BRIEF

Policy Summary

This policy describes the requirements for designated user facility agreements that cover the work performed by non-Department of Energy (DOE) contractor personnel at DOE-approved user facilities.

Who Should Read This Policy

Any Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) employee involved with reviewing or approving proposals and accepting, performing, or administering user facility agreements from non-DOE sponsors.

To Read the Full Policy, Go To:

The POLICY tab on this wiki page

Contact Information

Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO)

POLICY

A. Purpose

User agreements at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) cover the work performed by non-DOE contractor personnel at DOE-approved national user facilities (e.g., the Advanced Light Source, the Molecular Foundry, the Joint Genome Institute, and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, and other user facilities (e.g., the 88-Inch Cyclotron)) whether or not the agreement also brings in funds.
The Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO) is the institutional organization responsible for submitting and negotiating all designated user facility agreements. All proposals and agreements must be processed through SPO. SPO Contracts Officers have authority from the Berkeley Lab Director to submit, negotiate, and accept awards in accordance with University of California policy.

B. Persons Affected

Any Berkeley Lab employee involved with reviewing or approving proposals and accepting, performing, or administering user facility agreements from non-DOE sponsors

C. Exceptions

None

D. Policy Statement

The DOE requires a signed user agreement to be in place to cover the work of non-Berkeley Lab personnel using Berkeley Lab's designated national user facilities. Berkeley Lab user facility staff must complete the proposal information requirements of the Electronic System for Research Administration (eSRA) for every organization approved to use the user facility, obtain internal approvals, and submit the approved forms to the SPO. The SPO Contracts Officer will send a proposed user agreement to the identified organization's contact and, if necessary, negotiate the terms of the user agreement, obtain any required DOE approvals of negotiated terms, and/or execute the user agreement on behalf of Berkeley Lab. The SPO CO enters award data elements in eSRA and authorizes the user agreement. Once activated, the award is routed to the user facility and appropriate Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) groups as required. The organization's employees are not allowed access to the user facility until the user agreement is awarded, or in cases of proprietary user agreements, until the funding for work has been received.

E. Roles and Responsibilities

F. Definitions/Acronyms

G. Recordkeeping Requirements

SPO retains all signed user agreements for required retention period.

H. Implementing Documents

None

I. Contact Information

Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO)

J. Revision History

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

Source Requirements Documents

Contract 31, Clause I.138 - DEAR 970.5227-3 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER MISSION (AUG 2019) [SC ALTERNATE APR 2018]

Non-Proprietary Class Waiver Regarding Patent Rights W(C) 2008-003: Class Waiver for the Government's Domestic and Foreign Patent Rights at Designated Non-Proprietary User Facilities, which replaces the 4/19/83 DOE Letter, Class Waiver of Government's Rights in Inventions Arising from Use of DOE User Facilities and User Resources. This is the DOE Headquarters' Patent Class Waiver of the Government's Rights in Inventions from Users of DOE User Facilities and Resources. This is the non-proprietary waiver.

Nanoscale Memorandum of Understanding and Class Waiver W(C)-2005-001: DOE 7/14/2005 letter Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Nanoscale Science Research Centers and Class Waiver, W(C)-2005-001 (class waiver and sample agreement) is replaced by W(C)-2008-003 above. This is the MOU for the operation of the Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs).

Propriety Class Waiver Regarding Patent Rights W(C)-2008-005: Class Waiver for the Government's Domestic and Foreign Patent Rights at Designated Proprietary User Facilities W(C) -2008-005, which replaces the Class Waiver for Proprietary Users, (C)-91-005. This is the class waiver for national user facilities on a proprietary basis.

INCITE Program Class Waiver W(C) 06-003: Class waiver for the DOE Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC).

Collection of Miscellaneous Fees from Users of Laboratory Facilities: A DOE letter dated 5/10/1994. Outlines the process for properly assessed fees and the requirement that all fees be collected from users of Laboratory facilities in advance and deposited in the U.S. Treasury.