Over the past several months, CU Boulder has executed a number of Master Research Agreements with many high-profile industry partners. Master Research Agreements, or MRAs, further solidify and expand long-standing relationships between CU Boulder and our industry partners in a variety of research pursuits.
Most recently, Lockheed Martin Corporation executed an MRA, joining other partners including:
- Ball Aerospace
- Battelle
- Chevron
- Denver Public Schools
- DOE
- Harris Corporation
- Northrup Grumman
“The Office of Industry Collaboration (OIC) connects industry partners with CU Boulder faculty, staff, and students to explore opportunities based on shared objectives, including research, support of student projects, and workforce needs” described Abby Benson, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation. “MRAs not only signal a broader campus-industry partnership, they also allow us to take advantage of these opportunities in a more streamlined and efficient way.”
Once a CU researcher and industry partner are connected, the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) facilitates the addendum or task order needed for each new project awarded under the MRA.
“By negotiating a baseline set of terms and conditions in an MRA, all partners can move quickly to add new projects without renegotiating each time,” explained Director of Contracts Gary Henry. Henry further illuminated that when executed, these types of agreements result in increased efficiency in proposal response, project award and post award administration for our departments and institutes.
MRAs (with industry partners) and Baseline Agreements (with agency partners) are being created to strategically increase the interaction with our industry and select agency partners with the goal of streamlining processing of and increasing the number of awards and associated funding received by CU Boulder.
OIC and OCG have been jointly undergoing a deliberate effort to establish these agreements to help expedite the initiation and funding of research and student projects. Both offices are continually engaging with other industry and agency partners to develop additional Master Research and Baseline Agreements where it may be mutually beneficial.
If you would like to learn more about how to use our existing agreements or if you have relationships with industry partners that you believe would be good candidates for an MRA, please contact the Office of Industry Collaboration, visit the Office of Contracts and Grants website or contact the Office of Contracts and Grants at OCGContracts@colorado.edu.