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Research Data Management

Make informed choices for research data. RDM, policy, practical guidelines, software and tools at VU Amsterdam. FAIR data, archiving, storage, publication

Consortium Agreements

Some research projects involve more than one partner organisation. Be sure to indicate exactly who is responsible for collecting and managing the data in each case, where, and how. If more than one organisation is involved, it may also be necessary to create a Consortium Agreement. Depending on the area or sector of each project and of the degree of technical complexity that is involved, the Consortium Agreement usually contains the following information:

  • provisions on the governance structure of the consortium:
  • technical provisions (e.g. the tasks of each party and the project schedule, description of the data collection responsibilities);
  • financial provisions (e.g. the distribution of funds among participants, the financial plan, etc).

The agreement can include a section on who is ultimately responsible for the data and whether the data will be shared afterwards or whether certain restrictions on re-use apply. These restrictions can also be related to copyright issues or pending patent requests. IXA can help you to draw up a consortium agreement. The RDM Support Desk at the University Library can also help with questions about legal matters.

If you are working with personal data, GDPR requires that all parties working with the data sign a joint controller agreement. You can ask your Privacy Champion for advice about this. For multi-centre clinical research, a Clinical Trial Agreement is recommended.

For projects funded by the European Union, several sources are available: