Data Use Agreement Guidance December 2024

Updated with the assistance of University Research Administration (URA)’s Contracts Team

University Research Administration requires and reviews Data Use Agreements (DUAs) both for data being provided to UChicago research team by third parties and for data being shared by UChicago research team with third parties. University Research Administration has templates for creating a DUA if data will be shared with a third party including de-identified data. When UChicago will be receiving incoming data, the external data providers should provide their own template and/or that we recommend using the FDP templates. Note that transfer of data to industry partners have additional compliance checks to ensure alignment with the university’s mission and relevant data restrictions when working with for-profit entities.

Data Use Agreements (DUAs) are routed through University Research Administration for confirmation that the terms of the agreement do not restrict creation and dissemination/publication of knowledge, or contain other unacceptable terms.  URA works with IT or the appropriate data security office to ensure UChicago can comply with incoming data security requirements and that they are appropriate for the specific data to be received by UChicago. Researchers do not sign a Data Use Agreement or Restricted Data License — those agreements must be signed by the University’s authorized official in URA.  External data providers who share data with a UChicago research team should use their data use agreement templates.  Data being shared by the UChicago research team with external parties should use the most current official UChicago templates.  Departments should not complete a template and send it to an external party independently, instead, please check the box in the SmartForm for the institution to create the first draft and our contract negotiator will complete the appropriate template and send it to the receiving party for review. In order to expedite processing, the SmartForm information about the data must match their IRB protocol and the agreement terms, as applicable. Inaccurate or incomplete information in the SmartForm will greatly slow down processing time.

Here is a link to a chart that can help in the determination of the appropriate type of data that will be shared:  https://uchicago.app.box.com/file/1039403383296