UCLA Behavioral Testing Core User Agreement

This agreement is meant to facilitate the use of the UCLA Behavioral Testing Core (BTC) by potential users (REQUESTORS) and to avoid misunderstandings between the parties. It stipulates the rights of both the BTC and the REQUESTOR to ensure that both parties understand and agree to the terms under which: the work will be completed and payment provided; how results, data and materials will be managed; procedures for communication. By signing the work plan prior to beginning the services and initializing a printed and attached copy of this agreement, the REQUESTOR agrees to the terms outlined within this agreement.

If any portion of this agreement is breached, the wronged party shall have the right to terminate the work plan in writing, at which point all work shall stop, subjects and materials shall either be transferred back to the REQUESTOR or euthanized as agreed within the end-point description of the work plan, and an invoice shall be generated for all work completed up until the time of the work plan termination notice, payment of which shall be due within 60 days of being received by the REQUESTOR.

Work Plan:

A meeting, either in person or over the phone, will be used to establish a work plan for services which will be provided by the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE to the REQUESTOR. A work plan is required for all outside users of the BTC as well as for all Staff Performed projects. Both parties shall agree on details of the work plan prior to beginning any activities related to the service such as transferring subjects or placing orders for subjects and materials. This work plan may be amended at a later date if both parties agree in writing to the changes. Services within the work plan may be cancelled or delayed at the discretion of the REQUESTOR. If this occurs, the REQUESTOR is responsible for any and all fees related to services already performed under the agreement as well as costs related to the delay such as new subject orders, extended subject housing costs, having to repeat services with new subjects, etc.

Materials:

For the performance of the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE SERVICES it is anticipated that REQUESTOR may transfer to UNIVERSITY the following tangible items:

Drugs, compounds, medication, animals, etc. (“Materials”) to be listed within the attached work plan.

UNIVERSITY will use the Materials solely in its performance of the BTC TESTING CORE SERVICES approved by both parties under this Agreement and outlined within the Work Plan. No transfer of the Materials (or any parts thereof, including any Materials or parts thereof contained in any modifications or derivatives), to any third party is permitted without the express written consent of the REQUESTOR hereunder. Such Materials will not be used for any commercial purpose. No other right or license to the Materials is granted to the UNIVERSITY or implied as a result of the transfer of MATERIALS hereunder.

Data Management and Intellectual Property:

“Data” shall be defined as any and all video, audio, paper documents, collected samples and materials, analysis, and any digital information related to the services provided to the REQUESTOR as described in the work plan. Data does not include protocols and techniques developed and utilized by the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE or its personnel, software, or equipment. Data generated by the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE on behalf of REQUESTOR will be the sole property of the REQUESTOR and will be transferred to the REQUESTOR in the format designated by REQUESTOR. Data will never be shared with third parties, but may be used internally to evaluate protocols for future experiments unrelated to REQUESTOR project unless otherwise instructed by the REQUESTOR in writing. Any physical storage device used for this purpose (external hard drive, USB key fob, etc.) must be provided by the REQUESTOR. The REQUESTOR may, at their discretion, request in writing that all data generated in the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE FACILITIES relating to their project be permanently deleted from all computers and storage devices and that all paper documents and physical materials be transferred to REQUESTOR. REQUESTOR retains all intellectual property rights to the data generated as a result of the work plan as well as any materials transferred to the BTC for the purposes of completing the work plan unless prohibited by law. The BTC may, at its sole discretion, delete digital data which is at least 1 year old without alerting the REQUESTOR. It is therefore recommended that a back-up of all data to an external drive be performed by the REQUESTOR upon completion of each experiment.

Charges and Payments:

REQUESTOR agrees to pay the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE at the hourly rates provided prior to beginning the experiment. A work plan with an estimate of charges will be provided upon request. Actual charges may change due to the nature of the services provided (length of experiments may depend on performance of subjects, which we don’t have control ever). Every effort will be made by the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE to provide a reasonable estimate.

Where applicable, a range estimate of costs will be provided to give a realistic estimate range to the REQUESTOR. Updates will be provided throughout the experiment if charges are expected to exceed the estimate range.

REQUESTOR is responsible for payment of all charges for services rendered by the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE within 60 days of receiving an invoice. All payments for users (REQUESTOR) affiliated with UCLA will be automatically drafted from the FAU or Recharge account provided at the beginning of each calendar month for services rendered during the previous month unless other arrangements have been made and specified in the Work Plan. All others must provide payment by sending a physical check made out to UC REGENTS within 60 days of receiving the invoice. Invoices will be sent electronically unless otherwise requested. An itemized breakdown of all charges will be provided if requested at no additional charge.

