Material/Data Transfer Agreements
ICD can help you obtain and share materials and/or data key to your research

The Material/Data Transfer Agreement Form (MDTRF) is now available online! Click here for the MDTRF.

What you’ll need to complete the MDTRF:

Documents you will be able to attach to the MDTRF:

  • Agreement from the Outside Organization
  • Research Plan
  • Subaward

Information you will need:

  • Log in credentials to UCSF’s MyAccess
  • Outside Organization's name
  • Principal Investigator Name
  • Whether the Outside Organization is a for-profit or non-profit
  • Name and Email of Scientist at the Outside Organization
  • Exact Name of Material or Data
  • Research Plan
  • Whether Outside Organization is for-profit or non-profit

A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) or Data Agreement is needed any time a UCSF investigator sends or receives materials, samples, software, or data into or out of UCSF. The Industry Contracts Division (ICD) handles all incoming materials, outgoing human materials (i.e. blood, tissue, resected tumors, etc.), and all incoming/outgoing data.

For outgoing non-human material transfers (i.e. mice, modified cell lines, reagents, etc.), please refer the Office of Technology Management (OTM) website or e-mail [email protected].

When materials and/or data are exchanged in both directions, this should be treated as a collaboration. For collaborations with industry partners, please see the ICD Industry Collaborations page. For collaborations with other academic institutions or non-profits, please e-mail contact Research Management Services (RMS).

Visit our MTA FAQs to learn more about MTAs. For additional assistance, contact your ICD Professional, and we can walk you through the MTA process.

Incoming MTAs

Incoming MTAs govern the transfer of material from an outside organization into UCSF for research purposes. Examples of such research material include physical materials such as tissue samples, transgenic mice, cell lines, gene constructs, compounds, antibodies, as well as computer software and data.

All Incoming MTAs

The ICD Professional assigned to your department must review and approve all incoming MTAs.

Please Note:  Research material transferred under a MTA cannot be used in human subjects.  If the material is a drug or a device that will be used in human subjects, please follow the procedures described on the Clinical Trial page.

Other documents/information that may be required include:

Outgoing Human Material MTAs 

Outgoing MTAs for Human Materials

Examples of commonly transferred human materials include blood, biopsies, stem cells, cord blood, resected tumors, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), and clinical patient data.

Incoming/Outgoing Data Agreements  

Incoming/Outgoing Data Transfer/Use/Sharing Agreements

A Data Agreement is required whenever a UCSF Investigator sends or receives any kind of data, including clinical, patient, or research data. Depending on the type of data being sent/received, additional data safety review and approval may be required.