Each Learner Group has a curriculum designed to address a researcher’s specific role in human subjects research. After logging onto the CITI website, Question 1 will ask you to select a Learner Group that is compatible with your research activities.
Investigators (Principal and Co-Investigators) and Key Personnel should take either:
Non-Key Personnel should take:
Investigators who conduct ONLY Exempt Research OR Research Personnel who do not interact with subjects should take:
Review the definitions below to determine your role in the research project.
Principal Investigator (PI) – The scientist or scholar with primary responsibility for the integrity, design, conduct, and analysis of a research project that is eligible to serve as such at Purdue University.
Co-Investigator – With regard to human subjects research projects at Purdue University, a co-investigator has PI status but is not acting as PI on the human subjects protocol. A co-investigator should be listed as key personnel on the human subjects protocol application.
Key Personnel – Members of a research team who contribute in a substantive way to the scientific/scholarly development or execution of a project. This includes the PI, co-investigators and can include students and any permanent staff devoting a significant amount of their effort to a single project or the conduct of human subjects research overall.
Non-Key Personnel – Research Personnel who interact with human subjects but are not key personnel in the sense that they do not contribute in a substantive way to the scientific/scholarly development or execution of a project. For example, such personnel may assist in data collection or consenting subjects, but are always under supervision of the principal investigator and/or key personnel and do not act independently in the execution of the research project.