Affiliated Institutes are research institutions that are legally, financially and organizationally independent from RWTH Aachen. The specific details of the collaboration are set out in an agreements between the institute and the University.

The status of Affiliated Institute is granted by the Rectorate of RWTH Aachen University; the Faculties can propose suitable candidates. As a prerequisite, these institutions must have a specific function that cannot be fulfilled by a university institution.

The Division of Legal Affairs supervises the the RWTH Aachen Campus project under RWTH Aachen's legal aspects and is a contact person for all questions, regarding related administrative processes.

RWTH Aachen collaborates with a large number of companies and institutions. As a rule, the goals of the collaboration are set out in a cooperation agreement.

Contractual partner is the University; faculties, divisions, departments, central institutions and chairs cannot enter into partnership contract, which is due to the fact that they are not legal entities. Such contracts must be signed by the Rector or the Chancellor or the persons authorized by them to do so.

A cooperation agreement typically specifies and clarifies issues such as subject matter of the collaboration, the rights and duties of the partners, the distribution of gains and costs as well as other financial matters, intellectual property rights, liability issues, and duration of the partnership. As a matter of course, other issues might be layed out as well.

A model agreement is available for download.

The Rectorate has put the following process for the renaming of university institutions in place:

• Decision by the Faculty Council
• Application by the Faculty Council to the Rectorate
• Deliberation by the Commission for Structure, Research, and Young Academic Staff
• Decision by the Rectorate

RWTH Aachen has taken out the following insurances:

• Employer's liability insurance
• Environmental damage and liability insurance
• Insurance against property and financial losses

In individual cases, RWTH also takes out machine insurances and special insurances for institutes. In some cases, Division 7.3 - Purchasing and Assets Accounting is responsible for taking out the insurance.

Negaitvely defined, property and financial damages are losses that are not categorized as personal damages (e.g. physical injuries or damage to the health of persons) or material damages such as destruction or loss of material goods.