Research-Related Policies: Update

MEMORANDUM

TO:           Principals, Deans, Academic Directors and Chairs

FROM:     Professor Paul Young, Vice-President, Research and Innovation

DATE:      November 7, 2013

RE:            Update on Research-Related Policies

Please note that a revised Inventions Policy and a new Research Administration Policy for the University of Toronto have been approved by Governing Council.  Copies of both Policies, as well as the Guideline on Full Cost Recovery In Research and Research Administration Guideline associated with the Research Administration Policy, are available on the Policies, Guidelines and Procedures page of the Research and Innovation website.  The Policies are also available on the policies page of the Governing Council website.

The new Research Administration Policy

The new Policy and associated Guidelines replace the University of Toronto Policy on Research Agreements and the Recovery of Indirect Costs of Research.  Key objectives of the new Policy and Guidelines include:

greater policy and procedural accessibility and transparency for the University research community;

clarification of roles and responsibilities to enhance accountability and reduce risk;

heightened emphasis on the importance of indirect cost recovery;

definitional and procedural differentiation between research agreements and other types of agreements (donations to research, service agreements).

The revised Inventions Policy

The previous University of Toronto Inventions Policy was approved by Governing Council in 2007, replacing a policy approved in 1990 and amended in 2002.  Key objectives of the new Policy include:

explicit inclusion of librarians;

a streamlined path for inventors who take personal ownership of their inventions, including removal of the obligation to obtain University consent for their further assignments or licenses;

a more accessible Policy with greater transparency regarding the sharing and distribution of invention revenue;

clarification of signing authority with respect to invention-related documents;

updates to current title of offices and office-holders.

Should you have any questions regarding the policies, please feel free to contact me or Judith Chadwick, Assistant Vice-President (j.chadwick@utoronto.ca).