Cooperative Research and Development Agreements
Unlike other types of financial opportunities, cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) do not result in a financial award. However, they may still be financially beneficial to both industry and government participants.
CRADAs are partnerships in which a private sector partner and a national laboratory work together to further research and development. In the simplest form of a CRADA partnership, each party contributes equally to the project in terms of labor, funding, and facilities. In more complex arrangements, the private partner may opt for a "funds in" arrangement, in which it defers part of the laboratory's expenses.
When work is complete, each party retains title to its own inventions or intellectual property. In addition, commercially valuable information developed under a CRADA project may be protected from disclosure for up to 5 years.
CRADA arrangements help each party by broadening the facilities and expertise available for research. CRADAs therefore enable research that otherwise might not be cost-effective for either party to undertake.
For more information about the CRADA programs of EERE-funded laboratories, explore the following links:
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
- Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Sandia National Laboratories
For more information about working with the Department of Energy's national laboratories, see Doing Business With the National Labs (PDF 853 KB). Download Adobe Reader.