Material Transfer Agreements (MTA) POLICY

Policy Statement

Material Transfer Agreements

Obtaining a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) for each exchange of materials between academic and other non-profit institutions can delay the free and open exchange of scientific information and materials. Seeking to affirm that collegiality, science, and sharing should take precedence over commercial considerations among researchers at such institutions, Dartmouth College has adopted the following policy:

Subject to our obligations to existing research sponsors and licensees, we agree:

1. that a specific MTA is not required when our investigators and their research colleagues elsewhere are exchanging non-hazardous or non-human biological materials for in vitro research use; or
2. when an MTA is thought to be necessary, that we will use the Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA) or the Simple Letter Agreement (SLA) recommended by the NIH, whenever possible.

Furthermore, we will encourage our investigators to support the above policy when entering into sponsored agreements with other academic institutions and non-profit organizations that involve transfers of materials.

We agree that if materials are transferred without a specific MTA, the transfer will be presumed to be made under the terms stated in the UBMTA even though no written agreement has been signed. Recipients of materials are expected to obtain consent from the original provider before passing materials on to others and to acknowledge the source of the materials in resulting publications and presentations.