Survival Skills for Researchers: The Responsible Conduct of Research
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this course for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers on the practical and ethical foundations of scientific work. Lectures combine practical guidance with case discussions covering study design, preparation of research proposals and manuscripts, the peer review process, authorship disputes, use of humans and animals as research subjects, allegations of misconduct, and intellectual property. The course also addresses mentoring relationships and career planning for early-career scientists. Responsible conduct topics are woven into each lecture rather than taught as a separate module, tying ethics directly to everyday research decisions. Originally developed to satisfy NIH training grant requirements for education in responsible research conduct, the materials include lecture notes and case studies. It suits anyone preparing to run a lab, submit grants, or navigate authorship and misconduct questions in an academic research career.