Students often cooperate with private companies or organisations when writing their theses and reports. These external partners may want to make a written agreement to prevent any third party from getting access to confidential information.

If a company or organization, in connection with a collaboration with a student regarding a thesis or project report, wishes confidentiality about the information that the student and AU become aware of, AU commits to following the rules specified below. It is important to note that a significant part of these rules only come into effect if the thesis or report is marked 'Confidential'.

The following rule applies, if a student writing his/her thesis informs his/her academic supervisor about a secrecy agreement made with a company or organisation:

• The supervisor is bound to observe professional secrecy about the company knowledge acquired in the supervising process.

Furthermore, if the thesis is marked 'Confidential' because of the above-mentioned agreement, the following rules apply:

• The thesis will only be available for the supervisor/examiner, external examiner, and the necessary administrative staff, and copies will not be distributed to others.
• The supervisor/examiner and the external examiner have a duty of confidentiality regarding the knowledge about the company/organization acquired through the content of the thesis/project report and any accompanying oral examination.
• The administrative staff has a duty of confidentiality regarding the knowledge about the company/organization that may be acquired through the content of the thesis/project report.
• The supervisor/examiner has a duty to ensure that the oral examination (if any) is held behind closed doors.
• To the extent that the library receives a copy of the thesis/project report, it will not be available for reading and/or lending. 
• In the case of an appeal in connection with an exam complaint, the thesis will be available for all members of the appeals committee, who will be bound to professional secrecy, as described in item 3. 

Furthermore, there is sometimes a need for a mutual confidentiality agreement directly between the company/organisation and the student. Aarhus University has made a standard agreement which we recommend the student and the company/organisation use. The confidentiality agreement must be signed by the student, the company/organisation, the departmental programme coordinator and the supervisor.

It is recommended that students and companies use AU's standard confidentiality agreement ('Student project and Internship'), which you can find at the bottom of the page here.

Please follow this procedure in connection with the standard confidentiality agreement:

1. The student must ensure that the agreement is signed by:
   • The student in question
   • The company in question 
   • The supervisor
2. The supervisor must subsequently submit the standard confidentiality agreement to the departmental programme coordinator for signing (see below).
3. Once the confidentiality agreement has been signed by all parties, the student must submit an electronic copy to TTO (Technology Transfer Office) tto@au.dk for filing and storing.

Company-specific Confidentiality Agreement

If the standard confidentiality agreement is not used, the other confidentiality agreement must be approved by TTO (Technology Transfer Office) tto@au.dk.

Please follow this procedure in connection with the company-specific confidentiality agreement:

1. Students must make the supervisor aware that they are using another agreement than the standard confidentiality agreement.
2. The supervisor must send the agreement to TTO for approval.
3. When the agreement has been approved, the supervisor must send it to the departmental programme coordinator (or, if necessary, the department head) for signing. The supervisor also signs the agreement.
4. The student will then receive the signed contract and must make sure that it is also signed by the company.
5. Once the company has signed the contract, the student must return the contract to the supervisor and TTO for filing and storing.

The director of studies that can sign the confidentiality agreement:

• Economics: Michael Svarer
• Public Policy Specialisation: Peter Bjerre Mortensen