Research Contracts Management Procedures
for implementation by Research Institutes and Faculties
1. Requests or enquiries on research agreements must be referred to the Contracts Team at the ACU Office of DVCR at the initial stage, including but not limited to, successful grant applications where a contract is required, contract research grants, research collaborations having no funding involved, and research scholarships funded or co-funded by external organisations.
2. The DVCR Professor Wayne McKenna will determine whether formal legal review through the Office of General Counsel (OGC) is required, and the Contracts Team will be responsible for liaising with the OGC.
3. The Contracts Team will make recommendations and provide advice on utilization of appropriate contract templates, and arrange for relevant processes;
4. The Contracts Team is responsible for preparing, developing, reviewing and negotiating research agreements, and liable for liaising with OGC and other internal departments, as well as external stakeholders concerning any contract matters including processes.
5. In the instance where an Institute or Faculty wishes to directly liaise or negotiate with internal or external stakeholders on contractual terms and conditions, the Contracts Team should be consulted prior to and kept informed throughout the negotiation processes, so as to ensure efficiency and consistency. The expertise of the ODVCR will be able to assist with identification and mitigation of risks and to warrant the interests of the University and researchers are not disadvantaged.
6. All the research agreements involving external organisations for projects funded by the ODVCR (e.g., under the ACURF funding scheme) will be processed by the Contracts Team under the instruction of the DVCR.
7. The Contracts Team is liable for the process of execution of research contracts, whilst the DVCR or Dean of Research will determine whether the research agreements will be executed by the University.
8. The Contracts Team will keep the nominated Faculty or Institute officer updated on the progress of contract matters.
9. In the instances where there is no associated research funding, e.g., research collaborations with the health authorities or hospitals, the Contracts Team will be responsible for the collaborative research agreements management and execution, along with relevant internal and external stakeholders. Most of the health authorities or hospitals require that there must be a contract in place before any research activity commences, whether the research is deemed to be low or high risk.
10. Given that, prior to execution of a contract, negotiations and approvals from all involved external parties are needed, it is recommended that any contract request should consider the processing period, whilst the Contracts Team will do its best to expedite the process.
Contact details of the Research Contracts Team at ODVCR: (cc ).