What is a MTA?

A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) is a legal contract to document the transfer of physical material between Yale University and academic, non-profit, or industrial institutions. MTAs are primarily used to document the transfer of biological materials (plasmids, cell lines, mouse strains, etc.), but may also be used in the transfer of some types of non-biological material. Any Yale faculty member, at the level of Associate Research Scientist or higher, must ensure that an MTA is in place prior to receiving or sending the Material.

NOTE: MTAs are not valid unless signed by an authorized representative from GCA or OCR.

Incoming MTA: An agreement that covers transfer of material from another institution to Yale.

Outgoing MTA: An agreement that covers transfer of material to another institution from Yale.