Collaborative (No-cost) Research Agreements

Please visit the Office of Strategic Alliances and Technology Transfer [website] for the most recent information about working with industrial sponsors.

Some MIT research projects funded by industrial sponsors require a collaboration with a third party that may conduct some of the research, provide data or materials to MIT, or otherwise contribute to the research in such a way that requires a no-cost collaborative research agreement between MIT and the third party. No-cost collaborations require that a formal no-cost proposal be routed through MIT approvals to RAS.

These proposals must provide:

  • a clear statement of work defining the research to be conducted by all participating parties to the no-cost agreement and the deliverables to be exchanged among them
  • identification of the source(s) of funds along with an internal budget of MIT’s estimated costs as an attachment that will support MIT’s effort, so RAS can determine whether this co-funding could create conflicts between MIT’s obligations to the funding source, and any rights the third party is requesting from MIT.