UnFunded Research Agreements

Unfunded Research Agreements (UFRA) are legally binding agreements with other party(ies) that are related to University research or public service that do not provide funding. The most common types of UFRAs are listed here, and additional detail about each type is below.

  • Confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements
  • Material transfer agreements (incoming materials)
  • Data transfer and/or use agreements
  • Collaboration agreements
  • Memoranda of understanding

SPA’s UFRA team handles the agreements noted above and other non-monetary agreements for those research related matters.

  • When the University is sending materials to another party, those agreements are typically handled by Technology Commercialization.
  • When the agreement involves payment to the University for services performed by the University and any tangible goods produced as a result of such services, those agreements are handled by External Sales.
  • When the University is providing payment to another party for the purchase of goods or services, those requests should follow the University’s Purchasing Goods and Services policy.

Confidentiality or Nondisclosure Agreement

Sometimes called a CDA or NDA, this is a legally binding contract in which the University and a person or organization promises to treat specific information as a secret and promises not to disclose the secret to others without proper authorization.

If you receive a CDA, or a request for a CDA:

  1. Send the agreement to ufra@umn.edu
  2. In your email, provide:
  • The other party’s draft agreement, if you’ve received one
  • Name of the UMN PI
  • Contact information (i.e. email address) for someone in the other party

Material Transfer Agreement (MTA)

This is a document that governs the transfer of tangible research materials to the University from another person or organization for the University’s intended research purposes. The MTA defines the rights of the provider and the recipient with respect to the materials and any derivatives or inventions following the recipient’s use of the materials. Learn more about MTAs.

If you receive an MTA or need to request an inbound MTA:

  1. Complete a Material Transfer Agreement Routing Form (MTARF) – this is an intake form that gives us information about your MTA request. See MTARF instructions.
  2. end an email to ufra@umn.edu. In your email, provide:
  • The other party’s draft agreement, if you’ve received one
  • MTARF number
  • Deadline information, if this must be completed by a certain date
  • Any additional information you deem relevant for UFRA’s completion of the request

Sending materials to another party? See more information about outgoing MTAs from Technology Commercialization. Technology Commercialization handles these agreements when the University is the party sending the materials out.

Data Transfer and/or Use Agreement (DUA or DTUA)

This is a document that outlines the terms for the transfer of nonpublic data between organizations. Often, this is data that has been collected or developed by nonprofit, government, or private industry, where the data is nonpublic or is otherwise subject to some restrictions on its use, especially protected health information (PHI). Learn more about DUAs.

If you receive a DUA:

  1. Complete a Material Transfer Agreement Routing Form (MTARF) – this is an intake form that gives us information about your DUA request.  
  2. Send an email to ufra@umn.edu.
  3. In your email, provide:
  • The other party’s draft agreement, if you’ve received one
  • MTARF number
  • Deadline information, if this must be completed by a certain date
  • Any additional information you deem relevant for UFRA’s completion of the request

Other UFRAs

For all other kinds of UFRAs, follow the same steps:

  1. Complete a Material Transfer Agreement Routing Form (MTARF).  
  2. Send an email to ufra@umn.edu.
  3. In your email, provide:
  • The other party’s draft agreement, if you’ve received one
  • MTARF number
  • Deadline information, if this must be completed by a certain date
  • Any additional information you deem relevant for UFRA’s completion of the request

Status of Requests

Use the UFRA database to check the status of an agreement already in process. Find quick information for look-up instructions with the UFRA database.

Contact ufra@umn.edu for additional assistance using the UFRA database.

Questions

If you’re not sure whether an agreement you’ve been sent is an UFRA or not, or if you have other questions, contact our team via ufra@umn.edu.