a session.

SESSION DESCRIPTION:  NIH is placing new emphasis on promoting greater collaboration across research disciplines in hopes of productively translating different kinds of scientific expertise and knowledge into socially useful end-products. This ultimate emphasis on communal utility reminds us that publicly funded research that is sponsored by taxpayer contributions is meant to lead to something much larger than our own job security. 

Collaboration needs encouragement not only because it brings together a variety of informed perspectives on solving a particular problem, it also has the potential to reduce inefficiency. Yet, much of the practice of scientific investigation operates within a culture of fierce professional competition that can, at times, seem at odds with a goal of promoting partnerships. The readings for this session introduce some of the nuts and bolts about carrying out collaborative research responsibly and also touch on its thornier side.

Facilitator: Jennifer Waters, PhD, Lecturer on Cell Biology (HMS), Director of the Nikon Imaging Center (NIC), Director of the Cell Biology Microscopy Facility (CBMF)

COURSE DESCRIPTON: The RCR course is designed to run as a graduate-style seminar. Each session will be co-facilitated by the course director, research faculty, and administrative deans. This course is meant to provide an opportunity to openly and critically reflect with your peers and others about what responsibility and integrity should mean to the professional scientific community. To that end, you will be expected to have done the readings prior to class and you will be expected to participate in discussion.
Sponsored by the HMS Center for Bioethics and Office for Postdoctoral Fellows
Course Directors: Sadath A. Sayeed JD, MD and James Gould, PhD