Title: Research Collaboration With Industry Principles
1Research CollaborationWith IndustryPrinciples
Policies at The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin
- Bill Catlett
- Associate Director for Industry Relations
- Office of Sponsored Projects
- The University of Texas at Austin
2FACILITATE INDUSTRY RELATIONS
The University of Texas at Austin
- Interface with UT Faculty, Research Departments,
Organized Research Units re their research
collaborations with Industry - Interface with Industry re their research
collaborations with UT - Bridge the Gap between Industry and UTs
research community - Facilitate collaborative research efforts between
Industry and the UT research community
3UNIVERSITY RESEARCH SPONSORED BY INDUSTRY
The University of Texas at Austin
- Goals of the University- fundamental research
and educational purpose - Board of Regents Rules specify UT Austin owns all
Intellectual Property - Requires the dissemination of results and free
exchange of ideas - Relevance of the research should not be specific
to the commercial activities of the sponsor - Contribute to Society-- Provide a unique
service not otherwise available (not compete with
commercial establishments)
- Goals of Industy Sponsors-- generally a
commercial approach to research - If we pay for the research we should own it
- All data, reports, drawings, materials, and
inventions - We need to protect our competitive advantage
and maintain our Freedom to Operate - Publication of Research Results is prohibited
- We need specific improvements made to our product
or processes - Designed to achieve a business objective for
commercial application - We need the final deliverable in a specific form
- Want to retain final approval of the results of
the project
4The University of Texas at Austin
5The University of Texas at Austin
6Ways for Corporations to work with Researchers
at The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin
- Gifts
- Nothing expected in return.
- Grants
- For basic research no specified deliverables
exclusive license rights available for IP. - Industrial Affiliate Programs
- A subscriber program managed by the PI
standard annual fee set by PI no IDC
subscribers receive annual report on research
results, but no IP rights. - Research Participation Agreements
- Multi-year commitment to broad research topic
tiered membership fee full IDC members have
option to participate in direction of research
IP available to certain membership levels. - Sponsored Research Agreements
- Specific research topic(s) with designated
researcher(s) full IDC exclusive license rights
available for IP. - Master Research Agreements
- Attractive if field of use adequately defined
any special conditions are addressed in task
order, e.g. special IP, funding considerations,
etc.
7Developing a Sponsored Research Agreementat the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin
-
- Initiate discussions with interested sponsors
- Use Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to exchange
confidential information - Use Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) to exchange
samples for evaluation - Initiate the proposal process
- RMS
- Obtain sponsors proposal submission guidelines
and provide to OSP - Any estimates and/or budgets should only be
submitted to sponsor via OSP - Negotiating the Sponsored Research Agreement
- OSP forwards proposal and SRA to sponsor
- OSP Negotiators work through any contract issues
with Sponsor - Work with PI and OTC to identify any BIP issues
to Sponsor - Final execution of the SRA
- Only persons with delegated signature authority
can sign on behalf of UT
8UT Universal Non-Disclosure Agreement
The University of Texas at Austin
- Initiated by office of Vice President for
Research - Easily accommodates multi-party exchange of
Confidential Information - Identifies researchers exchanging information
- Identifies nature of information exchanged
- provides mechanism for compliance with export
control regulations - PI signs NDA (in addition to UT official)
9UT Universal Non-Disclosure Agreement
The University of Texas at Austin
10Identification of Background Intellectual Property
The University of Texas at Austin
11The University of Texas at Austin
Certain IRS guidelines Affect Industry Sponsored
Research at U.S. Universities
- Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT)
- Focus of UBIT is on the nature of the sponsored
research - Tax Exempt Status of Bonds used to finance
Research Facilities - Focus is on the license terms for IP resulting
from sponsored research in the facility
12Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT)
The University of Texas at Austin
- University may have to pay UBIT on income derived
from activities not substantially related to
fundamental research - But wait . . . .
- Code 512(b)(8). In the case of a college,
university, or hospital, there shall be excluded
all income derived from research performed for
any person, and all deductions directly connected
with such income. - Under this modification any income derived by a
college, university or hospital from research
(whether applied or basic or freely available or
kept private) is not included in UBIT. - Although Code 512(b)(8) allows income from
both fundamental and applied research to be
excluded from UBIT, if the research is found to
be carried on for the primary purpose of
commercial or industrial application UBIT may
apply. The term research does not include
activities of a type ordinarily carried on as an
incident to commercial or industrial
applications, for example, the ordinary testing
or inspection of materials or products or the
designing or construction of equipment,
buildings, etc.
