It is always important to agree on common ground rules before starting the thesis. This also applies to the handling of data.
If the thesis is carried out as a commissioned work or in an RDI project, a thesis agreement is made between the author(s) of the thesis, the collaborating partner, and Metropolia. There is a specific template for the agreement. The following aspects regarding the data can be agreed upon:
Background data, which refers to the material produced before the thesis, and which may be owned by the student, a company, or the university of applied sciences. The owner of the background data can grant usage rights to other parties involved in the agreement. For example, background data could be business data previously produced by a company and made available to the student by the company for the purpose of the thesis.
Ownership and usage rights of the research data and results generated during the thesis project. In general, the student owns the data produced for the thesis, but the agreement can also agree otherwise. The data owner can also grant usage rights to other parties. For instance, the student can grant the company or the university of applied sciences rights to the use data. It is advisable to agree on ownership and usage rights of the data and results to avoid any ambiguity later on. This may also involve compensation and invention royalties.
Confidential data. Some data may be classified as confidential, such as trade secrets. The agreement can define which data or parts of the data are confidential and specify when they should be destroyed.
Opening or reusing the data. The interest in open research and RDI activities is constantly growing. If the thesis author intends to make the data produced in the thesis project publicly available, it is recommended to include provisions in the thesis agreement to prevent potential conflicts in the future.
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