OSP/GTRC and GTARC accept a number of types of grants and contracts to support the research and scholarly activities of Georgia Tech; some common agreement types and their uses and limitations are described below:
Awards under the Federal Demonstration Project (FDP)
Grants from federal agencies non-FDP
Other grants from non-federal sponsors
Cost reimbursement type contracts
Industry contracts
Time & materials
Fixed price contracts
The consistent theme in all of these agreements is that Georgia Tech’s costs must be reimbursed, that no unreasonable legal nor financial liability is imposed on Georgia Tech, and that Georgia Tech has the right to retain ownership of intellectual property which it develops during research.
The most appropriate mechanism for this relationship is a cost reimbursement type contract. An exception to the above is the fixed price type contract.
In an RFP where the contract type is specified the Contracting Officer may take acceptation to some of the aspects of the contracts at the time of submission–when responding to an RFP PIs must allow sufficient time for review so exceptions can be taken.
A variety of contract types can be offered to sponsors by OSP in its mission of proposing and negotiating appropriate agreements for sponsored research.
These range from the standard industrial agreement which, with the exception of rights to intellectual property, essentially offers to industry sponsors the same contractual arrangements as Georgia Tech receives from the federal government, to agreements that allow an industrial sponsor to purchase license rights to intellectual property developed during the research.
Our “standard” industrial contract grants an option to the sponsor to negotiate for rights to intellectual property whereas contracts with federal sponsors (by federal regulations) require us to grant to the government non-exclusive rights to intellectual property developed with government funds.
Fixed price pricing—budget has to be developed like any other bueget and must be priced accordingly. On occasion, a sponsor will insist on a fixed price contract. If the PD/PI’s Lab/School determines that the financial/legal risks are minimal and acceptable, the researcher’s Lab/School will state that internal funds will be available in the event of a cost overrun, and that the deliverables do not include hardware or software items, some special programs may be accepted on a fixed price basis with the approval of the Associate Vice Provost for Research.
Another type of contract which requires careful oversight and management is the “time and materials” type contract. This contract requires invoicing the sponsor at fixed labor rates which include a base hourly rate plus all indirect costs. This type contract also requires the same approvals as shown above.