Often professors or other scientists from organizations outside of U of T come to our labs for periods of time for purposes of collaboration or training. In some cases, these collaborations lead to intellectual property that is created using university resources. U of T researchers hosting a visiting scientist are encouraged to have their visitor execute an Visiting Scientist Agreement at the beginning of his/her stay.
This agreement helps U of T carry out its obligations to research sponsors, requires the visiting scientist to abide by the practices and policies of U of T (and the laboratory in which they will be working) and acknowledges that the visiting scientist may be entitled to share in ownership in resulting inventions or discoveries in accordance with U of T‘s Inventions Policy.
All agreements must be reviewed by the Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) to make sure they comply with U of T policies, before they are sent to the third party.
You will need to submit a request to draft, negotiate, and sign a Visiting Scientist IP Agreement to IPO via the My Research web portal. To submit a request, please follow these steps:
Refer to the following resources for additional assistance on submitting a request:
IPO will initiate the negotiation process using the U of T standard template, found below, and will contact external parties well in advance of the proposed visit.
Following the execution of the research agreement, all project participants will be expected to complete a Confidential Information & Intellectual Property (“CIIP”) Agreement.
