MTAs or Material Transfer Agreements are needed when intellectual property is shared between organizations or individuals in those organizations set the terms of the legal use of such property.
In our lab this mostly refers to two items
1. the transgenic animals
2. the viruses used for optogenetics
If some material needs an MTA then an MTA form from office of research administration (ORA) will need to be filled out
Link to the form: https://ora-fireform.eas.iu.edu/online/form/authen/oracr
Typically there is a legal agreement that is signed by both the IU ORA officers and the corresponding institution an example is attached below.
These can be acquired by reaching out the individual who holds the property rights and/or their institutional MTA office. Some of them do this regularly and have dedicated websites/individuals you can and should contact.