Other types of contracts
UiB has templates for many common contract types, including material transfer agreements, confidentiality agreements, letters of intent and donation declarations. You should contact the legal advisors at FA whenever asked to sign agreements with third parties.
Main content
The legal advisors at FA can be of assistance in all legal matters related to contracts, agreements and research projects. If you need to transport biological material, exchange confidential information or are asked to sign an agreement – please don’t hesitate to contact us for advice and information.
We have prepared a number of templates for different kinds of agreements to make it easier to administer research projects, including confidentiality agreements and agreements on the transfer of biological material. Some of the more common kinds of supplementary contracts are listed below:
Material Transfer Agreements (MTA)
If the research project requires exchange of materials, substances, objects, cell lines or other biological material, this process must be regulated by an Material Transfer Agreement (MTA). Details of the agreement depend on the purpose of exchange, what kind of material is exchanged and rights for usage for each party involved in the transaction.
Human biological material must never be collected, used or disclosed unless this is done in accordance with the provisions of the Health Research Act and all necessary approvals / declarations of consent have been acquired (from both the relevant authorities and from the person/ people who have provided the sample).
As a rule, UiB use our own template for Material Transfer Agreements (only available in English).
If you need to exchange material, please fill out the necessary information in Part 1 and send it to the legal advisers for review. It is not possible to change the general provisions.
Part 1 - fill in the details about the project (word)
Part 2 - General provisions, cannot be altered (pdf)
Confidentiality Agreements
In many research projects confidential information needs to be exchanged, either between project partners or to third parties. This may for instance be trade secrets, unpublished research results or other information of a sensitive nature. In such cases it may be necessary to enter into a separate confidentiality agreement that should also be signed by UiB as a coordinator institution.
Note that also a researcher who receives a confidentiality agreement needs this agreement to be countersigned by UiB as a resident institution.
The need for a confidentiality agreement must always be weighed against the circumstances of the specific project and which information is desired to be exchanged. Please contact the lawyers to set up an appointment or get advice if you receive an confidentiality agreement in relation to a research project you partake in.
Letters of intent
When UiB enters into a collaboration with an external party it can in many instances be useful to formulate a letter of intent as a framework for negotiating expectations for the scope and aim for collaboration. Such declarations of intent can be useful for example as attachment to a joint application for research funding for larger projects from the EU or NFR. The legal advisers are happy to assist in drafting and negotiating letters of intent for research projects.
Donations
Donations are support, financial or otherwise, provided without the requirement of deliverables in return. The motivation for donations can be of a purely charitable nature, or derive from a desire to support spesific fields of research or academic communities at UiB. In any case it is good practice that the legal advisors are informed and can give advice on the process and terms for donations.