Request an Agreement

Responsibility for research-related material transfer, confidential disclosure and data sharing agreements is shared by Technology Transfer Services (TTS) and the Research Services Office (RSO).

Your agreement will be directed to the applicable staff member through your submission to our portal. If you have questions regarding an agreement, please note this in your submission in the portal and a staff member will contact you. You may log into the Portal using your CCID and password. Contact tts@ualberta.ca for assistance with access to the Portal. 

The TTS team can help you draft and negotiate business agreements needed to establish commercial partnerships as well as other IP agreements (Inter-Institutional Agreements) related to University of Alberta technologies and inventions. The TTS team is the university’s delegated signing authority for non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements (NDAs/CDAs), material transfer agreements (MTA), data share and data transfer agreements (DSAs/ DTA) that relate to University of Alberta technologies and inventions.

The RSO agreements team is the university’s delegated signing authority for non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements (NDAs/CDAs), material transfer agreements (MTA), data share and data transfer agreements (DSAs/ DTA) for research projects that are not related to University of Alberta technologies and inventions.

Agreement Types

• Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA) governs the exchange of non-public, confidential information between the University of Alberta and an external party. It is typically used for a specific purpose to allow parties to evaluate confidential information and explore a potential collaboration or business relationship. If it is necessary to disclose your invention to an external party before publication, a CDA can prevent unintended loss of patent rights.

• Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs) or Data Transfer Agreements (DTAs) are used to allow the transfer of data between the University of Alberta and other institutions for research purposes. DSAs are often used to transfer highly sensitive data, including data that may contain health or personal information. DSA’s typically restrict the use of the data to a very specific purpose and place additional restrictions on recipients, governing the data’s storage, access and disclosure.

• Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) governs the exchange of tangible materials between institutions for research use. MTAs are commonly used to transfer biological materials and chemical compounds. They can also be used in any instance where it is necessary to define the rights and obligations of provider and recipient with respect to a particular material. This agreement may limit the permitted use and further distribution of the transferred materials, and how results arising from such materials should be managed. In general, a MTA should be requested any time materials are transferred between the University of Alberta and an external party.

• Self-Serve Outgoing Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA) is a quick and straightforward MTA to send biological materials to another academic researcher. If you are sending a non-clinical biological material (eg. plasmid, cell line, protein, antibody, animal model), consider using the Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement. The researcher-friendly UBMTA terms and conditions have been pre-agreed by most research institutions. A simple two-page form is all that is needed to complete the process with your fellow researcher on your own — no waiting.