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Division of Sponsored Programs > Agreement Negotiation & Signature > Getting an Agreement Drafted, Negotiated and Signed

Getting an Agreement Drafted, Negotiated and Signed

All proposed contracts, agreements and awards, and their modifications, must be routed through UFIRST before DSP can officially begin the negotiation process.

Agreement Drafting and Review

  • If a sponsor does not require the use of its template, DSP can supply templates or draft custom agreements to fit your research agreement needs. To obtain DSP agreement drafting services, please create a UFIRST agreement record and request that DSP use a UF template. If the proposed agreement contains funding, the UFIRST agreement record must be related to an approved UFIRST proposal record.
  • If sponsor requires the use of its template, please create a UFIRST agreement record and attach the sponsor’s agreement document in UFIRST.
  • Basic research agreement templates can be found here. Whenever possible, encourage the use of UF Research Agreement Templates for industry sponsored research. The most recent version of the template should be downloaded each time you need a template. Templates are frequently updated and using an old version of the template may result in delay. Please do not edit templates before providing them to sponsors. The DSP Contracts Team will negotiate revisions as appropriate. Please contact the DSP Contracts Team for additional templates and other agreement drafting needs.

New Funded Agreements

  • If a UFIRST proposal record is on file, create a UFIRST agreement from the UFIRST proposal (it will automatically relate).
  • If an agreement contains funding and there is no UFIRST proposal record on file, create a UFIRST proposal and route for approval. After the proposal is approved, create a UFIRST agreement from the UFIRST proposal.

New No-Money Agreements (MOU, Teaming Agreements, CDA, DUA)

  • Create a UFIRST agreement record and submit to DSP for review.

Modifications to Existing Awards and Agreements

  • Adding New Funding: For modifications that add funding NOT originally proposed, create a UFIRST proposal record for the new funding and create a UFIRST award modification. 
  • Any other Award Modification: For modifications that add funding originally proposed (continuations, increments, option periods) or change an award in any other way, create a UFIRST award modification. 
  • Modifying No-money Agreements: For modifications to no money agreements, create a UFIRST agreement modification.

Last updated 6/13/25