Follow steps 1–10 and prepare the items below before contacting legal support.

1. Follow the instructions in the “Checklist for research collaboration agreements” in the expander below.
2. Download the agreement template for research collaboration, “Mall Avtal Forskningssamarbete FS/Template Agreement on Research collaboration ARC” and “Mall FS Villkor för deltagande i forskningsprojekt VFS/Template Conditions for participation in the research collaboration VFS". Always download the most recent version as the templates are regularly updated.
3. Complete the agreement template in full. The comments field in the template has support and instructions. Mark areas or text in red if you are unsure, add a comment and describe what you need help with.
4. The registration number assigned to the project by registrator@sh.se must be used for all documents included in the project. Please use the project’s registration number for the research collaboration agreement and all its appendices and for the VFS agreement; more detailed instructions can be found in the agreement templates.
5. Contact projektekonomi@sh.se and append the following to the email:
   - the completed draft agreement
   - the project application
   - the financier’s decision
   - terms and conditions of the grant
   - any other relevant documents.
   Project finance (Projektekonomi) help with filling in the financial information for the draft agreement. They will then return the draft agreement and attachments to the project manager.
6. Send the draft agreement and attachments you received from project financing to the university legal counsel. External link.
7. When the university egal counsel assesses that work on that draft agreement is complete, the project manager can send the draft agreement and attachments to the parties for feedback.
8. When all parties have agreed on the content of the draft agreement, it is time for it to be signed. Contact the university legal counsel for a final check. Once the draft agreement is approved, the project manager must save the agreement and attachments as a PDF file. If the attachment “Avtal Överenskommelse om gemensamt personuppgiftsansvar ÖGPA/Agreement on joint responsibility for personal data JDCA” or “Personbiträdesavtal/Personal data processor agreement” and the VFS are included, they are saved as separate PDFs. Instructions are in the template agreements.
9. Under Södertörn University’s delegation of authority, the agreement is signed by the head of school or vice-chancellor, see Governing documents - employee web (sh.se). A digital signature using the eduSign electronic signature tool may be used if the other party also has eduSign as a signature tool. Otherwise, all agreement must be signed by hand, see eduSign - e-signatures - employee web (sh.se).
10. Signed agreements are sent to the Central Records Office for registration. State the project’s registration number. Send a copy to the university legal counsel and Project finance.

You need to have the information and documentation described below available when filling in the template agreement for collaboration in research projects and when you contact the university lawyer. If there is a deadline by which a proposed agreement must be commented on or signed, please state this when you contact the university legal counsel.

1) General information

• Contact details for the project manager or other contact person at Södertörn University, name, school or unit, telephone number and email.
• State the organisations, organisation numbers and addresses of the contracting parties and names for the signatory parties. For the signatory on behalf of Södertörn University, see the Decision-making Procedure and Delegation of Authority (in Swedish) via Governing External link. Documents.
• Prepare a short description of the project and what Södertörn University will contribute to it. Collect relevant documents for the project’s implementation, such as the project application, funding decision and terms and conditions.
• If an employee of Södertörn University is participating in the project and has interest in any of the parties, for example as a part-owner or a relative of a part-owner, or financial interests (conflicts of interest, secondary employment) you must contact the university legal counsel soon as possible.

2) Finance

• The agreement between the parties must not contravene the financier’s terms and conditions. For budget, costing and other financial questions, please contact projektekonomi@sh.se (see instructions in the agreement template “Mall Avtal Forskningssamarbete FS/Agreement template, research collaboration ARC”).

3) Data transfers

• If Södertörn University will send data to someone external, you need to know the type of data and who the recipient is, as well as how the recipient will access the data and use it. See the instructions in “Avtalsmall Forskningssamarbete FS/Agreement template, research collaboration ARC” and write a brief comment below the relevant item in the template.

4) Project results

• Write a brief comment in the draft agreement about the type of results that Södertörn University will generate in the project, e.g. publications, reports, presentations etc., or patentable results such as inventions, products, software, methods, technical solutions and other intellectual property.

