Sample miniproject letter of agreement

Preamble

This letter of agreement sets out the arrangements for the Academy subject centre miniproject award of [£#] made to [name of proposer and institution]. This award is granted to proposal number [#], [title of project] and will cover the period [date to and from]. The general aim of the miniproject scheme is to help promote the use of effective learning and teaching activities in Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine, to encourage the development and sharing of innovative approaches and to raise awareness of the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of educational methods.

Work to be conducted

The work to be conducted by [name of proposer], and the timetable for the work, is described in the attached project proposal together with supplementary documents agreed between the proposer and the subject centre. The subject centre will provide support through general advice and support for dissemination activities. Support for dissemination may include: helping to organise and run workshops; assistance with the preparation and circulation of paper-based materials; providing space for web pages on the Academy subject centre server and helping to develop web-based materials; assisting with the publication of short articles in our publications.

Project management and reporting

The grant holder will be responsible for carrying out the project in a timely and financially accountable manner, including completing deliverables and dissemination activities. The subject centre will monitor the progress of the project, and may request brief progress reports (c. 500 words) at six-monthly intervals. Any disagreements between the proposer and the subject centre will be referred to the subject centre Advisory Group for arbitration.

Intellectual property rights (IPR)

The proposer will disclose all products and materials resulting from the work to the subject centre. IPR will remain with the proposer (or the proposer's institution). However the proposer (or the proposer's institution) grants a royalty-free licence for the subject centre to use copyright materials for academic purposes and to make such materials freely available.

Financial arrangements

Payments of monies will be made on a subcontract basis from the University of Newcastle from the grant paid to the University by the HE Funding Bodies. Since the source of the grant is the UK HE Funding Bodies, the expectation is that no payments will be made for overheads. The arrangements for payment of grants is as follows:

• One half of the agreed sum [£#] will be made available when this letter of agreement has been signed by both parties.
• The remainder of the grant [£#] will be paid following satisfactory completion of the project.
• The subject centre retains the right to withhold the second payment of the grant [£#] until the completion of all deliverables of the project
• Any funds unspent at the end of the project will be retained by the subject centre
• Invoices should be sent for the attention of Dr Megan Quentin-Baxter (Deputy Director) at the address given above.

Liability

The liability of the subject centre and all sub-contracted partners will be limited in accordance with the following statement:

"The work associated with this grant will be carried out in accordance with normal academic standards and reasonable endeavours will be made to achieve a high degree of reliability and accuracy appropriate to work of this kind.

The sub-contracted partners institutions, their servants or agents make no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the work, and in no circumstances will they accept any liability however caused resulting from any error or inaccuracy in any opinion, advice, report or produce arising from this work nor for any resulting damage, loss, expenses or claim except for that liability which it is unlawful to exclude and except where negligence is legally proven.

Each partner shall indemnify the others against personal injury to, or the death of, any person or loss or damage to any property, real or personal, insofar as such injury, death, loss or damage arises in the course of or by reason of any partner carrying out its obligations under this Letter and provided always and only to the extent that the same is due to negligence on the part of the partner, its employees, servants and agents.

The aggregate liability of the partners to the others in respects of personal injury to any person, or loss or damage to any property, real or personal (whether such liability arises under the indemnity in this clause, in contract, in tort (including negligence or otherwise) shall not exceed £7,500,000 for any one event subject to the lead site or partner's liability under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 for death or personal injury caused by the negligence of the lead site or partner.

Save as otherwise provided in this clause each partner, its employees, servants and agents shall not be liable to the others in contract, tort, for breach of statutory duty or otherwise including any liability for negligence, or for any loss of revenue, business anticipated savings and profits or any loss of use or value of any equipment or for any indirect or consequential loss howsoever arising.

Each partner agrees to indemnify the other partners against any loss, damages, costs, claims, or expenses incurred by the other partner in respect of any legal liabilities established against the other partners by a third party arising out of or in connection with any of the work of the Subject Centre or services supplied by the indemnifying partner.

Agreement of parties to this letter of agreement

Signed on behalf of the subject centre

Signature:

Print name:

Position:

Date:

Signed on behalf of [insert name of institution here]

Signature:

Print name:

Position:

Date:

Counter signed by the nominated primary contact

Signature:

Print name:

Position:

Date: