IRB: Researcher Training

Faculty and Staff

SJSU policy requires that faculty and staff who intend to conduct research involving human subjects or who will supervise student research complete a training course prior to the first-time submission of a protocol to the IRB. Refresher courses are required by the Office of Research every five years.

San Jose State University has contracted with the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) to fulfill the mandatory training requirement. CITI provides different types of courses for human subjects research depending upon the discipline area of the researcher.

To access the human subjects research training courses:

  1. Visit the CITI website.
  2. After you have created an account with CITI using your SJSU email address, select San Jose State University Courses.
  3. Click on "add a course or update learner groups."
  4. Select any one of the courses under question #2 that most closely matches your discipline. NOTE: CITI offers courses on a variety of topics related to responsible conduct of research. While you may complete any of the courses available, only one of the courses selected under question #2 will count towards fulfilling the human subjects research training requirement.

CITI Human Subjects Research Training for Researchers

Students

Completing a training course in humans subjects research is not mandatory for students submitting a protocol to the IRB, but it is highly recommended. Faculty may also choose to assign a training course to students in a research methods class or to students preparing a protocol for submission to the IRB.

The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) provides a course specifically for students who wish to conduct human subjects research. To access the student course:

  1. Visit the CITI website.
  2. After you have created an account with CITI using your SJSU email address, select San Jose State University Courses.
  3. Click on "add a course or update learner groups."
  4. Go to question #2 and select “Students conducting no more than minimal risk research.”

Students are required to have a faculty supervisor who has fulfilled the training requirements sign off on a protocol submitted to the IRB. SJSU policy regards the faculty supervisor as the primary investigator for student research.