What you need to know as a university supervisor for an Industrial PhD

BASICS

• A university supervisor must ensure that an agreement is made on confidentiality and the distribution of rights. Contact Business Affairs.
• An Industrial PhD agreement safeguards the framework for the PhD programme and ensures that the student can complete his or her PhD and publish the findings, but issues may arise in respect of the role of the university-employed supervisor.
• A university supervisor may encounter a secrecy requirement for research findings and information received in his or her capacity as supervisor being kept confidential.
• To safeguard the supervisor’s possibilities of publishing his or her own research findings, the supervisor must contact Business Affairs with a view to concluding an agreement with the enterprise regulating the conditions in respect of confidentiality and publication. 

 

DETAILED INFORMATION

An agreement between university and enterprise
An agreement on an Industrial PhD is concluded between the University of Copenhagen and the enterprise which is to employ the relevant PhD student. The agreement sets out the framework for the PhD programme and ensures that the student can complete the PhD and publish the findings.
 
Rights and confidentiality are important parts of the agreement
It is often crucial to the enterprise that the information submitted to a PhD student is not disclosed to others. The agreement will therefore contain an obligation to keep all confidential information confidential. The rights to the findings that an Industrial PhD student arrives at belong to the enterprise in question as the student is an employee at the enterprise.

The supervisor is not always covered by the agreement
The supervisor of an Industrial PhD student is not necessarily covered by the agreement and therefore has to ensure that an agreement is made which covers the rights to any work performed by the supervisor in the form of supervision and in connection with any findings in which this may result.
 
It is important to note that the supervisor, as opposed to the student, is employed at LIFE, which means that the rights to the supervisor’s work is comprised by the Danish Act on Inventions at Public Research Institutions (the Research Patent Act) (Lov om opfindelser ved offentlige forskningsinstitutioner (Forskerpatentloven)).
 
The supervisor should also be aware that issues may arise in connection with the receipt of confidential information with the consequence that the enterprise may demand that a confidentiality agreement be signed.

 

The supervisor must therefore contact Business Affairs to ensure that a satisfactory agreement has been concluded in respect of the supervisor’s work and any requirements for confidentiality. 
 
 

LINKS

 

The Danish Science, Technology and Innovation’s website
 
Business Affairs’ website
 
 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Anne-Marie Jensen
Legal advice on tel.: +45 353-32009
Available Monday-Wednesday