Working with industry

Undertaking a commercial research project is different to other projects in a number of key respects.

The way that commercial research projects are costed is different from non-commercial research. Essentially, a commercial funder has to meet all the costs of a research project, including overheads.

Indemnity arrangements are different, because for many commercial studies the company has to provide indemnity to cover the researcher in the event of non-negligent harm.

You will need the Trust to sign up to a commercial trial agreement with the company. This will be negotiated on your behalf by the R&D Department and is subject to an administration fee payable by the company.

If you are an NHS employee, please contact the R&D Department as soon as possible, so we can start work on your agreement and begin costing your study:

• R&D Department - Contact us
  

All commercial trial agreements have to be approved by the Trust and so cannot be handled independently by the researcher.

University employees should contact the Clinical Trials and Research Governance Team of Oxford University Research Services instead.