The past month I have had couple of requests for an inhibitor molecule that I discovered when I was a grad student. Not many bothered me about it for these past 20 years or so but ever since we published a paper showing its effectiveness against triple negative breast cancer cell line there has been increased demand for the molecule. And it dawned on me (my advisor pointed it out to me actually as I am still naive about these matters) that I better get Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) signed before supplying the molecule. As I do not work in the lab anymore and it is my students who make it, I have to protect their interests. Therefore, I wrote a letter to the VC (after all he has been tom-toming about how we should foster interaction between the industry and the academia) asking for legal help. It snaked its way through the Registrar, the academic branch and finally the legal cell who sent it to the lawyer for advise. Finally, the paper came back to me. Yes, I need a MTA and I should the needful. I stared at it blankly and then I called up the legal cell. Very politely they told me that I should draft the MTA and send it to them through the VC. They will go through it and let me know whether it is okay or not. I was about to tell them that I am not a lawyer when it dawned on me that I am a lawyer, an accountant, a manager, a teacher, a researcher, a scientist, an editor, a writer....In addition, it is also my responsibility to get money in for research. Unfortunately, the graduate school does not prepare you to be anything except being a scientist. The rest of the skills you have to develop yourselves and if you are in an Indian University, with no help from the administration.
As it happened, I googled, picked up few MTA available on the internet, and put my own version of MTA together. The legal cell approved it.
As it happened, I googled, picked up few MTA available on the internet, and put my own version of MTA together. The legal cell approved it.
Must point out that nasty, rapacious corporate raiders (like yours truly) have chronic issues with scientists who, while good at science, are woefully inadequate otherwise.
ReplyDeleteFor once, I would really like to deal with a scientist who knows how to draft a proper MTA or NDA. I would really appreciate an academic who is worldly-wise. We do not like tedious paperwork either, but someone has to do it. If you have your students and intellectual property to worry about, then I have my business interests and employees to worry about too.
If you have a lab to run, I have a business to run. Bills and taxes to pay. Employees to feed. It is my responsibility to find the money to run my business, just as it is your responsibility to find the money to run your lab.
Nothing annoys us more than a scientist who expects us to do his work for him. I waste a considerable amount of my time in correcting shoddy and/or blatantly misleading legal agreements made by scientists who think they are above such mundane work.
It's a nasty world we live in, Professor.
As I type these words, I'm trying my best to rectify a really bad situation created by two brilliant academics who have taken us for a lot of money. Not only did they actively mislead us about their research, they made an MTA that is very difficult for us to get out of.
Not all academics are benign souls who practice science for the benefit of mankind. Some of them, nay, many of them are remarkably devious people who would not think twice about taking the corporate world for a very expensive ride.
Industry-Academia interaction, sadly, is unavoidable. Given a choice, I would rather keep my distance from academia. A very long distance. But we need each other, more's the pity.
The least we can do is to respect each other's interests, be honest with each other - and get our paperwork right.
Cheers ... SKS.