Transferring Materials

A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) is a legally binding contract used to transfer biological and other tangible research material(s) between two organizations, when the recipient intends to use it for his or her own research purposes. Providers of materials need to have written agreements to be sure that there is a common understanding of permitted uses of the materials and determination of the rights granted to each party.

Outgoing MTAs allow CU researchers to send materials to researchers at other institutions or companies while protecting CU’s intellectual property (IP). Incoming MTAs from companies and other research institutions establishes CU’s right to publish and any claims to IP arising from the research, while preserving the company’s or institution’s IP rights to the materials being sent to CU researchers. CU negotiates MTAs on a case-by-case basis because each situation may call for different terms and conditions.

The Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) oversees the various stages of contract negotiation and execution of MTAs. Requests for both inbound and outbound MTAs can be initiated through the MTA Submission Form.