Industry Agreements

Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

UCSC and an industry partner typically enter into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) prior to discussing sensitive or proprietary information in connection with a potential research collaboration.  Also sometimes referred to as a confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), an NDA defines the permitted use and distribution of non-public information you provide and/or receive (e.g., a research proposal containing unpublished inventions or discoveries).

At UCSC, an NDA must be signed by an authorized member of IATC.  If you think you may need an NDA, please complete our NDA Request Form.

Note: an NDA is not intended for use in transferring tangible material or in transferring research data for use in the conduct of research, for which a material transfer agreement (MTA) or data transfer & use agreement (DTUA) should be used.

Material & Data Transfer Agreements

Material Transfer Agreement (MTA)

UCSC has arranged hundreds of material transfers to promote scientific advancement and collaboration. A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) is a contract that controls an exchange of tangible materials (e.g., cell lines, chemicals, software, models, robots) between universities and other organizations for research purposes.  An MTA defines the rights of the providing scientists, recipient scientists, and their respective organizations with regard to materials, derivatives, and inventions that may result from the use of the transferred material.

At UCSC, any exchange of material requires an MTA signed by an authorized member of IATC. If you think you may need an MTA, please complete our MTA Request Form.

Data Transfer & Use Agreement (DTUA)

A data transfer & use agreement (DTUA) provides the same protections for data as an MTA does for material. A DTUA is also similar to an NDA, in that a DTUA restricts the use and disclosure of a data set. A DTUA must be signed by an authorized member of IATC. If you think you may need a DTUA, please complete our DTUA Request Form.

Industry Sponsored Research Agreement (ISRA)

UCSC establishes dozens of successful research collaborations between academic scientists and industrial partners every year. IATC facilitates negotiation of ISRAs funded solely by for-profit, industry sponsors. Before IATC begins negotiations, the Principal Investigator (PI) on a project should first submit a project proposal on Cayuse.

PIs and potential private sponsors may contact Andrea Pesce (apesce@ucsc.edu) at IATC for more information regarding ISRAs and sponsored research projects at UCSC.

Note: the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) is responsible for negotiation of research agreements where any part of the funding in support of the research project is received from a non-profit entity.