RIS

RIS

Penn’s Research Inventory System (RIS) is an electronic system for requesting and managing material transfer and other non-monetary agreements (MTAs/NMAs). Material transfer agreements are agreements governing the transfer of research materials into or out of Penn. Other non-monetary agreements are research agreements that do not bring funding into Penn (e.g., data use agreements, purchased service agreements, equipment loan agreements). The system manages the process associated with MTAs/NMAs from the time a researcher or staff member initiates a request for an MTA/NMA through the internal Penn review and approval process, any necessary negotiation, and signing of the agreement. The system is designed for use by the people who submit (request), review and authorize (approve), receive information about, administer, and negotiate MTAs/NMAs. A request may be initiated or submitted by a Principal Investigator or a staff member. An individual initiating a request is known as a "Submitter."

All non-monetary agreements like MTAs (Material Transfer Agreements), DUAs (Data Use Agreements), and CDAs (Confidentiality Disclosure Agreements) should be entered into RIS by the PI or their designated staff.  You should list your Grants Manager as the BA on the form.  Grants managers will initiate the subcontract agreements.

In addition to the above agreement types, RIS is also used for the University’s Stem Cell Registry and for requesting Cadaver and Recognizable Human Body Parts, which are both managed outside of the Office of Research Services.

Once an agreement is entered into RIS it will be assigned to a negotiator in the appropriate University office:

  • If an external collaborator, agreement is assigned to a Penn negotiator
  • If a non-profit partner, agreement is assigned to ORS
  • If a non-clinical commercial/industry partner, agreement is assigned to the Penn Center for Innovation
  • If a clinical commercial/industry partner, agreement is assigned to the clinical trial contracting unit.

Questions & Support

Please send MTA/NMA questions or comments to ri_mta_help@lists.upenn.edu, stem cell registry questions or comments to ri_cell_help@lists.upenn.edu, and cadaver/recognizable body parts questions or comments to ri_cadaver_help@lists.upenn.edu, and subaward questions or comments to subaward@upenn.edu Please do not include confidential information in your e-mail.