RESPONSIBLE AND ETHICAL CONDUCT OF RESEARCH

Class Description:  It is crucial for universities that use federal funds for research activities to provide training about the responsible conduct of research.  This class will provide information to increase your awareness about responsible conduct of research and research integrity.  We will identify resources for you on the UU campus, as well as from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and federal Office of Research Integrity to promote research integrity and the responsible conduct of research that you will be able to carry into your career. 

Class Description: Research is frequently undertaken by researchers working together from different academic departments, multiple institutions, private industry and with the government. Many ethical challenges often arise largely due to the number of people, organizations and resources involved. Scientists and researchers may be at different stages of their careers and have different motivations for conducting research. It often becomes difficult to review the work of collaborators on interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research conducted or located in different regions of the world. Further, there is a longstanding tension between the role of the scientist as "discoverer of how things work" and the expectations of many in society that scientists should "deliver tangible goods." In addition, governments often encourage scientists to advance specific national agendas, even though scientists are largely viewed by citizens as "independent authorities" able to present findings that transcend national political purposes.

This presentation will discuss some of the challenges inherent in collaborative research, the different roles of scientists and researchers, and the ethical, environmental and societal impacts of scientific research.

Class Description: This class provides an in-depth overview of Federal research policies including Conflict of Interest (COI), human subjects, animals, laboratory practices, etc. 

Class Description: What does it mean to manage and share research data? What are best practices for developing data management plans and increasing access to the results? How are human subject and qualitative research data managed in the social & behavioral sciences and humanities?

This informative presentation will explain the motivations behind federal mandates and University policies regarding open data sharing. Participants will learn practical data management skills including file naming, version control, creating data management plans, and crafting subject-specific metadata in the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) format.

Data archiving options for institutional repositories will be discussed and University data planning, analysis, and archiving services available throughout the research data lifecycle will be described.

Class Description: Working with Edward Tufte’s theory of data graphics, this class will cover best practices in graphical communication for creating effective data visualizations. Topics to be addressed include the data-ink ratio, accessibility, pre-attentive processing, cognitive load, visual emphasis, and misleading visualizations. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to 1) identify graphic design principles related to data visualization practices; 2) discuss how human perception affects data visualization design; 3) critique and propose solutions to misleading visualizations; and 4) demonstrate a foundational knowledge of trustworthy, accessible, and elegant data visualization design.

Class Description: Research mentors play crucial roles in the development of emerging scholars and research professionals. Recent changes to federal policies reflect this growing need and now require that grant personnel receive mentorship training to be able to develop effective mentoring plans. This course will deliver cutting edge content that will not only satisfy agency requirements but will produce institutional leaders in effective mentorship practices. Elements of Effective Mentoring/Developing a Mentoring Philosophy is the first class in the Research Mentoring Certificate and provides a foundation for the remainder of the certificate classes. Participants are introduced to the research-based characteristics of high-quality mentoring and are encouraged to reflect on how their own experiences as a mentor and as a mentee influence their own mentoring practice. Crucially, this class problematizes harmful mentoring attitudes and practices and exposes participants to issues that disproportionately impact marginalized mentees.

Class Description: Publication in science and academia serves several purposes. In addition to advancing the field by making new knowledge permanently and widely available to the scientific and lay communities, publication plays an integral role in an individual's career development. In this workshop, strategies for researchers and other academicians to publish their papers in well-regarded journals in their field will be presented. Several questions will be addressed including:

• What criteria do editors and reviewers use in evaluating papers for publication?
• What can an author do to enhance the likelihood that their manuscript will be reviewed and accepted?
• What can an author do when their manuscript is rejected or unfairly evaluated?
• What is considered ethical and unethical behavior when it comes to issues of authorship, peer review, data presentation, citation and discussion of the literature?
• What are the rights and responsibilities of authors, editors, reviewers and readers?