News Archives - Office of Research Compliance

Biosafety: New NIH “Dangerous Gain-of-Function” Research Requirements for Notification, Suspension, or Termination – June 2025

On June 18, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued notice NIH NOT-OD-25-127 Implementation Update: Terminating or Suspending Dangerous Gain-of-Function Research in Accordance with the Executive Order on Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research (external link). Within this notice, NIH provided the following definition of “dangerous gain-of-function research”: “Dangerous gain-of-function research means scientific […]

New IRB Submission Process is Coming Soon! – June 2025

The Office of Research Compliance is in the process of transitioning to a new electronic system. Cayuse will replace the current way IRB (Institutional Review Board) applications are submitted for review. Cayuse provides the following features: More information is coming soon!

Undergraduate Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training Summer 2025

The Office of Research Compliance will be offering online Responsible Conduct of Research training for undergraduate students on Brightspace from June 2nd to July 6th, 2025. Undergraduate students who are participating in research sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and/or the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of […]

Biosafety: New NIH Transparency Guidance – April 2025

On March 28, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued implementation update NOT-OD-25: Promoting Maximal Transparency Under the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (external link). This updated guidance will require institutions to publicly post approved minutes from all Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) meetings held on or after June […]

New Research Security Training Requirement – April 2025

The following message was sent via email to all University of Maine employees on April 17, 2025 by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School. To address the growing concerns around research security, U.S. federal regulations such as National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) (external link) and the security-related provisions […]

Read the Spring 2025 Research Compliance Newsletter

The Office of Research Compliance (ORC) has published the Spring 2025 edition of the Research Compliance Newsletter. View the Spring 2025 newsletter online. This edition includes the following topics: Subscribe to the Research Compliance Newsletter to receive future newsletters directly in your email inbox.

Undergraduate Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training Spring 2025

The Office of Research Compliance will be offering online Responsible Conduct of Research training forundergraduate students on Brightspace from March 3rd to April 7th, 2025. Undergraduate students who are participating in research sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and/or the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food […]

New Guidance and Process for Physical Exports – Jan. 2025

The Office of Research Compliance has released new guidance and forms related to Physical Exports (any international transfer or shipment, including hand-carried items) made on behalf of UMaine. We will be adjusting our outreach about international travel to point to this guidance as of early January 2025. A communication about the official launch of the […]

Revisions to Biosafety Policy and Protocol Form – Nov. 2024

The University of Maine Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) has issued minor revisions to the Policies and Procedures for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules or Infectious Agents (Word). These revisions reflect the recent updates to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guidelines (issued April 2024) and the revised United States Government Policy for […]

UMS:IT Generative AI Guidance – Oct. 2024

University of Maine System Information Technology (UMS:IT) has released Guidance on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Office of Research Compliance (ORC) advises researchers to review and consider this guidance as it relates to their research and scholarly activities, particularly as it may relate to human subjects research. In addition to this UMS:IT […]