Page 39 - NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN MINISTRY OF HEALTH (MOH) INSTITUTIONS & FACILITIES 3RD EDITION 2021

9. Collaborative Research

Collaborative research can be defined as a partnership between investigators, institutions,
organisations and/or communities who have a mutual or similar interest in certain areas of research
at five different levels within the disciplinary, interdisciplinary, multi-disciplinary, trans-disciplinary or
national/international level [26]. For any research collaboration, a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU), Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), and Research Agreement (RA) must be signed between
all involved parties.
9.1. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), and Research
Agreement (RA)

MoU is a document that describes a bilateral agreement indicating or expressing convergence
of will between two or more parties. It is a legal instrument indicating the establishment of a
partnership, which most likely results in a further definitive legal agreement [27]. An MoU does
not require any parties to commit funds or other resources. MoA, on the other hand, details the
obligations and commitments of all parties. It is legally binding and can be transferred into a
contract [27].

For any collaborative research, an MoU or MoA must be signed between the Government
of Malaysia (MOH or other ministries) and the collaborator. This can be either with private or
public institutions in Malaysia or foreign entities.

RA is also required for research that involve collaboration between the MOH and external
parties such as universities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, and
others. An RA must be signed between the collaborating parties to underline the specification
and details of the collaboration.

The personnel that are allowed to sign the legal documents shall be an officer delegated by the
MOH on behalf of the Government of Malaysia (MOH or other ministries). Therefore, it is the
responsibility of the investigators to ensure that the officer who will sign the legal agreement
possess authorisation from the MOH.
The MoU or MoA between the NIH and any Public or Private institution will serve as an
umbrella of MoU or MoA for all institutes under the NIH. Therefore, for investigators from any
NIH institutes, if a new research collaboration is formed with an institution that already has an
MoU or MoA with NIH, there is no requirement to sign for another MoU or MoA. (Diagram 3:
Research Collaborative Process Flowchart)

A collaboration between NIH and any institution or entity will be managed under the advice of
the Collaboration and Innovation Unit, NIH. Investigators outside of NIH may seek legal advice
from the Office of Legal Advisor (Pejabat Penasihat Undang-Undang (PUU)), MOH for any
possible MoU or MoA of collaborative effort. Any legal agreement needs to be submitted to
the PUU Office, MOH to be reviewed on the terms of the legal content to ensure the rights and
the interests of the Government of Malaysia will always be protected.

For submission to NMRR, an RA is sufficient for the purpose of submission of ethical review
and consideration by MREC.
MoU/MoA/RA can be prepared by either party with the consent of both parties as long as the
content and terms of the agreement have been agreed upon.

NIH Guidelines for Conducting Research in MOH, 2021 23