Conflicts of Interest (COI) Training

Mandatory COI Training for PHS-funded Investigators

Per University of Hawaii APM A5.504 and AP 12.304, all Public Health Service (PHS)-funded investigators must complete the online CITI UH Conflict of Interest (COI) Training Course prior to engaging in any extramurally-funded activities or expending any extramural funds, including non-competing continuation awards. This applies to all new PHS-sponsored research projects or an investigator who is new to UH. Training must be completed at least every four years or whenever UH revises its policy(ies).

How to access the CITI Program for UH

  1. Go the CITI Program website, and log in through the UH single-sign-on dialog. If you already have a CITI account, you will be taken to your member Welcome page. If you do not already have a CITI account, continue to step 2.
  2. Scroll through the list of organizations, find and select University of Hawaii.
    • IMPORTANT: Be sure to register through the University of Hawaii affiliation to avoid registration fees.
  3. Follow the prompts to create your account.

Selecting the COI course in CITI

  1. On the My Courses tab in the Institutional Courses section, click the View Courses button next to University of Hawaii.
  2. Select the Add a Course button. Or you may also find it in the Learner Tools for University of Hawaii section.
  3. On the Select Curriculum screen, “Question 1 – Do you conduct research in any of the following settings? (This question is required. Choose all that apply.)” Check off the box for Conflict of Interest (COI) and click the Next button.
  4. A confirmation message “You are now enrolled in the course(s) you selected” will be displayed on the My Courses tab.
  5. In the Courses Ready to Begin section, you will find the newly added COI course. Click the Start Now button to begin the COI training.

The CITI COI course may take 2 or more hours to complete. CITI keeps track of your progress allowing you to complete the course over several sessions.

For questions regarding COI, email coi@hawaii.edu.

Extramural Disclosure Training (EDT)

In February 2023, the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) announced mandatory Extramural Disclosure Training (EDT) for University of Hawai‘i (UH) principal investigators (PIs), co-investigators (Co-Is) and key personnel working on extramural projects at UH. The impetus for this training is the recent U.S. government concerns related to inappropriate foreign interference in federally funded research. The training is intended to highlight what faculty and key personnel involved in extramural projects need to know to protect UH’s research and intellectual property.

For extramural proposal submissions, all investigators and key personnel listed in the myGRANT routing document must have a Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure form submitted in the rCOI electronic system in the past 12 months.

Effective October 1, 2023 in order to submit a COI disclosure form in the rCOI system, EDT training must be completed.

Upon proposal routing through myGRANT, ORS will verify that investigators and key personnel have a current COI disclosure submitted in the past 12 months. Similarly, for award acceptance, ORS will continue to confirm that all investigators and key personnel listed on the award record have a current COI disclosure.

Instructions for completing the training

The Extramural Disclosure Training (EDT) is accessed online in Laulima at the following link.  If you do not see the EDT in Laulima, please submit a ticket to the ORS Helpline at http://go.hawaii.edu/eVP.

To complete the quiz, click on Tests & Quizzes and select Extramural Disclosure Training (EDT) Quiz.  Click on Continue Assessment to start the quiz.  Once done with the quiz be sure to click on the SUBMIT FOR GRADING button.  The quiz is five questions and can be passed with 1 wrong answer.

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All principal investigators, co-investigators, and key personnel listed in myGRANT proposals and associated awards must complete the required training and pass the required exam. The key personnel listed in the myGRANT proposal must match the key personnel listed in the sponsor application.

To verify in a myGRANT proposal that the training has been completed, navigate to the “Key Personnel” then “Personnel” tab.

1. To check on the EDT status for all key personnel, click the rCOI Disclosure Status “Details” tab. A pop-up window will show the EDT Status for each key personnel listed in the “Personnel” tab.

2. To check on the EDT status for an individual, click on the “Required Training” subtab for the individual.

There are three (3) possible completion statuses: Compliant, Non-Compliant, and Expired.

You are able to stop partway and return without losing your place. However, your EDT will not register as complete unless all lessons are completed within a 60-day window. That means you must complete the training in its entirety within 60 days or you will need to retake any lessons beyond that timeframe.

Extramural Disclosure Training must be completed every two (2) years.

Questions?

If you have questions about the content of the training (for example, understanding the disclosure requirements), please send an email to coi@hawaii.edu.

For technical questions about completing the training in Laulima or verification of training in myGRANT, click here.

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training