An MTA is a written contract between a provider and a recipient of research material, which may include academic, government or commercial organizations. Contracts protect the rights of all parties with regard to publication, freedom of research, confidentiality and intellectual property. At Brown, the Research Agreements and Contracting (RAC) team negotiates and signs these agreements on behalf of the University.
Division of Research
Material Transfer Agreements
Sending Materials from Brown
Brown University researchers interested in sharing research materials (e.g., model organisms, microorganisms, cell lines, tissue samples, DNA/RNA, proteins/peptides, chemical compounds, etc.) with a colleague or collaborator at a third party entity (i.e., non-Brown University) must submit an MTA review request in Huron before scheduling the shipment.
RAC will review the request and provide the appropriate MTA for the transfer. If the third party entity does not accept the MTA provisions and requests edits, RAC will negotiate on behalf of Brown and the Brown University researcher.
Note: Shipments of research materials for services in which Brown University pays a service provider a fee-for-service (e.g., sequencing services at Genewiz or Novogene) do not require an MTA review. Brown University researchers may ship materials for research services after receiving approval from Environment Health and Safety. Contracts for the acquisition of goods and services (including research-specific goods and services) must be reviewed by Brown University’s Strategic Procurement and Contracts office.
Export Controls
Brown University is highly committed to protecting openness in research while also complying with U.S. export control laws and sanctions regulations.
Bringing Materials to Brown
Brown University researchers who have received an MTA draft from a third party (i.e., non-Brown University) to receive research materials must submit an MTA request in Huron and upload the MTA draft for RAC's review.
Note: All MTAs must be signed by an authorized signatory of Brown University. Please see Brown’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) webpage for more information about authorized signers. For MTAs, the authorized signatories for Brown University are RAC staff members.
For questions regarding sending or receiving research materials, please contact RAC at MTA@brown.edu.