Please visit the Office of Strategic Alliances and Technology Transfer [website] for the most recent information about working with industrial sponsors.
The negotiation of research agreements with industrial sponsors has become increasingly complex and time consuming. These negotiations often include a greater emphasis on intellectual property rights and the additional effort required to adapt a growing number of consortium agreements to the particular needs of individual programs.
To facilitate negotiations with industrial sponsors, RAS recommends:
- Use of Single Sponsor Research Agreement for Industrial Sponsor
- Review of “Information for Industrial Sponsors”
- Advance notice to RAS of industrial interaction or likely negotiation involving unusual features or requiring special attention, providing this information:
- Draft statement of work or outline defining the planned activities that MIT will undertake
- Total funding required with breakdown by major component and activities, if applicable
- Anticipated timeline for project(s)
- Sponsor's contact information
Key elements of Understanding Industrial Agreements:
- Policy considerations
- Use of MIT research facilities
- Appropriate research
- Contract policies
- Reasonable efforts
- Conflicting obligations
- Publications
- Intellectual property
- Cost-reimbursement
- Negotiating Industry-Sponsored Research Agreements
- Grant or contract negotiations
- Negotiating intellectual property rights and licenses
- MIT Research Agreements
- Single sponsor
- Consortia
- Other research agreements
- Letter awards – unrestricted research
- Other research-related agreements
- Software grants/licenses to MIT
- Deep discount hardware and software
- Confidentiality (Non-disclosure) agreements
- Material Transfer Agreements
- Inventions and Proprietary information agreements
- Staff, students, and visitors
- Assignment of patents and copyrights
- Author-publisher agreements
- Licensing of MIT technology to third parties