International Affiliations: Frequently Asked Questions

These agreements are between UCSF and another institution on your behalf, in order to define roles and responsibilities and to build a sustainable collaboration. They protect you and your rights, as well as those of the partner institution and of UCSF, for issues like intellectual property, insurance, and collaboration disputes.

No. All agreements involving UCSF provide UCSF-vetted language, and all require some level of university leadership approval except the Letter of Intent to Collaborate. The nature of an agreement may differ depending on specific details of the collaboration. These international affiliation webpages contain information about UCSF-approved agreements, and specific steps to help you in the process. See the Matrix of International Agreements for more information on each international agreement.

The specifics of the agreement determine which unit in the Office of Sponsored Research works with you to create the collaboration. Please refer to the Matrix of International Agreements and the Matrix Detailed Descriptions on the Global Hub website for more details.

In general, UCSF does not approve international MOUs since they have different definitions and expectations. As a result, the terms and conditions that have been included in MOUs with outside entities have been inconsistent and in some cases have included requirements that UCSF faculty cannot fulfill. We have replaced the MOU with a specific agreement type, as defined in the Matrix of International Agreements. In rare instances, UCSF will approve a legally binding MOU created by an outside entity (e.g. foundations, non-profit organizations) only after it has been reviewed and approved by the Office of Legal Affairs, particularly for international agreements.

UCSF strongly prefers to use our UCSF template agreements, which contain vetted, equitable language that protects you, your international partner, your partner’s institution, and UCSF. If your international partner requires that their own agreements be used for the collaboration, these documents must be reviewed by the Business Contracts Unit of the Office of Sponsored Research. These partner agreements can be submitted using the International Activity Proposal form. Please see the Matrix of International Agreements for further details.

Individual faculty and staff do not have the authority to sign international agreements on behalf of UCSF, with the exception of the Letter of Intent to Collaborate, which can be signed by UCSF faculty if it is not altered. See the Matrix of International Agreements for further details.

All agreements should be reviewed by the appropriate unit in the Office of Sponsored Research and approved by UCSF leadership. See the Matrix of International Agreements for specific information on reviews and approvals for each international agreement.

This depends on the type of agreement. Please check with the UCSF office that is handling your agreement.

Contact the Business Contracts Unit. The Business Contracts Unit will reach out to the UCSF Office of Legal Affairs, which can coordinate international agreements across UC campuses.

UCSF is in the process of simplifying the search process for international affiliations by making new databases available. For information on current principal UCSF affiliations, please see the UC and UCSF Principal International Affiliations table.

An increasing number of international issues may affect the success of a collaboration, such as export control requirements, cyber and electronic device security, as well as crime, violence, and terrorism. For information on these issues, review current information on the website: Travel Risk Resources for the UCSF Community.