Material Transfer Agreement (MTA)

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Worked examples

Is an instance

A university signs a UBMTA to receive a transgenic mouse line from another academic institution for non-commercial research use only.

Is an instance

An incoming MTA from a pharmaceutical company restricts publication for 60 days to allow patent review; the research-contracts office negotiates the publication clause before execution.

MTAs are executed by the institution (not by individual researchers) before any biological material, chemical compound, cell line, animal model, plasmid, or other tangible research property is shipped or received. Standard templates include the Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA) and the NIH Simple Letter Agreement; non-standard MTAs typically require negotiation by a technology-transfer or research-contracts office. Key clauses address indemnification, intended research use, restrictions on commercial use, treatment of modifications and derivatives, attribution in publications, and compliance with import/export controls and biosafety requirements.

References

NIH Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA) Master Agreement
AUTM Toolkit for Material Transfer Agreements
NIH Simple Letter Agreement for the Transfer of Non-Proprietary Biological Material

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a material transfer agreement (MTA)?

A material transfer agreement is the legal document institutions execute before biological material, chemical compounds, cell lines, animal models, plasmids, or other tangible research property is shipped or received. It is signed by the institution, not by the individual researcher.

Who signs a material transfer agreement?

MTAs are executed by the institution rather than by the individual researcher sending or receiving the material. Negotiation of non-standard terms is typically handled by a technology-transfer or research-contracts office.

What is a standard MTA template?

Standard MTA templates include the Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA) and the NIH Simple Letter Agreement. These pre-negotiated forms are used when both institutions accept their standard terms, avoiding a separate negotiation.

What happens when an MTA is non-standard?

Non-standard MTAs typically require negotiation by a technology-transfer or research-contracts office rather than being signed on a pre-approved template.

What clauses does an MTA typically include?

Key clauses address indemnification, the intended research use of the material, restrictions on commercial use, treatment of modifications and derivatives, attribution in publications, and compliance with import/export controls and biosafety requirements.

When is an MTA required?

An MTA is required before any biological material, chemical compound, cell line, animal model, plasmid, or other tangible research property is shipped to or received from another institution.

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Material Transfer Agreement (MTA)"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/material-transfer-agreement" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

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  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/material-transfer-agreement",
  "name": "Material Transfer Agreement (MTA)",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/material-transfer-agreement",
  "description": "A bilateral contract governing the transfer of tangible research materials between two institutions that defines permitted uses, ownership of the original material and derivatives, publication rights, liability, and onward-transfer restrictions.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/compliance-regulatory#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/material-transfer-agreement",
  "sameAs": [
    "MTA",
    "Biological Material Transfer Agreement",
    "UBMTA"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-08-15T05:20:08",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}