Petition to Amend the Novartis - UC Berkeley Contract

Drafted by Students for Responsible Research, UC Berkeley

Whereas, the contract initiating the Novartis – UC Berkeley alliance has become public;

and whereas the majority of students, faculty, and concerned citizens were unable to participate in the formation of this contract before its signing;

and whereas the alliance will have significant impacts on the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, the College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley, the public interest, and future agreements between public universities and private corporations;

and whereas a recent formal survey of faculty members of the College of Natural Resources demonstrated serious division within the College over this agreement and doubts about the wisdom of entering into such a contract with the provisions as written;

We, students, faculty, staff, and concerned community members, call upon the Chancellor of the University of California – Berkeley to amend the contract between NADI (Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, Inc.) and the Regents of the University of California in the following manner:

Specify that the contract exists between NADI and a group of faculty in Plant & Microbial Biology, removing any involvement of the College of Natural Resources’ faculty or dean. Furthermore, either the Dean of CNR or the Chancellor of UC Berkeley should clarify this relationship to the UC Berkeley community, the media and the public.
Specify that the contract does not reserve any number of adjunct faculty positions for Novartis employees. UCB faculty members may propose adjunct status for a Novartis employee, but he/she must be judged solely on academic and professional merits. The mention of available adjunct faculty positions in a contract, or in associated materials and discussions, creates an expectation that could bias objective evaluation of proposed appointments.
Specify that Novartis/NADI shall have reserved first rights of negotiation only on patents developed through research that NADI has directly funded, not as the contract currently delineates (NADI has the option to first negotiation on a percentage of all patents developed by participating faculty of PMB. This provision enables NADI to "cherry pick" the most valuable patents. Current exclusions include only for-profit agencies). If this step is not taken, contract administrators should notify all sources of public and private funding to the Plant and Microbial Biology Department of the terms of the Novartis contract in order that they may designate their research off-limits to NADI’s first right of negotiation, as provided for in the current contract.
Specify that patents licensed to NADI/Novartis through the contract will transfer 100% of product liability – protecting UC Berkeley from litigation resulting from technologies produced and/or marketed by NADI/Novartis.
Specify that parties involved in the negotiation of or participation in the contract disclose any conflicts of interest to the University community and to the public, as suggested by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

Taking action!

There are three ways you can sign on (in order of preference):

  1. Come by the Mulford Lounge on the second floor of Mulford Hall (M-F, 8-5) on the Berkeley campus and sign a copy that should be out on the table.
  2. Use a printable version of the petition, have you and your colleagues sign it, and mail it to us.
  3. Use an online petition signature form.

You can also keep in touch by getting an email whenever the main web page changes (which we use like a newsletter) and at our contact page, which includes a discussion email list.