Students often collaborate with companies for their final project, bachelor thesis, or master thesis. If the company requests it, there may be a need for a confidentiality agreement.
All employees at SDU are bound by confidentiality agreements, so in most cases, a confidentiality agreement is not necessary
As a result of ‘Forvaltningsloven’, all employees at SDU are bound by confidentiality agreements, so in most cases, a confidentiality agreement is not necessary.
1. Therefore, inform the company that the SDU supervisor, the censor, and other personnel at SDU (secretaries and other administrative staff) are bound by confidentiality agreements under ‘Forvaltningslovens’ § 27. Therefore, a confidentiality agreement is generally not necessary unless requested by the company. Discuss with the company whether this is sufficient for your project.
2. If it is sufficient, you should decide whether your project may be loaned out when submitting it. When submitting the assignment via Digital Examination, you must indicate if your assignment may not be loaned out.
Use the SDU standard confidentiality agreement if the companies do not believe confidentiality obligations are sufficient
In cases where the company does not believe that confidentiality obligations are sufficient and requests a confidentiality agreement, use an SDU standard confidentiality agreement.
These are available in four versions: in Danish for an individual student and for a group of two students, and in English for an individual student and for a group of two students.
If there are two students, you must complete the standard confidentiality agreement together. Only one of you needs to submit the agreement according to the procedure below.
If there are more than two students, each member of the group must complete a standard confidentiality agreement and follow the procedure below.
The procedure for using the standard confidentiality agreement is as follows
1. The student sends the template to the company. Before sending the template, you must complete the areas highlighted in yellow. It is important that you specify the course code and title for the course from which the project originates in section 2.3. Afterwards, make sure to delete the yellow highlighting so that the agreement does not contain any highlights when sent to the company.
2. If the company approves, the student signs and obtains the company's signature.
3. The agreement is then uploaded to SDU RIO, Legal Services, at the following link: contracts.sdu.dk (use SDU SSO login).
4. SDU RIO, Legal Services reviews and approves the agreement and obtains the signature of the head of department.
The student receives the agreement back from an employee at SDU RIO, Legal Services, when it is fully signed, and you should only use the agreement again when you need to submit your assignment via Digital Examination.
Regarding any changes to the standard confidentiality agreement
Note that if there are any changes to the standard confidentiality agreement, the agreement must be approved by SDU RIO, Legal Services. This will significantly prolong the process of entering into the agreement. Therefore, we encourage the use of the standard confidentiality agreement without modifications whenever possible.
Exceptions for company-specific confidentiality agreements
A company-specific confidentiality agreement (confidentiality agreement) may be drawn up between the company, SDU, and the student to meet the requirements of the examination order if the company requires it.
The SDU standard confidentiality agreement should be used as a starting point, but in some cases, SDU RIO may allow the use of a company-specific confidentiality agreement.
It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the confidentiality agreement is entered into and signed well in advance of the submission deadline for an assignment, typically at the beginning of the semester.
If a company requires the student or supervisor to sign a company-specific confidentiality agreement, the agreement must be approved by SDU RIO, Legal Services, on behalf of SDU.
The procedure for company-specific confidentiality agreements is as follows
1. The student must upload the company's template to contracts.sdu.dk. When the case has been assigned to a lawyer at SDU RIO, Legal Services, the lawyer will either approve the agreement immediately or request a contact person in the company's legal department.
2. SDU RIO, Legal Services, will negotiate a contract that both parties can approve, and the student will then be notified by the lawyer at SDU RIO, Legal Services, to complete the agreement, sign it, obtain the company's signature, and return it to SDU RIO, Legal Services.
3. SDU RIO, Legal Services, will obtain the signature of the SDU supervisor's head of department and then send the fully signed agreement to the student.
4. Finally, the student must inform the SDU supervisor that a different agreement than the standard confidentiality agreement is being used.