There are various forms of funded and non-funded research and innovation agreements resulting from granting agencies as well as from research collaborations with external organizations.
Research and innovation agreements also include those that grant intellectual property (IP) rights to a third party for IP that has been developed at U of T. These agreements include, but are not limited to, License Agreements, Option Agreements and Assignment Agreements. For more information on Innovation Agreements, please contact the Innovations & Partnerships Office at innovations.partnerships@utoronto.ca.
Research contracts or agreements are signed on behalf of U of T by the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives (or their delegate).
A U of T Principal Investigator (PI) is not authorized to sign a Research Agreement on behalf of the University. It is, however, recommended that PI’s sign their acknowledgement on all research and innovation agreements in order to ensure their acceptance of the terms of the agreement.
U of T is the legally binding authority for all research collaborations and therefore bound to all obligations set forth in a research agreement, including the management of research funds on behalf of Principal Investigators.
- Ensure that all research agreements are authorized for signature and signed on behalf of U of T by the Vice-President, Research and Innovation or delegate
- Ensure the contracting party for a Research Agreement is identified as “The Governing Council of the University of Toronto”
- Ensure the agreement is consistent with University policies and guidelines
Find the appropriate VPRI staff member to assist you by checking our staff directory. You may search by discipline area (e.g. Social Sciences, Health & Life Sciences, Natural Sciences or Engineering, etc.) or funding agency name.
