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Before signing a contract - information for staff

You should not sign any contract relating to your academic/professional work without that contract being checked by the faculty and possibly also the university lawyers.

Indeed, even when you alone are doing the work, almost all contracts have to be signed by a person who can sign on behalf of the University, usually the Dean. This is not intended to constrain your opportunities to engage in research and other professional work that interests you, but rather to ensure, firstly, that your intellectual property, rights and professional reputation are protected and, secondly, that the whole faculty's reputation, rights and resources are protected.

On this page:  

Protecting your intellectual property

It is particularly important that you do not inadvertently sign away your intellectual property. Firstly, you may have taken years to acquire it and yet 'give it away' for the price of a few days work. Secondly, your professional reputation could be damaged if you later assume you can use ideas developed while (or prior to) undertaking contract research when you have signed away your rights to it. Thirdly, you cannot claim the work as research within the Commonwealth funding guidelines unless you have access to the intellectual property! And fourthly, of course, you could be sued.

Some contracting organisations are quite voracious about their ownership of what you might regard as your intellectual property. Others are happy to give you access to the intellectual property, but automatically offer standard contracts, which routinely give the contractor the intellectual property rights.

(Please note that if you do not have a contract but you are being paid, you cannot claim the research!)

Staff in the Development Office are experienced and know what to look for. They will offer advice on contracts and on how to negotiate better arrangements. Where necessary, they will seek advice from the University lawyers who are extremely helpful and quite fast in providing feedback. The university lawyers want to help us turn opportunities into realities, they are not oriented to making things difficult.

Negotiating with a partner or contractor

When undertaking research in partnership with someone else or with/for another organisation you need to know who is actually paying for the work. Typically, and unless you arrange otherwise, it is the contracting body (the organization paying for the work) that will have the ownership of the intellectual property resulting from the work. This means that you cannot use this work (be it research, projects or consultancy) for your own purposes unless you have an agreement with the contracting body to do so. Also, as indicated earlier, you cannot claim the work as research unless you have access to the intellectual property. Often, however, the contracting party is happy to negotiate these terms, and a mutually productive arrangement can be made.

For assistance in negotiating the rights to your intellectual property in a constructive way contact .

University guidelines

The University has its own strict guidelines on intellectual property and commercial activity. For more information see:

Determining whether the project will 'count' as research

At times a project will clearly be 'research', at others times it may be more ambiguous. What you regard as a research project may not be acknowledged as such by DEEWR (formerly DEST). Equally, a project may be largely consultancy or professional development, which does not 'count' as research, but a component or facet of it may be research, and needs to separated out and correctly identified,

For this reason, the faculty recommends that you seek advice before submitting a grant proposal or tender, or signing a contract. The way projects (whether contracts or grants) are described or expressed can be critical and a little preparation and negotiation with contractors and granting organisations early in the process can make the difference.

The Commonwealth provides the following definition of research:

Research and experimental development comprises creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.

For a research project to be deemed 'research', and its income to be considered 'research income' and so earn quantum, it must conform to the following:

Research Non-research
  • Has investigation as its primary objective
  • Involves originality
  • Has the potential to produce results that add to humanity's stock of knowledge (theoretical or practical).

Note: Consultancies that involve 'repackaging existing knowledge to professionals and others who do not have the same level of expertise as the consultant' are not included. Consultancies count as 'research' only if they lead to the creation of new knowledge and the university retains or has access to the IP.
  • Teaching materials
  • Standardisation and routine testing
  • Feasibility studies (except into R&D projects)
  • Scientific and technical services
  • General purpose data collection
  • Travel (unless enabling access to research)
  • Routine computer programming, systems work or software maintenance (unless primarily for, or in support of, research and experimental activities)
  • Hosting, organising or attending conferences or workshops.

Types of research income

  • Non-specific funding earmarked for research (e.g. donations, bequests, assistance provided under agreements with granting agencies). If such funding is not earmarked for research, it cannot count as research income.
  • Contract research (developed primarily by funding agency or jointly with investigators).
  • Research grants (developed primarily by the investigator).

The determination of 'research income'

Research Grants & Ethics Branch makes the final decision whether or not income is 'research income'. (These decisions are audited and Monash's reputation will be effected if it ‘over claims' so they will rightly be scrupulous in their decisions.)

   * If an organisation has agreed to provide funding that may be eligible for classification as 'research income', details must be sent to them for assessment.
   * All contract research and collaborative research documentation must be accompanied by the Research Office Cover Sheet to be completed by the researcher - downloadable from Monash Application Requirements web page (authcate login required).
   * The Solicitor's Office has a standing arrangement to send any signed agreements that may be classified as research to Research Grants & Ethics Branch.
   * When an account code has been allocated by Research Grants & Ethics Branch, the code should be checked to confirm that an appropriate classification has been made. Account codes entered  into SAP with an ERE-prefix are counted as ‘research income'.

If funding is provided to support cross-institutional research, the covering memo accompanying project details that are sent to Research Grants & Ethics Branch must clearly state the proportion of income that is to be transferred to the partner institution. Transfers are made prior to such funding being counted in the Monash research income collection.

Further information on the DEST specification of research income collections can be found on the DEST website.

Ethics considerations

All research conducted at Monash University needs ethics approval. Some research may require ethics approval from each agency or institution with whom the research is contracted. For more information see the University's ethics web site.

Paid outside work

If you sign a contract as an individual, then the University's policy on paid outside work will apply and you may need to seek permission from the Dean to undertake the work. See the University's Paid Outside Work policy, which includes the Paid outside work disclosure and approval form.