What is Contract Research?
- Contract
research normally deals with research that a sponsor wants done for
their own particular needs. Government and commercial sponsors wishing
to arrange for such research usually request a contractual arrangement.
The contract is a legal document between the sponsor and UPEI through
which the faculty agree to conduct research under the specific
conditions set out in the contract. The sponsor usually funds a
specific project or specific set of research activities, limits the
freedom to change the course of the research as it proceeds, requires
progress reports on specified dates or at certain stages of the
research, requires that the research project be completed on the agreed
date and often would like to protect commercial benefits arising from
the research. Any faculty member undertaking contract research should
satisfy themselves that all conditions in the contract can be met and
that the budget in the proposal is adequate to meet the objectives of
the proposal.
Do I sign the contract?
- Contracts
are legal agreements between parties and must be signed by the
authorized signing officers. Research contracts at UPEI are signed the
Vice President of Research and Development. If the contract is very
large or requires extensive use of ,or modification to university
facilities, the Vice President of Finance and Facilities must also
sign. The research leader is asked to sign the contract and acknowledge
that he/she understands the terms of the agreement and will meet the
commitments of it.
- You
may sign a Confidentiality Agreement on your own behalf to permit you
to talk freely with the potential sponsor. If you do this, you are
personally responsible for any loss of confidentiality. If you do sign
a personal confidentiality agreement to get a project started, you
should bring it to ORD later and get it signed by UPEI so that the
university assumes responsibility instead of you personally. This also
extends the confidentiality provisions to all of the people working on
the project.
- ORD can provide various contract templates on request.
Will I be able to publish my research?
- Generally,
the answer is yes. However, the your sponsor may insist on reviewing
the publications in advance to protect their intellectual property and
to make sure that proprietary technical or business company information
is not disclosed. In other cases, the sponsor may request a time delay
before approving a publication so that patent protection can be
obtained. Occasionally, a company will insist on an absolute veto on
whether the information can be published. In this case the researcher
must decide whether the money earned from the research project is worth
the risk of a lost publication if the results do not pan out and
publication is refused.
- UPEI insists that the names of our research sponsors may be made public.
Can industry-sponsored research be used to support Graduate Students?
- It
depends on the nature of the project and the acceptance of the sponsor.
Many sponsors will want the work completed quickly to solve a
particular problem they have in their operations. In this case it is
unwise to attempt the project using students as the timing of work is
somewhat beyond the researcher’s control. If completion of the
research is not particularly time sensitive, the sponsor may be willing
to sponsor a thesis project as this can lower the cost of conducting
the research. If you are proposing to carry out an industry-sponsored
research project that will be become part of the student’s degree
requirement, the sponsor must also be made aware of the fact that the
copyright to a thesis must be owned by the student and that the thesis
will be published within one year of its completion. The sponsor can
then make an informed decision as to whether to sponsor a student
project.
Do I have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy?
- Yes,
there is some bureaucracy. You may need a confidentiality agreement
before your potential sponsors will even talk to you about their
needs. Then there will be a contract that describes the actual work
project, the costs, deliverables, ownership of the research results and
other subjects. If you are exchanging research materials with a
sponsor, you will need a Materials Transfer Agreement that specifies
the terms of use for the exchanged materials.
- The
Office of Research and Development (ORD) will help you to identify the
types of agreements required and is responsible for negotiating all of
the non-technical terms of the agreements on behalf of UPEI.
Therefore, researchers are urged to consult ORD early in the process to
avoid any misunderstanding on behalf of either party. Once the terms of
agreement are acceptable to the sponsor, the faculty member, and UPEI,
ORD will process the agreement and get it approved by UPEI.
I have never costed an industry-sponsored research project. How do I create a budget?
- Your
cost of doing the research will be estimated using realistic time and
cost figures and you must include both direct out of pocket expenses
and indirect costs for using university equipment and space.
- Calculation of Salaries and Benefits
- Determine the amount of time for each person on the project
- Using
the individual’s salary and benefits rates as supplied by Human
Resources, round the salary up to the nearest $5000 to determine the
base salary, then calculate the salary by: daily base rate for staff
person A =
[ (Base salary + (Base salary X benefits (18-24%))] /262 or,
- the hourly base rate for staff person A =
(Base
salary + (Base salary X benefits (18-24%))] /1762. Should there be a
requirement to pay overtime for any part of the work, obtain the
appropriate rates from Human Resources and apply these to the base
formulas.
- Supplies and Services Costs
- Costs
are based on actual prices or quotations from suppliers. Travel costs
are estimated on the basis of UPEI’s Travel Policy.
- Indirect or Overhead Costs
- Overhead
costs are applied to reflect the full cost of provision of the service
and can include rental of the research space, access to specialized
equipment and facilities, i.e., fish tanks, depreciation of capital
equipment, etc. Overheads are commonly negotiated and most major
government departments and large companies will have standard formulas
for acceptable overhead rates. Typically these are in the range of 65
% or greater of base salary plus benefits, plus 5% of supplies and
services including travel, or 30 % of full project costs.
- Clinical trials are to be budgeted with an overhead recovery rate of 30% of full project costs.
- The ORD can provide you with templates for developing your budget and will assist with the process on request.
What other services can ORD provide?
- ORD
can help with all steps in the process from the point of initial
contact with the client until the agreements are signed. We will meet
directly with the client as necessary. If there are any issues or
concerns we suggest that you raise these with us early in the
discussions to avoid any misunderstanding.
