MATERIAL TRANSFER
at Penn

Whenever research materials are transferred into or out of Penn, a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) must be completed and signed by an authorized Office of Research Services (ORS) Penn representative. In response to your feedback, ORS has streamlined the process by which Penn faculty may transfer materials to or from researchers at external organizations.

This website enables the Penn faculty to initiate their MTA request.  If you are a PENN PI and would like to initiate a MTA please submit through our Research Inventory System (RIS) click here (PennKey Authentication Required). 

If you are an external party and would like to initiate a MTA request please contact the PENN Principal Investigator (Penn Directory: https://medley03.isc-seo.upenn.edu/directory/jsp/fast.do) and copy ORS at orsmta@exchange.upenn.edu.

MTA FAQs

Below is a list of our Standard MTA’s:

Penn Academic / Non-Profit Material Transfer Agreement Penn Academic / Non-Profit Material Transfer Agreement
This Material Transfer Agreement when Penn is sending material to an academic / non-profit institution external party.   If the academic / non-profit institution external party is a member of AUTM, please use the Material Transfer Agreements provided below.
 
Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA)
If the academic / non-profit external party is a member of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) and the materials are of a biological nature, another option is to use the UBMTA.  Click here to access a list of AUTM members.

Penn Corporate / For-Profit Material Transfer Agreement
This Material Transfer Agreement when Penn is sending material to a corporate / for-profit institution external party. 

For more information please contact:
Office of Research Services
P221 Franklin Building
3451 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: (215) 573-4505
orsmta@exchange.upenn.edu

Special circumstance MTAs
1) If a Penn PI is leaving Penn and wishes to take Material created in their laboratory to their new employer.  The Penn PI must submit a request for the transfer through RIS.  If the Penn PI has already left Penn, the department head of the Penn PI’s former laboratory will complete these steps.

2) If the Penn PI has already left Penn and an external party requests materials created in the Penn PI’s former laboratory, the department head of the former Penn PI’s laboratory will submit the MTA request through RIS to complete the transfer.

3) If a Penn PI received Material from an External Third Party and the Penn PI wants to take the Material with him to their new place of employment, the Penn PI or department head will submit the MTA request through RIS to complete the transfer.

4) If the Penn PI has already left Penn and wants the External Third Party’s Materials from the Penn laboratory, the department head will submit the MTA request through RIS to complete the transfer.