Master Research Agreement

February 25, 2011

Contact: Jeff Mason, (517) 999-4007, jeffmason@urcmich.org

During the 2011 State of the State address, Governor Rick Snyder announced that University of Michigan, Wayne State University and Michigan State University will be entering into a research partnership agreement with Procter & Gamble Company (P&G):

The University Research Corridor (URC) is pleased to announce that all three partner institutions and P&G have agreed in principle to enter into this master research agreement. The intent is to extend the agreement to the other public universities within Michigan.

While similar agreements have been made between individual universities and private companies, this particular agreement is unique because will incorporate multiple universities under common terms.

The master research agreement creates standardized terms and conditions for all upcoming research projects, such as the treatment of intellectual property or confidential information, so that individual negotiations do not have to take place before every research endeavor. Such an agreement simplifies the complex legal process that companies and universities must use when undergoing collaborative research projects, thereby accelerating the transfer of new technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace. In the past, contracts could take many months to negotiate. By streamlining the legal process, Michigan universities become more attractive potential partners for future collaboration with companies.

All three universities recognize the exciting opportunities this agreement will provide. “WSU and P&G both have a profound stake in finding opportunities that will enhance commercialization of university research, bringing it to the marketplace faster, and ultimately revitalizing our economy,” said Dr. Hilary Ratner, the Vice President for Research at Wayne State University. Founded in 1837, P&G is a Fortune 500 multinational corporation (#22 in 2010), headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company sells a wide range of consumer goods.

In 2005, P&G entered into its first master agreement with the University of Cincinnati. The company extended a similar five-year agreement to all 14 Ohio public universities in April 2010, the first agreement of its kind.

According to the Detroit News, after signing the agreement P&G invested $1.7 million into non-pharmaceutical research at the university. This is great news for URC universities. While the URC spends $1.6 billion on research annually, currently only four percent of those funds come from industry relationships – two percent lower than the national average of six percent. Closing this gap would represent an additional $32 million in research and development expenditures. It is hoped that this new agreement will strengthen existing relationships between P&G and Michigan universities – spurring research development and stimulating state-wide economic growth.

“Upcoming work to bring P&G scientists and research leaders, together with our faculty and research leaders, is a very important next step – that will happen in a more robust way now that we have the agreement in place,” said Dr. J. Ian Gray, the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Michigan State University. To read more about the agreement, visit: Detroit News; Business Courier; Michigan Radio News; The Michigan Daily; and AnnArbor.com.