Material Transfer Agreements
(MTAs)
In April of 2007, the administration of all Material
Transfer Agreements for the Medical Center, as well as for the River
Campus, shifted to the Office of Research and Project Administration.
Please click here
to be referred to the ORPA web site.
Q.
What is a Material Transfer Agreement?
A. A Material Transfer Agreement, simply put, is an
agreement between two parties that details the terms and conditions
under which one party may make use of the proprietary materials of the
second party.
The Council on Governmental
Relations (COGR) says that an MTA
is the contractual instrument used to define the
terms and conditions for the exchange of materials. While MTAs are
not funding agreements, many of the issues usually associated with
a research contract can apply to these transfers and can have a dramatic
impact on future research efforts. An MTA typically sets forth rights
to use the materials and may allocate rights that result from their
use. Often MTAs address such issues as publication, involvement of
students, limitations on the use of the materials, and the intellectual
property rights of the provider and the recipient in the results of
the research in which the materials are used.
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Q.
Why is this necessary?
A. The Council
on Governmental Relations (COGR) says
Given that money is rarely associated with these
transfers, MTAs may be perceived by some to be inconsequential transactions.
However, they are binding legal agreements that can impact a researcher's
current and future research. Thus, it is important that researchers
and administrators alike understand the issues and complexities involved
in these transfers, especially given the large volume of MTAs that
are being negotiated in the research community. While standard MTA
agreements...exist, MTAs with widely varying terms and conditions
have proliferated, particularly between universities and industry.
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Q.
What forms do I use?
A. To aid the Office
of Research and Project Administration in assisting you
with your Material Transfer Agreement, you will need to complete an
MTA Checklist. Whether you are the requestor of materials, or the provider
of materials will determine which form you use. Please contact ORPA
for the most current forms, and for additional information regarding
Material Transfer Agreements.
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