Agreement Review and Execution Stages
All research agreements must be reviewed and finalized by the appropriate UCalgary legal team. To determine the appropriate legal team to submit your research agreement request, please see services provided.
Once finalized by the legal team, all research agreements are signed by the Vice-President, Research or an approved delegate.
After an agreement request has been submitted to Research Legal, the review, finalization and execution process is as follows:
Agreement Stages
File Opening / Assignment
File creation and assignment to legal team member
File Review
Review submission for action
Agreement Negotiation/Finalization
Negotiate and finalize agreement with external party
Approvals / Certifications
Completion of internal approvals and collection of certifications
Agreement Execution
Research Legal facilitates agreement signatures
Distribution of Signed Agreement
Distribute copies to relevant parties
Submission to Finance
Finance submission for project setup if applicable
Stage Descriptions
- Agreement requests can be submitted in one of two ways:
- UCalgary Principal Investigator (or delegate) submits an agreement request via Research Legal’s Agreement Request Portal; or
- Research Services Office (RSO) submits an agreement request related to a successful funding application.
- Research Legal is unable to process agreement requests which are received by email. UCalgary requires a record of the Principal Investigator’s internal attestations which are found in our agreement request portal and in the RSO application process.
- Ensure you have prepared all necessary information prior to submitting an agreement request
- Request is reviewed by legal team for completeness
- Any missing information is requested from the original submitter. A file will not be assigned until all required information is provided.
- Legal file is opened and assigned to a Research Legal team member
- Legal team member reviews the file and any supporting documents, and connects with the Principal Investigator to discuss any questions or concerns regarding the agreement.
- Legal team member liaises with Principal Investigator and external party to negotiate terms and conditions to ensure they are following UCalgary policies and meet the needs of the parties involved.
- Other internal UCalgary units may be involved depending on the agreement terms and context (i.e. Research Security, Risk Management, etc.)
- Agreement is finalized and prepared for signatures once all parties involved have accepted the terms and conditions.
- The Principal Investigator has the responsibility to ensure they have fully read the agreement and will comply with the agreement terms. It is also the Principal Investigator’s responsibility to ensure that all individuals involved in the project are also aware of and will comply with the terms of the agreement.
- Approval form and any supplementary forms are provided to the Principal Investigator for completion
- Approval form includes a signed attestation by the Principal Investigator that the terms and conditions are acceptable, and that Principal Investigator will comply with the terms
- The Principal Investigator’s Department and Faculty sign-off confirms that they are not aware of any impediments that may impact the completion of the activities detailed in the agreement, and the faculty member has the necessary resources to complete the activities.
- See UCalgary’s Contracts for Research Policy
- Principal Investigator should provide any missing certifications required for the project (i.e. Ethics, Biosafety, Animal Care)
- Completed approval forms and approved certifications are required before research agreements can be executed
- Research Legal will facilitate the signing of the agreement by the external party and an authorized UCalgary signatory
- Completion times will depend on how quickly the external party can sign and the availability of UCalgary’s signatory
- Copies of the fully signed agreement will be returned to the external party(ies), Principal Investigator, and any applicable internal UCalgary units (i.e. Research Services Office)
- For agreements involving the receipt or distribution of funds, the project setup is as follows:
- Research Legal submits information to UCalgary Finance for any non-Research Services Office led files (i.e. non-leveraged industry partner funding, outgoing subcontracts, etc.)
- Research Services Office submits information to UCalgary Finance for any funding programs applied through the Research Services Office (i.e. Tri-Agency, Alberta Innovates, Government funders, Non-profits, etc.). Research Legal will return a copy of the executed agreement to Research Services Office so they are aware the agreement has been fully executed.
- Once submitted to UCalgary Finance, all project setup status requests should be directed to finance@ucalgary.ca
Other Research Project Considerations
Principal Investigators should ensure that they are aware of and comply with any records retention requirements contained within the research agreement and within UCalgary Master Records Retention Schedule.
Principal Investigators should ensure they are aware of any Research Data Management requirements. Please also see UCalgary Research Data Management Strategy.
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to ensure that they maintain any certifications required for during the term of the research project.