A Material transfer agreement is a contract that administers the transfer of physical research materials between two organizations when the recipient intends to use it for his or her own research purposes. It governs the transfer of tangible research materials between two organizations, when the recipient intends to use it for his or her own research purposes. The Material Transfer Agreement defines the rights of the provider and the recipient with respect to the materials and any derivatives.These agreements provide a mechanism to protect the interests of the owners of discoveries and inventions, while promoting data and material sharing in the research community. The MTA defines the rights of the provider and the rights and obligations of the recipient with respect to the materials and any progeny, derivatives, or modifications.

Biological materials, such as reagents, cell lines, plasmids, and vectors, are the most frequently transferred materials, but MTAs may also be used for other types of materials, such as chemical compounds, mouse models, and even some types of software. It is a legally binding contract established for the transfer of tangible research. MTAs describes the rights and obligations for both the provider and recipient of the materials beingMTAs may apply to anything from materials that are simply under the control of the originator but have no formal intellectual property rights attached to them to proprietary materials protected by patents and trade secrets. They range in complexity from simple conditions of use to complex legal agreements with many terms.