Explanation of the decision guide

The Decision Guide has been structured as a series of questions to help identify the key elements of a Research Collaboration Agreement.

The Decision Guide asks a series of questions to identify:

• the relative importance of the project results to the sponsor and the project's reliance on the sponsor's materials or existing intellectual property (IP);
• the importance of academic use and publication to the university and its researchers;
• the importance of the project to future research at the university.

By combining the responses to these questions, it is possible to identify which of the Research Collaboration Agreements may be the most appropriate starting point.

If a project is of critical commercial importance to the commercial sponsor, and cannot take place without using the sponsor's technology or intellectual property, the user is directed to consider Research Collaboration Agreement 4 or Research Collaboration Agreement 5.

If it is important for the academic party to own the intellectual property, the user is directed to Research Collaboration Agreements 1-3

Where publication of the results would have a serious impact on the competitive position of the sponsor and the sponsor wishes to ensure that publication does not take place the user is directed to Research Collaboration Agreement 5.

In this way the Decision Guide provides a starting point for negotiation based on the situation of the university and the sponsor, rather than focusing on ownership of any IP per se.

The decision guide is for use with the bilateral Research Collaboration Agreements only. There is no Decision Guide for the four Consortium Agreements because there are too many possible permutations for multi-party research.