In connection with a student's assignment, the supervisor, external examiner, and other staff at Aarhus University are always bound by confidentiality in accordance with the Danish Public Administration Act. This also applies to information that may occur during the supervision process.
The student has an additional option to mark the assignment as 'Confidential' on both the front page and by upload in WISEflow, which entails that the assignment will also not be available to the public at the library or elsewhere. The supervisor/examiner must here ensure that an oral examination is closed for outside audience.
Therefore, it will usually only be at the direct request of the company that a separate confidentiality agreement is necessary. This agreement is primarily used to regulate the student's behaviour towards the company by obliging the student to treat everything he/she may have access to with confidentiality.
If it turns out that an extra confidentiality agreement is necessary/required, there are two types of agreements that can be used:
1) A standard confidentiality agreement
2) A company-specific confidentiality agreement
Note: In both cases, it is important that the student him-/herself becomes fully familiar with the content of the agreement. The student cannot receive advice from AU/the TTO (Technology Transfer Office). The supervisor may confer with the director of studies, if necessary.
It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the agreement is concluded and signed well in advance of the submission deadline for an assignment.
Please refer the students to their study portal where the process will be described as well.
If you have questions, you can send an email to nda@econ.au.dk.
A standard confidentiality agreement ('student project and internship’ - bottom of the page) will be adequate in the vast majority of cases, and it is the supervisor's responsibility to ensure that the student is aware of this and also to make it clear that no changes may be made to the agreement. An allonge can be attached instead, if necessary.
Procedure:
Step 1: The student signs the agreement
Step 2: The student sends the agreement to the company to be signed
Step 3: The student sends the agreement to the supervisor to be signed
Step 4: The supervisor signs the agreement and subsequently sends it to the relevant director of studies to be signed
Step 5: The supervisor sends the signed agreement to the student
Step 6: The student sends (an electronic copy of) the fully signed agreement to the TTO (Technology Transfer Office) at tto@au.dk via his/her AU email.
If you have questions or are in doubt, you can send an email to nda@econ.au.dk.
A company-specific agreement may be required by the company, and in these cases, such an agreement must first be formally approved by the TTO (Technology Transfer Office) before it can be signed by the supervisor. This can be a time-consuming process, so the supervisor should recommend the student to draw up such an agreement during the first month of the writing period.
Procedure:
Step 1: The student makes the supervisor aware that an agreement other than the standard confidentiality agreement has been required by the company
Step 2: The supervisor sends the agreement to the TTO for negotiation/approval on behalf of AU
Step 3: After approval from the TTO, the supervisor sends the agreement to the student
Step 4: The student signs the agreement
Step 5: The student sends the agreement to the company to be signed
Step 6: The student sends the signed agreement back to the supervisor
Step 7: The supervisor signs the agreement and thus confirms that he/she is familiar with the content of the agreement
Step 8: The supervisor sends the agreement to be signed by the relevant director of studies (or head of department at nda@econ.au.dk, if there are provisions on the transfer of AU rights – this will be clear from the response from the TTO). Attach the response from TTO to your email.
When the confidentiality agreement has been signed by everyone, the supervisor must send an electronic copy of the fully signed agreement to the TTO at tto@au.dk via his/her AU email. NB: Remember to send it to the student as well.
If you have questions or are in doubt, you can send an email to nda@econ.au.dk.