Master Agreements include terms and conditions that apply broadly to multiple projects with a given sponsor. They may be institution-wide or specific to an investigator who plans to conduct a series of projects with that sponsor. A Masters Agreement contains no funding but its terms govern subsequent work orders issued under it, each of which has a scope of work, a schedule, and funding for the specific project or scope of work.
Significant time is required to arrive at terms that broadly apply across numerous projects, but work orders that flow under them are expedited and therefore an excellent way to reduce contract timelines.
If a work order is initiated and the Master Agreement does not sufficiently address intellectual property concerns for that particular work order, a special term may be added to the work order or a separate stand-alone agreement may be executed instead of a work order.