Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) Workflow

Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) Workflow

Material Transfer Agreements (MTA) refer to an agreement in which a university either sends or receives tangible research materials to/from another entity. Tangible research materials include, but are not limited to plasmids, antibodies, cell stocks, cultures, animal models, prototypes, chemical compounds, and equipment. For more information about initiating an MTA, contact the Office of Research Services at: https://research.uic.edu/sponsoredprograms/

Processing Steps:

  1. MTA requests
  2. Compliance Review and Approval
    • To ensure compliance, MTAs for live animals, materials used in live animals, recombinant and synthetic nucleic acid molecules, human/non-human primate source material, infectious or biohazardous materials require review and approval from the Office of Animal Care and Institutional Biosafety (OACIB).
    • Once the MTA request is submitted to OSP, it is sent to OACIB for compliance verification from Animal Care Committee (ACC) and/or Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).
    • Material requested in the MTA should be either covered under ACC and/or IBC protocol at the time of MTA request or submitted and pending ACC and/or IBC approval.
    • The ACC and/or IBC protocol modification request for including the material requested in the MTAs in the respective protocols can be submitted to oacib@uic.edu concurrently with an MTA form submitted to OSP.
    • Please note that the ACC and IBC approvals are NOT required at the time of submission of MTA intake form.
  3. Permits: Some materials may require permits for either import or export, to be obtained from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Please reach out to biosafety@uic.edu for assistance.
  4. IRB review: Some MTAs may require IRB review to ensure that the appropriate compliance protocols are in place. Please contact the OPRS at uicirb@uic.edu for assistance.