What is a Research Contract?
A research contract is a legally binding agreement which sets out the respective rights and responsibilities of the contracting parties.
In CUHK, research contracts play a vital role in pursuance of the University’s research objectives, academic commitment and mission of knowledge transfer via preserving, creating, applying and disseminating knowledge through research activities. By virtue of their fundamental legally binding nature, research contracts seek to govern the wide spectrum of legal and contractual rights, interests, obligations, warranties as well as undertakings of CUHK (or its related research institutes, such as “Shenzhen Research Institute” and “Futian Innovation & Technology Research Institute”) and the opposite contracting parties in relation to the subject collaborative research.
Indeed, most – if not all – of counterparties in their capacity as the external funders, sponsors, collaborators, confidential information providers, material providers or service providers require to establish a research contract with CUHK to formally set out each party’s commitment in the transfer of funding, materials and/or information, the performance of allocated research work or service within an agreed project period, etc. In this way, research contracts serve as a formal legal basis for CUHK and external contracting parties to comprehend, administer or manage their respective rights, responsibilities, risks, opportunities and legal positions as embedded in the carefully crafted and negotiated contractual agreements.
Most importantly, research contracts play a vital role in ensuring that the research programmes undertaken by CUHK in collaboration with external parties are consonant with the University’s established policies and principles on research, intellectual property and knowledge transfer subject to individual project needs. For example, as a general rule, research contracts entered by CUHK will dictate that without the University’s prior written consent, its name and/or logo shall not be used for advertising, commercial publicity or other commercial purposes, which could otherwise constitute or imply an endorsement by CUHK of any commercial product or service generated from the sponsored research.
In addition, a formally vetted and executed research contract bearing the authorized signatures and/or official stamps of both parties will serve as the best form of documentary evidence for various administration purposes, such as creating individual project accounts and proceeding with required audit of research activities.
In the premises, research contracts are often regarded by CUHK and its external collaborators as an integral and essential part of the research collaborations for furtherance of their respective needs and objectives.
Those who are not certain if their planned research activity is in need of a formal research contract may contact ORKTS Contracts Team for advice.