5) Personal data

• Will the project be processing personal data? If so, responsibility for it must be established. Read more on Personal data in research. The project manager must investigate whether Södertörn University has sole or shared responsibility for personal data (for example with another university). If there is shared responsibility for personal data, an agreement regulating this must be drawn up.
• If the project will engage an external party to process personal data on its behalf, a personal data processor, a personal data processor agreement (JDCA, template can be found under the plus box Templates Research agreements) must be drawn up. For more information see Personal data in research.
• If personal data will be transferred to an international organisation or recipient in a country outside the EU/EC (third country transfer), you must state this in the comments field of the draft agreement FS.

Send the completed draft agreement and the relevant attachments to the university legal counsel External link..

Swedish higher education applies the ‘professor’s privilege’ (regarding the intellectual property rights of academic staff), which means that the researcher owns the rights to most of their research results unless otherwise agreed.* This means that the university, in cases where results must be transferred or otherwise made available to a partner, makes an agreement with the researcher to transfer or hand over the licence to the partner (see more under the plus box Intellectual property protection).

*The Act on the Right to an Employee’s Inventions (1949:345) legislates that teachers are excepted from employers’ rights to own their employees’ inventions. By custom, the ‘professor’s privilege’ has come to cover more than just inventions.

Learn more about the ‘professor’s privilege’ at SULF External link, opens in new window.

Separate agreement between partner and researcher

The ‘professor’s privilege’ means that the university, where results need to be made available to a partner, must reach a separate agreement with the researcher so the latter grants a licence to the partner in the manner specified in the agreement between the university and the partner, so the research project can be carried out. When transferring results for commercial use, the partner must enter a separate agreement with the researcher.

For agreement templates check under the plusbox Templates, research agreements above.

For advice, please contact the university legal counsel External link, opens in new window..

Intellectual property rights is a term for the legal protection of your intellectual and intangible assets, i.e. the results of your work as a researcher. For example, models, processes, new materials, tools or knowledge. Some intellectual property rights arise automatically (copyright) while other rights must be registered with an authority. This applies to patents and trademarks, among other things. The English abbreviation IPR is often used.

Copyright consists of the following elements:

• The moral right means that you have the right to be identified as the author of the work and that it may not be used in a way that is offensive to you. This part of your copyright is not transferable to anyone else.
• Economic rights include the right to publish and distribute the work. Unlike moral rights, economic rights can be transferred, for example to a publisher.

It is important that you take control of your rights, such as in applications or collaborations with other universities or companies, so that you retain the opportunity to continue researching and creating benefit.

Learn more about copyright to research data and research material at SULF External link, opens in new window.

Learn more about Copyright for researchers at the Swedish Intellectual Property Office External link, opens in new window.

AI-generated material

As a rule, material created in an AI tool is not copyrighted because it is not created by a human. However, there may be restrictions on how the end result may be used. Therefore, carefully check the terms and conditions of the service to be used.

Since it is not a human who owns the copyright, it must be clear in the text that an image is AI-generated and what tool has been used to create the image. Most often, this information is given in the immediate vicinity of the image, or in a list of figures.

Learn more about Copyright on AI images at the Swedish Intellectual Property Office External link, opens in new window.

‘Professor’s privilege’

The ‘professor’s privilege’ applies in Sweden. This means that, as a researcher, you own the rights to your research results and the intellectual property you create, unless you have agreed otherwise. You can find more information above, in the expander for the ‘professor’s privilege’ in research collaboration.

Separate agreement between Södertörn University and researchers

Sometimes you need to sign a research agreement between you and Södertörn University. The purpose of the agreement is so Södertörn University can fulfil rules and conditions regarding intellectual property rights and results from the research projects in which you participate. Use the “Mall Villkor för deltagande i forskningsprojekt VFS/ Template Conditions for participation in the research collaboration VFS” which is in the expander called Agreements on research collaboration.

For agreement templates check under the plusbox Templates, research agreements above.

For advice, please contact the university legal counsel External link, opens in new window..

For advise, please contact the university legal counsel External link, opens in new window..