DLAM SERVICE CHARGES such as for animal orders, transfers, housing per diems, medical treatments, etc., are the sole responsibility of the REQUESTOR. These charges will be added to the invoice for reimbursement if the REQUESTOR is not affiliated with UCLA. If animals must be ordered through the BTC account, payment to cover these costs may be requested prior to beginning the experiment and will be stipulated within the work order under the payment plan.

Service Quality:

The BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE will extend reasonable effort to provide services to the REQUESTOR. The REQUESTOR may visit the facility to inspect the equipment and request written details related to how the requested service will be performed prior to the start of the experiment during University’s regular business hours. If the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE performs the requested services as discussed, REQUESTOR agrees to pay the agreed-upon service fees in full as described in “Charges and Payments”. In the event that, through the fault of the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE or the malfunction of its equipment, the service is not performed as described in the written description of services, the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE will provide the REQUESTOR with the options of: not charging the REQUESTOR for that portion of the experiment; or redoing that portion of the experiment without charge to the REQUESTOR. The BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE does not guarantee results favorable to the REQUESTOR, only that they will be gathered without bias and be as accurate as possible using current equipment and techniques. Receiving unfavorable results shall not in itself constitute a lack of payment by the REQUESTOR.

Subject Health:

All subjects must be approved for use in the described work plan prior to beginning the experiment. All deviations from currently-approved protocols for the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE by the ARC must be submitted as an amendment to the REQUESTOR’s own protocol by the REQUESTOR and approved by the ARC prior to beginning the experiment. Subjects are to be listed under the REQUESTOR’s ARC protocol unless otherwise discussed and agreed upon by both parties in writing as part of the work plan.

The health of all subjects is the responsibility of the REQUESTOR. If a subject needs special treatment outside of the agreed-upon services, the REQUESTOR may choose one of the following courses of action:

  1. Request that the subject be euthanized and excluded from the remainder of the study
  2. Request that DLAM staff treat the animal at their regular rates. These will be included in the invoice for REQUESTORs not affiliated with UCLA.
  3. Request that BTC staff treat the animal at our regular hourly rate. These charges will be added to the invoice.
  4. Someone qualified to treat the subjects from their own lab will provide the treatment. This option is only available to BTC users who are part of UCLA and already have access and approval to enter the vivarium in question.

If a subject dies or is euthanized during the experiment through no fault of the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE, they will be excluded from the experiment. All fees related to services already performed for this subject will be the responsibility of the REQUESTOR. No further charges related to that subject will be made. If this occurs due to the negligence or failure to provide agreed-upon services to the subject by the BTC staff as stipulated within the work plan, no charges associated with this subject will be included in the invoice. 

Safety:

The REQUESTOR guarantees that all materials and animals transferred to the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE for the purpose of performing the requested services pose no undisclosed potential harm to the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE STAFF or the DLAM STAFF. Disclosures must be made if materials or animals are: radioactive, toxic, biohazardous, carcinogenic or in any way potentially hazardous to health or safety of humans or other animals in any way. The BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE reserves the right to refuse service to REQUESTOR if it deems it unsafe to perform such services within the facilities.

Communication:

The BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE FACILITY STAFF shall be available for communication during regular business hours. However, due to the nature of the services provided, it is recommended that any and all phone and in-person meetings are scheduled ahead of time to ensure that the appropriate staff are available to answer all questions and concerns. E-mails will be responded to by the end of the next business day from the date of receipt.

The REQUESTOR shall provide the best method to reach them in case of an emergency, subject medical issue, or if the work plan cannot be completed for any reason and the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE needs to contact the REQUESTOR to decide on a course of action.

For the purposes of this agreement and to speed up communications, email communication to the email addresses listed under the contacts section of the work plan shall be equivalent to a written notice.

Force Majeure:

Neither the REQUESTOR nor the BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE shall be liable for any delay or failure to perform any duty or obligation it may have pursuant to this agreement where such delay or failure has been occasioned by any act of God, fire, strike, inevitable accident, terrorism, insurrection, government restriction or prohibition, war or any cause outside of a Party’s reasonable control. The work plan will be re-evaluated by both parties and a course of action shall be agreed upon and may include: delaying the work plan until it can be resumed; terminating the work plan and ending the experiment; euthanizing the subjects and restarting the work plan at a later date. The REQUESTOR agrees to pay for work completed prior to the reason for the halt of the services, as well as any additional costs agreed upon in the work plan re-evaluation. The BEHAVIORAL TESTING CORE agrees to provide the REQUESTOR with any and all data gathered prior to the reason for the halt of services if possible.