Policies

Existing policies cover intellectual property, global access, subsistence use, data availability, publications and transgenics.

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Standard terms and conditions

These documents spell out the terms and conditions for institutes that are recipients of GCP grants.

Download icon Standard terms and conditions (49.5 kB)

Global access

May 2011

GCP’s Global Access Policy is purposed to ensure that all GCP project research and innovations and resulting intellectual property are managed to facilitate global access to data and information, and affordable development for people most in need within the developing world. It is informed by the Consortium Agreement under which GCP is established, and various policies that GCP has developed over time.

The policy recognises background IP in technology development, and strikes a balance between securing and managing IP rights and ownership on the one hand, and humanitarian use on the other hand.

Download icon Generation Challenge Programme Global Access Policy (828.51 kB) (May 2011)

Subsistence use

The Subsistence Use Agreement (November 2005) safeguards the right of access – for humanitarian purposes – to IP arising from GCP-funded work, through an amendment on the Consortium Agreement approved by the then Programme Steering Committee (PSC).

This requirement is not limited to GCP Consortium members: it must be referenced in any subcontracts with any institutions who are not members of the GCP Consortium to ensure that all GCP products can be made available to the resource-poor.

Download the icon Subsistence Use Agreement (60.35 kB)

IP policy

June 2008

All GCP grant recipients sign agreements to adhere to GCP’s intellectual property (IP) policy, which, among other things, requires:

that knowledge gained during the project to be promptly and broadly disseminated to the scientific community, subject to a limited delay to seek intellectual property protection if such protection would best facilitate the achievement of the project’s charitable objectives, and,
that the intended product(s) be made accessible (with respect to cost, quantity and applicability) to or for the benefit of the people most in need within developing countries worldwide.

Download the icon IP Policy (19.55 kB) (June 2008)

Data availability

Rationale and conditions

The capacity to access and exchange data among research partners is paramount to the success of the GCP. The principle of the GCP’s data availability policy is that all data generated in GCP-funded or partially GCP-funded projects will be made publicly available.

Important note: Final payment (20% of the project's final year of funding) will only be released upon GCP's approval of Final financial and Final techincal reports. GCP's approval of Final techincal reports will not be granted without the release of quality data in a suitable format, as outlined in the 'Data production and sharing' section directly below.

Data production and sharing

As outlined in Appendix E of your GCP research proposal, the following information is mandatory:

The nature of the data to be produced
Phenotypic data, genetic map, QTL characterisation, gene expression, etc.
The format of the data
MS-Excel file, Word table, MapMaker output file, etc. Datasets should be presented in a form that allows an outsider to interpret the data. To assure interpretability and allow easy processing of the data, the GCP templates (downloadable on CropForge) must be used.
Where and when the data will be posted
By the end of the project, data must be posted to one of two places: either i) to a publicly accessible database, or, ii) to the GCP Central Registry (hosted by Bioversity).

For GCP breeding projects, or projects producing data of primary interest to breeders, the data can be loaded into a local database supported by the Integrated Breeding Platform and submitted to the IBP Informatics Coordinator for publication in the Central Crop Databases by the Crop Curator.

Data embargo and conditions

A six-month embargo period can be considered in case of cleaning of the data or preparation of publication(s). In such cases, data must be available upon the request of the Subprogramme Leader at the end of the project. If the data are posted to a public database, the link to that data must be provided to the curator of the GCP Data Central Registry. In the event that a six-month embargo is granted, payment of the final 20% will be withheld until the data are released.

Data release email message sent by GCP Director to PIs on 9th September 2009

Download here.

Publications

GCP’s position: To ensure the widest possible dissemination, GCP’s general policy is to publish under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence, and to encourage GCP grant recipients to do the same.

GCP grant recipients are also required to acknowledge GCP in their publications, public awareness materials and presentations. See ‘Acknowledging GCP’

Statement on transgenics

November 2005

GCP will support the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for research purposes, because one of the research mandates of the GCP is to improve our knowledge of gene function and interaction using modern biotechnologies. Genetic engineering techniques as research tools have powerful implications for understanding plant biology, which can in turn contribute to plant breeding programs. These research tools, as used in the GCP, will not result in the development of GMO products to be deployed in farmers’ fields.

By virtue of its research mandate, the GCP will not at this time support any projects aimed at the development of transgenic varieties.
In all aspects of its work, including those involving transgenic research, the GCP adheres to all relevant national biosafety and regulatory policies as well as international treaties, agreements, and protocols. Such adherence will be required of all downstream users of GCP technologies.

Download icon DOC086. GCP Statement on the Use of Transgenics-9 Nov 2005 (22 kB)