The latter should be encouraged. In the case of assignment, the Research Organisation transfers the entire contract, including all rights and obligations thereunder. The assignor is the Research Organisation. The assignee is a third party. It is often another Research Organisation.
Research is in the nature of a personal service.
You would no sooner allow an employee to assign his employment contract than you would allow a Research Organisation to assign a research and development contract. That's why I state, categorically, that assignment should be prohibited. Years ago, Research Organisations performed most, if not all, the services with their own resources and staff. With ever greater specialisation, few Research Organisations are large enough and well resourced enough, to be able to handle the entire project from soup to nuts. They are forced to use external suppliers of specialised services.