Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) are contracts that cover the transfer of specific research materials into, or out of, the UW. Typically UW researchers exchange research materials with other institutions or corporate researchers.

Research materials that require MTAs are cell lines, cultures, transgenic animals, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, among others.

MTAs are important because they protect UW intellectual property rights, limit UW liability, and fairly credit the developer of the materials.

The Agreements Group within UW TechTransfer Invention Licensing manages most MTAs for the UW.  If the MTA is embedded in a Sponsored Research Agreement, or is linked to a clinical trial, then the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) may be responsible for the MTA.  UW TechTransfer and OSP are the only units of the University authorized to review and sign MTAs.

Contact a representative of the Agreements Group within UW TechTransfer Invention Licensing for help transferring research materials. Also see Material Transfer Agreements.

Please see Outgoing MTAs (For-profit) and the Outgoing MTA flowchart for more information.

Please see Outgoing MTAs (Not-for-profit) and the Outgoing MTA flowchart for more information.

Please see Transferring Human Biological Material for information on when a Research & Collaboration Agreement is needed.

Please see the decision tree showing when MTAs are needed to transfer human biological material to third parties. See Transferring Human Biological Material for more information. If you are still unsure about whether an MTA is needed please contact the MTA group directly.

Please see Incoming MTAs for information on the process for receiving research material into the UW. For a detailed description of the process, click here. For a flowchart depicting the Incoming MTA process, click here.

As the PI, you will need to complete and sign the MTA Questionnaire describing the proposed incoming material. Please see Incoming MTAs for more information.