Following are Frequently Asked Questions about industry and other non-Federal partnerships at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. If you have additional questions, contact the Contracts Officer assigned to your area / division for your specific project.
How can I bring in research funding to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory?
As a DOE federal laboratory, the contractual mechanisms used to bring non-federal funding in to LBNL are limited to the following prescribed, DOE-approved agreements:
- Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) enable collaborative research by LBNL and one or more partners for shared benefit. Partners can retain rights to their own inventions made under a CRADA and have the first right to license Lab intellectual property generated through the CRADA. All CRADAs must have in-kind support from the Partner, even when the project is being paid for solely with Partner funds. In-kind refers to non-cash contribution of labor, property, or services provided by a Participant in support of the CRADA effort. In-kind contributions include personnel, personal property (equipment and supplies) and capital equipment.
- Strategic Partnership Project (SPP) agreements enable LBNL personnel to perform a defined scope of work funded by and on behalf of a non-federal partner using LBNL’s unique facilities, equipment, and personnel. Non-federal Work for Others (WFO) is the former name for SPP agreements.
- User Agreements facilitate access to LBNL’s one-of-a-kind research facilities including the DOE national user facilities, e.g., Advanced Light Source, Joint Genome Institute, Molecular Foundry, NERSC – the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, and ESNet – Energy Services Network.
- Gifts may be made for institutional and development funding. For donor instructions and required forms, email Yeen Mankin, YFMankin@lbl.gov.
For questions about the correct contract type for your project, contact the Contracts Officer assigned to your area / division for your specific project. For this information, email Yeen Mankin, YFMankin@lbl.gov.
Other opportunities such as DOE’s Small Business Voucher program and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are announced throughout the year.
What are the differences between CRADAs and SPPs? For the Lab? For the partner?
DOE’s Guide to Partnering with DOE National Laboratories provides details regarding intellectual property rights, U.S. manufacturing preferences, publication restrictions, and other considerations. Key features are also summarized in LBNL’s table of agreement mechanisms.
Does IPO have a template CRADA / SPP I can share with a potential partner?
The following templates are sample documents only: Sample CRADA (pdf) Sample SPP (pdf)
IPO strongly recommends contacting the Contracts Officer assigned to your area / division, for your specific project before sending these sample documents to a potential partner. All terms & conditions are subject to change based on the scope of work and source of funding. While Contracts Officers are available to answer questions, they are not permitted to enter negotiations until all internal proposal documents are submitted and approved through eSRA, LBNL’s electronic system to support efficient proposal preparation and administration.
What are typical steps in securing agreements such as CRADAs and SPPs?
The flowchart below (click to enlarge) outlines the typical process to secure a CRADA.
How do I prepare a funding proposal?
First, contact your division’s Resource Analyst (RA). The RA will work with Pre-Award Contract Management resources provided by Berkeley Lab’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
The following templates offer an overview for preparing a proposal’s Statement of Work (SOW):
Sample CRADA SOW Sample SPP SOW