New government policies requiring ethics education for research scientists could create administrative headaches for the University.

A new National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy that requires all scientists who use human subjects to undergo special education before receiving NIH grant dollars went into effect Sunday.

The policy does not have the force of law, but the NIH will deny researchers grant money if they have not fulfilled the educational requirements. Harvard researchers received almost $200 million in NIH funding in 1999.

Harvard has responded to the NIH policy already, creating a web-based training program for its personnel. But Harvard administrators will be responsible for filing paperwork to prove that every researcher on every project has viewed the web-based program--and ensuring no grant application is sent to Washington without this paperwork.

At a Faculty Council meeting two weeks ago, Faculty members expressed concern about the time and effort these measures will require.

Faculty worry other proposed guidelines that could come into being as early as November would affect all types of scientific research would only add to the burden.

The Plan

The NIH's policy is part of a program meant to ensure responsible conduct in research, according to Dr. Belinda Seto, deputy director of the Office of Extramural Research at the NIH, which is an agency of DHHS.