No. As a policy matter, the University must retain the right to publish its research without the prior approval of the sponsor. However, we may be willing to allow the sponsor 30 –90 days to review any proposed publication to make sure that no confidential information is inadvertently disclosed. In addition, if a student dissertation will be supported by a contractual agreement, no delays on publications supporting the dissertation are permitted without the General Counsel’s Office approval.
Absolutely. JHURA has developed and maintains a library of model agreements that can be adapted to most situations. It is the strong preference of JHURA that these model agreements be utilized whenever possible, in order to minimize negotiation and expedite the review and signature process, reach out to your JHURA representative early in the process.
No. JHURA is the central research administration office at the University and is responsible for the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Whiting School of Engineering, Jhpiego, the School of Education, the School of Nursing, the Carey Business School, the Peabody Institute, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and other centers and institutes. Both the School of Medicine and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences are serviced by their own divisional Offices of Research Administration.
Departmental personnel wishing to ascertain the status of any agreement being processed by JHURA may log into the JHURA Agreement Workflow System (JAWS), which can be found here.
There are a variety of factors that can affect the amount of time it takes to get agreements finalized and signed. These may include, but not be limited to, whether the sponsor has engaged contractually with the University previously; the nature of the sponsor (i.e., University, non-profit corporation, for-profit corporation, foundation, government agency); whether a JHURA model agreement is being utilized; whether JHURA has all information needed to understand the context of the project; the specific terms and conditions at issue; whether additional review is needed by an office other than JHURA (i.e. The Office of General Counsel, the Office of the Provost, The Office of Risk Management, the Institutional Review Board, etc); and whether the delay is on the part of the sponsor. JHURA does maintain an Agreement Review Process timeline that provides the general expected timeframes for reviewing agreements.
No. The Principal Investigator is the University’s Project Director for that contract, but the actual parties to that contract would be the corporate partner and the University. This is true for all sponsor types, not just corporate partners.
Fixed price (FP) agreements have fixed payments based on a milestone payment schedule or the submission of deliverables. Cost reimbursement (CR) agreements are paid as costs are incurred and invoiced, typically monthly or quarterly. One significant difference between fixed price and cost reimbursement agreements is the allocation of risk. With FP agreements, the University assumes greater risk while the sponsor bears the greater risk with CR agreements. FP is appropriate if there can be a clear scope of work, a solid cost estimate, and well-articulated deliverables. These FP agreements, which involve lower administrative burden, are commonly used by for-profit sponsors and foreign entities. CR agreements are used where the work being performed cannot be precisely defined or the cost precisely estimated, which applies to much of the sponsored research projects the University undertakes. CR agreements are commonly used by other educational institutions, hospitals, and non-profits. They allow for greater flexibility, as additional funding or period of performance may be added as mutually agreed upon, and performance of the scope of work continues until funds or period of performance is exhausted.
Each of these functional areas plays an important part in the life cycle of an award. In the pre-award stage, the faculty member has principle responsibility for identifying funding opportunities, with JHURA’s Research Development team providing assistance as to limited submissions. The departmental administrative staff would then work with the faculty member in developing a proposal. Once completed, the departmental staff routes the proposal to JHURA through Coeus for review and approval. When an award is received, JHURA receives, reviews and negotiates (as needed) the award document, and signs on behalf of JHU. Post-award, JHURA routes the fully executed agreement to Sponsored Projects Shared Services (SPSS) for account set-up. During the life of the award, each of JHURA, SPSS and the academic department perform award management functions, such as issuing subawards, invoicing, and submitting required reports to the sponsor, respectively.
JHURA is the central research administration office for the University. It reviews issues in sponsored project agreements, one of which is protecting the University’s intellectual property (IP) rights by including appropriate IP provisions in contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) is the University’s intellectual property administration center, serving University researchers and inventors as a licensing, patent, and technology commercialization office and acting as a liaison to parties interested in leveraging University research or materials for academic or corporate endeavors.
JHURA facilitates the submission of sponsored project proposals on behalf of JHU by reviewing for compliance with University, sponsor and federal policies and regulations, approves and signs proposals prior to submission, negotiates and executes agreements, provides coordinated advice and guidance regarding applicable rules and regulations, and assists faculty, staff, and students in proper stewardship of the University’s sponsored projects.
JHURA does not handle the procurements of goods and services from vendors, as this is the responsibility of the University’s Supply Chain Shared Service Center. Additionally, philanthropic gifts directed to the University are processed through divisional Offices of Development. Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) handles all Material Transfer Agreements for the University.
Contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements are the three most commonly used instruments through which the University accepts sponsored funding. The purpose of a grant is to provide assistance; there is generally little involvement by the sponsor, and the award instrument refers to general terms and conditions. Cooperative agreements also provide assistance, but with substantial sponsor involvement, typically described in a set of specific terms. The basic purpose of a contract is to procure tangible good and services through an acquisition. The involvement by the sponsor may be extensive and the award instrument will contain detailed specifications, clauses, regulations, and expected results and deliverables.
The authorized signatory for sponsored research agreements (contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements), as well as certain non-sponsored agreements (i.e. data use agreements, teaming agreements, material transfer agreements, nondisclosure agreements, memoranda of understanding) is the Associate Vice Provost for Research Administration (AVPRA), the Executive Director, or those staff members within JHURA to whom the AVPRA has delegated signature authority.
While you may contact any member of JHURA regarding your matter, please know that JHURA is comprised of four primary teams: the Workflow Team, the Proposal Team, the Agreements Team, and the Subawards Team. For the convenience and reference of the University community it services, JHURA maintains a Departmental Assignment list, complete with contact information, which can be found here. As we like to say in JHURA, please get in touch with us as early and as often as possible regarding proposed sponsored research projects.