Research Contracting

About Us

The Research Contracting team partners with faculty to facilitate sponsored research by drafting, reviewing, and negotiating agreements with external collaborators, including universities, government agencies, and industry sponsors. These contracts are carefully structured to align with UNT policies, sponsor requirements, and applicable compliance standards. The team’s mission is to streamline the contracting process, empowering researchers to advance their work with clarity and confidence.

proposal-award-execution-reporting

What is Sponsored Research?

Sponsored research is research that is funded by an external organization (“Sponsor”), such as a government agency, private foundation, corporation, or nonprofit, under a formal written agreement, and carried out to meet the Sponsor’s specified objectives.

Key Features

External funding source: The Sponsor provides funding, materials, or other support.
Formal agreement: A contract or grant that outlines the scope of work, budget, period of performance, and compliance requirements.
Defined objectives: The research must follow the Sponsor’s specified deliverables or reporting obligations and guidelines.
Institutional oversight: UNT ensures that all externally funded research is conducted in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and ethical standards.

Key Components

A detailed description of the research to be conducted.

Outlines objectives, methodology, deliverables, and timelines.

Specifies the total cost of the project, including direct and indirect costs.

Includes payment terms, invoicing schedules, and allowable expenses.

Defines the start and end dates of the project.

Addresses ownership and rights to inventions, data, and other outcomes.

Ensures the researcher’s ability to publish results while balancing Sponsor confidentiality or review rights.

Protects sensitive information shared during the project.

Includes adherence to applicable federal, state, and institutional policies (e.g., IRB, IACUC, export controls, conflict of interest, or responsible conduct of research).

Specifies technical and financial reporting obligations.

May include interim and final reports, milestones, or progress updates.

Outlines conditions under which the agreement can be modified or terminated.

Includes notice periods and responsibilities upon termination.

Covers indemnification, liability, governing law, and dispute resolution.

UNT Sponsored Projects Regulations and Policies

Regulations and Policies that apply to UNT Sponsored Projects and Research Contracting

UNT Research Agreement Types

Agreements at UNT are generally categorized as either funded or unfunded.

Funded agreements

Involve financial support from a sponsor to conduct research or services. Request a Grants and Contracts Specialist to start the process.

Unfunded agreements

Do not involve the exchange of money but are essential for collaboration, data sharing, or defining mutual expectations. To request an unfunded agreement, contact the Innovation and Commercialization Office at patents@unt.edu.

Overview of specific agreements

1. Funded

Used when UNT faculty receive financial support from a sponsor to conduct research.

Used when UNT faculty perform testing, analysis, or evaluation services using their research expertise.

Used when UNT (incoming subaward) or another organization (outgoing subaward), will carry out part of the project, originally funded to a prime recipient (Pass-Through Entity).

Subaward includes terms passed down from the original award. The original award is usually funded by the state or federal agency.

Used to allow UNT faculty to offer expert advice to external organizations without conducting experiments.

Limited to $50,000 worth of work for the year.

Used for project-specific agreement under a Master Research Agreement. It activates funding and work for a particular research effort.

2. Unfunded

Used to set general terms for future research projects. Individual projects are added later through task or work orders. No funding is exchanged until a specific project is initiated.

Used to cover the exchange of tangible research material (cells, chemicals etc.). It defines ownership of the material and permitted use of the exchanged material.

Used to cover sharing of non-public datasets. It grants access to the datasets, defines its ownership, and permitted use.

Used to allow parties to share sensitive information while setting boundaries on the purpose and use of the shared information.

Used to allow research collaboration between UNT and federal lab. Under this agreement, the federal lab can provide resources but not funding.

Used to outline shared goals and the intent to collaborate between the parties.

Used to outline the parties’ intent to collaborate on a future project.

It is typically used during proposal development.

3. Other

Used to grant permission to use UNT-owned intellectual property under specific conditions while UNT retains ownership.

Used when UNT faculty are temporarily assigned to work at a federal agency.

Used when multiple institutions collaborate on a project. Outlines each party’s roles and responsibilities.

UNT Research Agreement Decision Tree

This decision tree is designed to guide UNT faculty in identifying the appropriate type of research agreement based on common research scenarios and to direct them to the correct point of contact. Answer the questions below to determine which agreement you may need.

Yes

→ You need a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA).

Please contact the Innovation and Commercialization Office at patents@unt.edu.

Yes

→ You may need a Data Use Agreement (DUA).

Please contact the Innovation and Commercialization Office at patents@unt.edu.

Yes

→ You need a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA).

Please contact the Innovation and Commercialization Office at patents@unt.edu.

Yes

→ You need an Intellectual Property (IP) License Agreement.

Please contact the Innovation and Commercialization Office at patents@unt.edu.