13Tax Exempt Status of BondsIRS Rev. Proc. 2007-47
The University of Texas at Austin
University could lose the tax exempt status on
bonds used to build the facility in which the
research is conducted, unless
- sponsor pays a competitive price for the IP
resulting from sponsored research - only on the same terms University would permit
that use by any unrelated, non-sponsoring party - some commentators have argued that this requires
University to offer the same terms to all
sponsors and - price paid . . . must be determined at the time
the license or other resulting technology is
available for use
14Tax Exempt Status of BondsIRS Rev. Proc. 2007-47
The University of Texas at Austin
- Non Exclusive Royalty Free (NERF) License
- Corporate sponsored research, Sec. 6.02
- Price paid by the sponsor must be no less than
that paid by any non-sponsoring party - Collaborative sponsored research, Sec. 6.03
- Sponsor(s) entitled to no more than a NERF to use
the product of any of the research - Bayh-Dole, i.e. funded by Federal Government or
sponsoring Federal Agency - a NERF license is all that can be granted to the
Government, Sponsoring Agency, or any third party
nongovernmental entity - Exclusive Royalty Bearing License
- Sponsor must pay a competitive price
- Price must be determined when the resulting
technology is available for use
15Indirect Costs (IDC)
The University of Texas at Austin
- What is it?
- How is IDC calculated?
- Issues associated with IDC
16Indirect Costs (IDC) -- What is it?
The University of Texas at Austin
- Also known as Facilities Administrative Costs
(FA) - Real Costs of the University that can not be
directly allocated to a research project with
specificity - Facility costs, such as
- Building depreciation and Maintenance
- Machinery, fixtures, etc.
- Interest on the loan to build the facility
- Administrative costs (infrastructure costs
necessary to run the University), such as - Salaries and overhead associated with operating
all the various offices and departments, e.g. - Accounting
- purchasing
- HR payroll
- Sponsored projects administration
- The various Deans, and
- The many other service departments within the
University - Capped at 26 -- University absorbs the rest
17Indirect Costs (IDC) -- How is it calculated?
The University of Texas at Austin
- University assembles data for the rate
calculation, and negotiates with federal
government - IDC Rate varies according to location and type of
program activity - 52 On Campus Organized Research
- 50 On Campus Instruction
- 35 On Campus Other Sponsored Programs
- 26 Off Campus All programs
- Components of published IDC rate
- On Campus Off Campus
- Building depreciation 4.9 --
- Equipment depreciation 4.2 --
- Interest 0.6 --
- Operation Maintenance 13.5 --
- Library 1.5 --
- Utility Cost Allowance 1.3 --
- Administration 26.0 26
18Indirect Costs (IDC) Issues associated with IDC
The University of Texas at Austin
- Difference between Universitys calculated IDC
and negotiated IDC is a real dollar loss - University administrators must include this loss
from research funding with other expenses (such
as faculty salaries, student tuitions, funding of
new businesses, admin salary increases, etc.)
when they balance the Universitys expenses
against income sources. - Universitys calculated IDC is more than the
negotiated rate. - For example, the government places a 26 cap on
admin costs UTs calculated admin expenses are
more like 30. - UTs recent calculated IDC is 67 (due to
dramatic increase in expenses related to
compliance issues) - UTs recent negotiated rate is 52
- Even the calculated IDC rate does not recover all
costs - Not all University costs are included in the IDC
rate calculation - The basis used for average of research costs in
the rate calculation includes research programs
which traditionally do not include material
costs, e.g. Liberal Arts, Education, etc. - The federally negotiated rate of 52 is a below
market rate - University typically extends the same government
negotiated rate to all sponsors. Thus, industry
sponsors actually get the benefit of the
governments bargaining position and receive
research at below the universitys actual cost.
19Research Policies
The University of Texas at Austin
- Intellectual Property Policy
- http//www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/i
ppol.htm - Conflict of Interest Policy/Outside Consulting
- http//www.utexas.edu/policies/hoppm/h0319.html
- Objectivity in Research Policy
- http//www.utexas.edu/policies/hoppm/h0511.html
- Office of Sponsored Projects
- http//www.utexas.edu/research/osp
- Regents Rules
- http//www.utsystem.edu/bor/rules.htm
20Contact Information
The University of Texas at Austin
- Bill Catlett, M.S., J.D., P.E.
- Office of Sponsored Projects
- Office NOA 4.324
- Email bcatlett_at_austin.utexas.edu
- Ph 471-6279