Step 5: Research agreements and contracts

It is important for the project management to have adequate agreements for the research projects, in order to prevent disputes and to create satisfactory and secure conditions for employees and departments, as well as for our collaborative partners. To have a signed contract between the parties is often a prerequisite for conducting the project according to several funders’ terms and conditions.

You, as the project manager, are responsible that all contracts are signed on time and by the right person according to the Delegation of Authority at Karlstad University. It is always the university who is the legal party in a research agreement, not the department or you as an individual researcher.

When Karlstad University functions as a coordinator of a project, it is customary that we circulate a draft consortium agreement among the parties.

Ownership of results

The principal rule in research partnerships is that the result belongs to the party that generated the result, known as the originator/creator. However, it is often difficult to determine who the originator/creator of a particular result is, when several parties are involved. In such situations, the general rule is that the parties in research collaboration own the results together. The research agreement should therefore stipulate the conditions of ownership.

Publication

The university and its contractual parties can agree that the publication of results should be preceded by a prior examination by the collaborating partners. This is to enable the parties to exclude their own confidential information from the publication and to allow them time to protect their intellectual property rights.

The time periods for prior examination and for delaying publication in order to submit applications for intellectual property protection should be reasonable and agreed between the parties. The definition of ‘reasonable’ in this context may differ between academic disciplines.

Confidential information

This is information of a confidential nature that is disclosed by a party to another party and should be marked as confidential. Research results from Karlstad University are not in general regarded as confidential but may be under specific circumstances. Under no circumstances, however, should the University be obliged to hold information secret that is directly or indirectly subject to disclosure by law.

For questions regarding drafting or reviewing of contracts, contact the Legal Department.