Research Agreements FAQs

Please contact your Research Commercial Manager in your Faculty/Institute, who will be able to advise you. Details can be found on our contacts page.

Yes, the University has model agreements for research collaborations, amongst others.

The costs of a scholarship normally include student maintenance, student fees, travel expenses, and consumables, and may also include exceptional costs and equipment. Information on student maintenance costs and fees (made up of college and university fees) can be found on the UQ Graduate School website. For further information and confirmation of the costs for a specific year, please contact the UQ Graduate School.

When pricing scholarships proposals for industry partners, indirect costs are included.

Get in touch with the Finance Professional Services team in your Faculty/Institute who is dealing with your grant.

The time it takes to negotiate agreements varies considerably. It depends on a number of factors, including the nature of the project and the availability of the sponsor and their other commitments. The Research Office will work closely with you throughout the negotiations and will inform you of the progress of the discussions and any potential delays.

The main issues which we consider are ownership of intellectual property, publication of results, confidentiality, liability limitation and termination. More information about each of these can be found on the Research agreements page.

The RO’s Research Commercial Management team is embedded in faculties and institutes to assist you in the commercial framing and contract agreement negotiation.

As a general guide, we need certain information before starting the negotiating process to help us negotiate a contract agreement for a specific project efficiently:

• The project proposal, detailing all direct and indirect costs to be incurred in the project and the price that is being proposed.
• Project summary
• Details of the industry partner, including contact details of the main contact for negotiations
• Details of any students involved in the project
• Details of any collaborators (external and internal)
• A list of all background intellectual property (IP) owned by the University or the sponsor that you envisage using for the project
• An idea of IP, if any, that you envisage arising from the project
• Any information regarding the partner’s expectations about ownership or licensing intellectual property
• Details of any separate projects that you have done, are currently conducting, or wish to conduct with different collaborators/sponsors that may impact on IP ownership in this project.

Since your Research Commercial Manager will be negotiating and approving the agreement, it is a good idea to involve them at an early stage so that you and the partner are aware of the terms that the University would usually expect in a research agreement, and that they understand your project and issues. This will speed up the negotiation process.

No, all contractual paperwork for research should be signed by the University signatory, as a legal representative of the University. The Faculties, Schools and Centres cannot legally bind the University, and all contract agreements should state the University as the contracting party, not the organisational unit or the CI. CIs are especially discouraged from signing contract agreements to avoid personal liability. A signature from anyone other than authorised representatives of the University may make a contract agreement invalid. All contractual paperwork should be sent to the RO.

Legal Services (Research & Intellectual Property) is vital to providing counsel on legal risk so that decisions can be made which protect UQ’s interests and position. The RO works closely with Legal Services all the time but will particularly seek advice, for example, when a matter is complex, has a high-risk profile or an RO staff member is not confident that UQ’s interests and investments can be protected in an agreement.

Legal Services (Research & Intellectual Property) undertakes a wide range of legal work on behalf of the University. This can range from the preparation, review and negotiation of agreements to establish new research collaborations, through to the provision of advice in relation to established research collaborations.

See the Legal Services Division for further information.