@Toronto23 I'm not aware of any boilerplate templates specific to GIS work, and contracts can be very simple or convoluted things. I spent most of a day last week putting one together for on-going mapping services. Language may also be dependent on country of origin and if the two parties are in different countries (even the one I put together for a client in practically the same city spelled out which jurisdictions laws would govern the contract).

There's a lot of resources out there, but the ones I know are US based and I don't know if that would do you much good. google.com/#q=independent%20contractor%20agreement Some of those results provide templates you can modify. You may be able to find help at a local small business center. For what you're doing you could also just write your own and keep it simple, and not worry about all the legalese.

Just spell out what you're agreeing to do, how much you'll be paid (hourly or fixed fee), etc. If fixed fee, make sure you include how many hours - you don't want to end up agreeing to provide ongoing support for something you only planned to spend 20 hours on. The professor you spoke with might be able to help. Your client may also have a standard contract they would use that you could review and modify if needed - I've worked with many clients like that.