In order to secure funding or other support for a research project, an investigator will often be asked by a sponsor/third party to provide information about the potential project. Under these circumstances, an investigator may want to provide the potential sponsor with information such as:
- a written protocol or scope of work;
- information about research plans or ideas via discussions or meetings;
- feedback or improvements to the third party’s research plans; or
- other non-public information that could be used to design or implement a research project.
A Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA) or Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) should be in place prior to any discussions or sharing of information with a third party to prevent a potential sponsor from using an investigator’s ideas and plans for the sponsor’s own purposes. Without a CDA, the potential sponsor could take the investigator’s ideas, and conduct the project on their own, without the investigator’s participation. A CDA protects an investigator’s ideas from unauthorized use by a third party.
An investigator can initiate a CDA request in the Office of Sponsored Programs MyRA system.