Collaborative research
Collaborative research is when the university conducts research together with one or more others and it does not take the form of commissioned research. A simple description of the differences between collaboration and commissioned research can be found in the brochure To collaborate with Uppsala University.
Certain general principles for research collaboration are set out in the Riktlinjer avseende intellektuella tillgångar skapade vid Uppsala universitet (UFV 2020/943) (Guidelines on Intellectual Assets Created at Uppsala University). These are that the University shall always reserve the right for research staff to publish their research results within a reasonable time from their creation, to ensure that research staff can continue researching their own results, and that if a collaboration, through the agreement entered into by the University, entails that ownership or utilisation of results is transferred to a collaboration partner, compensation shall be paid to the author(s) corresponding to the market value of the result/utilisation. The Legal Affairs Division has a checklist that can be used when reviewing research agreements, which can be found on the page Checklist research agreements.
For projects funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme, there is an extensive set of requirements for research outputs, which are described in more detail on the page Horizon Europe and research results.
The Legal Affairs Division assists in reviewing and advising on collaboration agreements. It should be noted that the responsible operation at the University is responsible for ensuring that the terms of the agreement are appropriate for its activities. For more information on what the Legal Affairs Division reviews, see the page General on agreements and templates.
The Legal Affairs Division recommends that, as far as possible, the University's model agreements be used for both collaborative research and commissioned research. Template agreements can be found on the page General on agreements and templates.
About the professor’s privilege within collaborative research, see page The professor’s privilege / Teacher’s exemption.
Need to notify the ISP?
Since 1 December 2023, the Lag (2023:560) om granskning av utländska direktinvesteringar (Foreign Direct Investment Review Act), abbreviated as the UDI Act, has been in force. According to the UDI Act, anyone who intends to invest directly or indirectly in activities worthy of protection must notify the Swedish Inspectorate for Strategic Products (ISP) in advance. Failure to notify or implementation of the investment despite the fact that ISP has not made a final decision may result in penalties of up to SEK 100 million. Responsibility at Uppsala University for ensuring that investments are notified lies with the head of the operation at the university that decides on the investment.
Direct or indirect investment includes, among other things, the situation where the university becomes a partner in an enkelt bolag (simple partnership). An enkelt bolag can arise when the university agrees to collaborative research, regardless of whether this is something that the university has sought. If the conditions for an enkelt bolag exist, the collaboration constitutes an enkelt bolag even if the collaboration agreement contains explicit wording that the collaboration will not take the form of an enkelt bolag.
Activities worthy of protection include essential activities (activities, services or infrastructure that maintain or ensure societal functions necessary for the basic needs, values or security of society), large-scale processing of sensitive personal data through a product or service, research on dual-use products, and research on emerging technologies or other strategically important technologies worthy of protection.
Further information on UDI legislation and the notification procedure can be found on the ISP website.
You are welcome to contact the Legal Affairs Division if you have any questions if your collaborative project involves activities worthy of protection or will be conducted in a form that can be considered an enkelt bolag.
Contact
- Contact the Legal Affairs Division
- juravd@uu.se