Legal

Clear parties, terms and conditions, and background

The parties to the agreement and authorised signatories must be clearly stated in the agreement. State the parties' organisation numbers and addresses (Malmö University's organisation number is 202100-4920). Check in particular that the agreement is signed by authorised signatories, both for the university and the other parties to the agreement. Clearly state which department within Malmö University is involved and who the contact person is for each party.

If the draft agreement has been drawn up by the other party, check that all terms and conditions and any appendices referred to in the agreement are attached.

The agreement should include a brief background description, including the course objectives and objectives of the agreement.

The relationship between the parties, their respective commitments and division of responsibilities should be clearly stated and easily accessible.

Financial terms

The financial terms should be clearly stated. In particular, check that the budget has been verified, that the payment terms are acceptable to us and that there are no financial risks. Agreed amounts are stated excluding VAT.

Term

The term of the agreement, i.e. when the agreement enters into force, when and how it is terminated, and the notice period, must be clearly stated, as must how the parties are to act in the event of a breach of contract and early termination. Automatic renewal of agreements is not normally recommended.

The collaboration/project should be evaluated before the agreement is extended.

Public documents and archiving

A confidentiality clause must be acceptable. As the university is a government agency, the rules on public access to official documents must be followed. Any confidentiality must therefore be supported by law in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400). Under no circumstances can the university be obliged to keep confidential information that it is required by law to disclose.

The university is obliged to archive its public documents, which means that these cannot be returned or destroyed if the other party so wishes.

Damages and force majeure

The agreement shall contain acceptable terms for damages, whereby a ceiling for the parties' liability for damages should be specified. The university shall not accept financial responsibility for indirect damage. Penalties should also not be accepted.

The agreement should contain a force majeure clause, which refers to an unforeseen, extraordinary event such as war, natural disaster, import ban and similar events that make it impossible to fulfil the agreement.

Amendments and disputes

Any amendments to the agreement must be in writing and approved by all parties to the agreement.

How any disputes are to be resolved must be clearly stated. In agreements with Swedish parties, there are two options: Swedish courts or arbitration. There are several differences between these two, and the most appropriate procedure depends on the circumstances. Court proceedings are public and offer the possibility of appealing the judgment, so that the dispute is decided in two instances. However, this means that the process can be protracted. Arbitration proceedings are decided in a single instance, where the parties themselves appoint the composition of the arbitration tribunal, decide which country's law will apply and where the proceedings will take place. The arbitration award is not public but is enforceable even abroad. The disadvantage of arbitration is that it is usually considerably more expensive than court proceedings, as the parties are responsible for all costs incurred. In agreements involving large sums of money and extending over a long period of time, arbitration may be justified, as in international contexts. In contract negotiations with international counterparties, it can be difficult to agree on dispute resolution in Sweden. Alternative solutions may then be considered, but a risk assessment must be made in each individual case. However, if the counterparty is another Swedish authority, the dispute must be resolved through negotiation, preferably at management level and ultimately by the government, as all government authorities constitute a single legal entity. In international agreements, Swedish law shall, as a general rule, apply to dispute resolution.

For research agreements

The organisation of the agreement area should be specified, including the project manager, forms of governance, reporting and evaluation, etc.

The financing of any assignments must be clearly stated, i.e. both direct and indirect costs must be specified.

Ownership and rights of use of results must be clearly regulated. As a general rule, according to the so-called teacher exception (or for copyright – the extended “rule of thumb”), Malmö University does not own the results of research conducted at the university; instead, the results belong to the university’s employed researchers. However, ownership and rights of use may be transferred by agreement. In the case of commission agreements, the condition is often that the results shall accrue to the client. However, this must always be agreed to by the university's researchers in a written agreement (see the template "Conditions for participation" below). In the agreement with the external party, Malmö University shall always be guaranteed at least the right to continue to use the results in research and education.

A clause regarding publication shall be acceptable. The time for the other party to review the research results, or to exercise the option to apply for a patent, before the results may be published shall be a maximum of 90 days. Malmö University shall always be mentioned as a party in connection with the publication of results.

Both for you as the senior x officer/manager responsible for an agreement and for the legal counsel, it will be easier if you download and fill in the form below before contacting the legal counsel.

Form for agreement review (doc)

What the legal counsel can help with

Before drawing up or negotiating an agreement, it can be useful to know what contract lawyers can and cannot help with. Contract lawyers always review the following issues:

• Publication issues
• Handling of intellectual property rights, such as rights to results
• Confidentiality regulations
• The university's responsibility with regard to, for example, expected results, the usability of results, damages or losses of various kinds, so-called disclaimer clauses

There are also parts of an agreement that legal counsel cannot assist with. These are typically issues that are strongly related to operations or where there are other support functions within the university that are better suited. Examples of things that contract legal counsel do not help with are:

• Anchoring the project; the project manager is responsible for anchoring the project at the department or Faculty.
• Project content and scope; the project description is very important for the scope of the agreement and its content cannot be assessed by lawyers.
• Budget and financing issues.
• The existence of conflicts of interest and secondary employment issues; the project manager is responsible for disclosing such circumstances (however, they may be assessed by the legal counsel).
• Personnel connections: persons participating in the project must be employed by the university.
• Procurement: questions regarding procurement are coordinated with Purchasing & Procurement.
• Premises and equipment: questions regarding premises and equipment are coordinated with the Building Department.
• Project management and organisation: the legal counsel checks that the authority has sufficient opportunity to influence decisions through, for example, voting and veto rules. However, it is up to the project manager to assess what is appropriate in relation to the project's objectives and content.

