The University of Iowa frequently collaborates with industry sponsors on innovative research projects across a broad spectrum of research fields. The Division of Sponsored Programs is dedicated to efficiently reviewing and negotiating contracts with industry. Contact the Division of Sponsored Programs with questions or to establish a research-related agreement.
The University of Iowa is willing to maintain the confidentiality of sponsor-owned information needed by a University investigator to explore potential interactions and to conduct sponsored research projects. Confidential Disclosure Agreements allow the sponsor to share confidential information for preliminary discussion purposes. Confidentiality obligations can also be included in the sponsored research agreement. To review models of these agreements, visit our Model Agreements page.
Proposal and Budget Preparation
A proposal and budget will be developed for a research project to meet the sponsor's requirements and be consistent with University policy. The technical proposal should address the following items:
- A description of the scope of the research or other work
- The estimated duration of the project
- The level of personnel effort anticipated
- An appropriate budget of all cost items. These budget items may include the following elements:
- salaries and fringe benefits
- materials and supplies
- equipment
- other direct costs such as services
- facilities and administrative (overhead) costs
The University of Iowa satisfies claims against it as a self-insured agency of the State of Iowa. The University is covered as follows:
- Workers’ compensation as provided by Iowa Code Chapter 85;
- Liability claims against the State of Iowa as provided by Iowa Code Chapters 25 and 669. In addition, the University participates in a self-insurance pool for purposes of vehicular liability, including owned, non-owned and rental vehicles. Claims up to $250,000 are paid from the self-insurance pool. Claims exceeding $250,000 are processed through the tort claims process in accordance with Chapter 669, Iowa Code.
The University of Iowa takes responsibility for claims of wrongful death, personal injury or property damage resulting from negligence of the University or its employees under a sponsored agreement in accordance with Iowa Code Chapter 669 which may be found at this link, and which is the exclusive remedy for processing tort claims against the State of Iowa.
The University must be free to publish, present, or otherwise disclose results of research in a timely manner following review by sponsors within a mutually agreed upon time frame. The University recognizes the need of industrial sponsors to protect proprietary information. To ensure that a sponsor's confidential information is not inadvertently disclosed — and to prevent premature disclosure of patentable information — the University typically allows sponsors 30 days to review research publications before they are published with a delay of up to 90 days if necessary to file patent applications.
For more information, the University’s full policy on dissemination of research knowledge is available on our Operations Manual website.
Human and Animal Research; Biosafety
The University of Iowa strictly abides by all applicable federal and state laws and regulations regarding human and animal research and biosafety standards. Please visit the respective websites for more information.
Export Controls
The University of Iowa strictly abides by all applicable federal and state laws and regulations regarding export Please visit our Export Controls website for more information.
For small businesses subcontracting with the University of Iowa under federal grants or contracts the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) website offers subcontract forms and templates.
Please note that links to the websites and templates above are provided here for convenience only and should not be construed as legal advice. Outside legal counsel should be consulted prior to proposing a subcontract to the University. Upon receiving a subcontract, the University assumes the company has conducted or retained counsel to conduct a legal review of the subcontract.
The University of Iowa has adopted standard agreement formats for various situations, including, but not limited to, Confidentiality Disclosure Agreements, Clinical Trial Agreements, Material Transfer Agreements, Research Agreements, and Testing Agreements. These model agreements reflect UI policies, State regulations, and guidelines recommended by the National Academy of Sciences’ Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable; the University Industry Demonstration Partnership; and the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Accelerated Clinical Trials Agreements. Feel free to use any of the model agreements before or during the collaboration process in order to become familiar with the expectations of the University, as well as the working agreements.
Model Agreements can be found here.