The JRO agrees terms which are fit for purpose and obtains the authorised signatures on the following types of agreements. There are dozens of contract and agreement types available, covering all the needs and eventualities of the research community.
The lists below provide a brief description of each agreement, with links to further comprehensive details on the Research Office site where applicable.
| Type | Brief description |
|---|---|
| Amendment to Existing Agreement | Required when ICL or the other party needs to modify an existing agreement, for reasons such as an increase in the award amount, a change in key dates, or additional terms and conditions. |
| CASE - Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering | Industrially focused awards allocated to companies, in which students spend time working; occasionally supplemented by financial top-ups. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Chair Agreement | Agreement between ICL and [another party] to establish a Chair in a [particular school/faculty/department], covering issues such as purpose, endowment and administration. |
| Clinical Trial Single Site Participating Agreement | For clinical trials taking place in sites external to ICL and within ICL’s associated NHS Trusts. Where the College is the Sponsor of a multi-centre trial, an agreement with each participating site ensures compliance with relevant laws, regulations and codes of practice, including provisions such as safety reporting, insurance/liabilities, medical confidentiality, Intellectual Property, publications, funding etc. A Sponsorship Agreement is a simplified version suitable for studies not involving IMPs, confirming ICL’s responsibility as sponsor. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Collaboration Agreement | Sets out the responsibilities, roles and rights of collaborating parties working with ICL on a research project. The agreement is often based on a joint award/research funding agreement and may also contain funding terms. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Commercially-led Clinical Trial | Commercially-led clinical trials are designed, legally sponsored and funded by pharmaceutical companies contracting with individual organisations to undertake the trial on its behalf. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Confidentiality Agreement | This agreement regulates how confidential information is disclosed by one party to another, setting out the terms of disclosure and whether information is returned to the provider or destroyed upon request. Confidential information includes any information, results or know-how that is owned by someone, and which the owner wishes to be kept secret. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Deed of Termination | If either party needs to terminate the project (eg reduced interest, resource issues, inability to complete), a Deed of Termination ensures that funding cannot be withdrawn without giving reasonable cause or notice, or agreeing to pay all costs incurred and committed up to date of termination. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Donation Only - No terms attached | Any item of value given to ICL by a donor expecting nothing in return, other than recognition and disposition of the gift in accordance with the donor's wishes. |
| Drug/Data Agreement | Used when external parties wish to make “in-kind” contributions for investigator-led studies such as the supply of drugs or medical devices. Where provisions are not within a principal funding agreement, a Transfer Agreement outlines responsibilities and ensures compliance with the regulatory framework. If items are paid for this may be classed as a purchase and should be referred to Purchasing. Used for the transfer of data, where the data is nonpublic or subject to restrictions on its use. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Framework Agreement | An 'umbrella agreement' that sets out the terms (particularly relating to price, quality and quantity) under which individual contracts can be made throughout the period of the agreement. |
| Fully Funded Studentship | An agreement to provide a student with funding for PhD or Masters level research. The student will conduct the majority of the research under academic supervision. The funder will cover tuition fees, bursary and costs required. Funding often comes from industry and government departments, with set terms and conditions. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Grant - Non Commercial | Issued by foundation and non-profit sponsors, grant agreements outline the terms and conditions, which institutions are required to sign in acceptance. |
| Investigator Led Clinical Trial | Designed by academics and usually sponsored by their employer, investigator-led trials are funded by grants from non-commercial bodies or with support from pharmaceutical companies. Where a pharmaceutical company is providing funding (and in some cases free drugs) an agreement needs to be executed to ensure compliance with the relevant laws, regulations and codes of practice, including provisions for the supply of drugs, funding, safety reporting, insurance/liabilities, publications, IP etc. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| IP Assignment | The IP assignment transfers ownership of certain intellectual property from one party to another (also called rights agreements or IP transfer agreements), permitting engagement in activities that would otherwise infringe the legal rights attached to the IP. In the course of a research project intellectual property may come in many forms, eg inventions, ideas, designs, technologies and publications. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| MoU/Heads of Agreement | This document describes a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties, to set out the working principles of the relationship, rather than create a legal commitment. (Further details with Research Office.) |
|
Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) |
An MTA governs the transfer of tangible research materials between two organisations when the recipient intends to use them for their own research purposes. It defines rights in respect to scope of use of material, confidentiality, publication, and ownership of Intellectual Property. They should not include payment for the material, other than reimbursement of transport costs.
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| Novation | This agreement concerns the substitution of an original party to a contract with a new party, or substitution of an original contract with a new contract, agreed to by all the original and new parties. |
| Proof of Concept Funding | Proof of concept funding addresses the funding gap between the outputs of research funded by a grant and technology ready for commercialisation, enabling researchers to determine the technical feasibility and market potential of their invention. |
| Research Funding Contract | Funded by a company, government body, charity or other body, this contract sets out the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in a research project, and the terms and conditions governing the conduct of the work. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Research Funding Contract - Fellowship | This contract provides funding for a fellowship. |
| Research Sub-agreement (In/Out) | This agreement is required to engage a research partner on a specific work package under an existing research award/funding agreement. (Further details with Research Office.) |
| Studentship Top Up | A top-up available to the standard university studentship. |
| Visitors Agreement | This agreement is issued to visitors to the University working on their own project, independent of an existing research project here. Where visitors are to work on projects governed by an existing contract, special conditions are inserted to ensure consistency with external conditions. |
| Types of agreement handled by JRO | |