Before you involve others outside the Center, it's a good idea to talk to the Transfer Officer about your plans. He or she can give you an idea of past arrangements that might serve as a model for this new partnership. The Transfer Officer can help you enter into any agreements.

As you decide to work with others, it is a good idea to keep in mind the definitions of the following terms: Cooperative R & D Agreement, cooperating organization, collaborator, and consortium. You may want to review these definitions in the glossary. You will want to be consistent with these terms as you develop any new agreements.

Guidelines for selecting partners

If you have already decided that having one or more partners is appropriate, you probably already have a good idea just who needs to be involved. If not, any of these guidelines may help you consider partners:

• colleagues in other government laboratories
  
  
• colleagues in university settings
  
  
• colleagues in non-VA medical facilities
  
  
• private citizens
  
  
• employees in private enterprise.

The following pages have guidelines for selecting partners.

Investigator

Transfer Officer

Center Director