Contact details for contract legal counsel

Contact Henrik Wiebe

The department

When several departments are to enter into an agreement with an external party, the content of the agreement must be checked by all participating departments. One of these departments must be appointed as the main party responsible for checking and securing the agreement.

Faculty Office

The faculty offices are the first point of contact for review and advice in connection with agreement work within the faculties. For questions of a primarily financial or legal nature, the faculty offices can then turn to the Finance Department or the University Management Office for advice and support.

University Management Office

Contract management at the University Management Office mainly consists of reviewing contracts on request and providing advice in connection with contract drafting. It is recommended to plan ahead in all contacts related to contract work. The Office can also provide templates for contract drafting.

Contract review involves reading through and analysing the content of the contract, with a focus on the legal aspects. The assessment may be that measures need to be taken before a contract can be signed, e.g. that terms and conditions need to be changed or deleted, which may lead to negotiations with the other party. Contact with the other party is primarily handled by the department/unit.

Contact details for legal counsel at the University Management Office

Contact Daniel Hansson-Stone

Contact Henrik Wiebe

Education and Research Support

EU liaison officer for research reviews agreements within the framework of the EU's Framework Programme for Research, other European research programmes and agreements relating to projects with American research funders.

International Secretariat

The International Secretariat reviews agreements within the framework of the EU's education programmes.

The conclusion of an agreement with an external party constitutes a matter at Malmö University, which must be registered. Correspondence with external parties in the matter during contract negotiations must be registered on an ongoing basis, while all internal correspondence of significance to the matter must be registered and archived when it is concluded. In externally funded research projects, it is common for those participating in the project on behalf of Malmö University to sign terms and conditions for participation. These must also be registered and archived together with the research agreement.

Registration

The person responsible for the agreement is responsible for ensuring that it is registered, regardless of who in the case has conducted the correspondence (for example, if the contract lawyer exceptionally handles some of the contact with external parties). Contact the responsible registrar if you need more information.

When the agreement is settled for signing, it must be communicated to the persons concerned. It is very important that the agreement is signed by all parties before the work covered by the agreement begins.

All parties to the agreement must retain a signed original copy of the agreement, complete with any appendices. As the person responsible for the agreement, you are responsible for ensuring that the original and additional information in the case are taken care of for archiving.

Archiving

The University Executive Office has prepared a number of standard templates for different types of research collaboration agreements. When using templates, keep in mind that they cannot be used without customisation. Each contractual relationship is unique, please read every part carefully and think about what is missing, can be deleted, need to be supplemented, investigated, etc.

Consult the contract attorney for questions. There are templates for collaboration agreements, assignment research agreements, Confidentiality Agreement and conditions for participation.

Templates (in Box)

• Review your procedures. The type of personal data we collect must be made clear from the outset, as well as how the personal data will be used. Procedures for registering and erasing data (both formally and in practice) must also be improved.
• Personal data must be handled securely and we must be able to demonstrate how we process information. As a staff member, you must only use university-wide, approved systems when handling personal data as part of your work tasks. Do not handle personal data in external storage services and tools that are not provided by the University, such as Dropbox, Google docs and iCloud. All data should be handled in Office 365 and the file storages on Malmö University’s servers. When using an external service, we must be able to guarantee that the information will not be used for other purposes, like profiling for advertising, and we must have a written agreement with the service provider, meaning that many services will be lost.
• We have a registry for all processing of personal data at the University. Most of the University’s data processing is carried out within our university-wide systems where personal data processing agreements are made between the data processer and the University. This applies, for example, to the handling of students’ personal data in Ladok and staff members’ personal data in Primula, Retendo and IDS. Knowledge about the registry is important for those who initiate processes that involve personal data, for instance when purchasing new software or starting a research project.
• All processing of personal data must comply with the principles of the GDPR which state that: data must be processed in a legal, correct and transparent manner in relation to the data subject; all information must be accurate and updated; all information must be processed in a secure manner; information may only be collected for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes; the information may not be too extensive in relation to its purpose; and the information may not be used for longer than the period required for processing.

Any information that can directly or indirectly be linked to a living person is personal data. This means that personal data are not only things like names and national identification numbers, but also user names, email addresses, biometrics, physiological data and any combination of data that make it possible to link the information to a living person. Combinations of data that do not individually identify a living person may also together identify an individual.

Following personal information considered sensitive:

• racial or ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• union membership
• genetic and biometric data
• and information about a person's health, sex life or sexual orientation

The main principle is that sensitive personal data may not be processed, but there are exceptions to this principle, such as when the data subject has given their explicit consent to the processing. Since sensitive personal data are considered to have a higher protection value than other personal data, there is a higher requirement for these data to be given a higher level of protection.

Consent means that you agree. But in order to agree, it is important that everyone has settled views on the conditions that apply. There are therefore a number of requirements for what is needed in order to refer to consent for the processing of personal data in relation to the Data Protection Regulation. This may make it seem difficult to obtain and handle consent correctly, but at the same time, consent, whether you are a researcher or writing an essay, is a basis that makes it possible to process all types of personal data, even sensitive data. In some cases, especially in connection with research that requires ethical review, it may be the only way to use personal data, and it is therefore important to understand what consent means and to be able to handle it correctly.

Consent must be voluntary, and it is therefore very important that the person giving their consent receives sufficient information to know what data is needed, what it will be used for, for how long, who will use it and what rights the person giving consent has. It must be a voluntary, specific, informed and unambiguous expression of will and must not be linked to other conditions. It is also important that the information provided is clear and easily accessible so that the conditions are known and it is therefore settled what the consent refers to.

When should consent be requested?

Consent must be obtained before personal data is collected. Obtaining consent is therefore the first step in the practical work.

How can consent be given?

When processing personal data on the basis of consent, it must be possible to demonstrate that such consent has been given at any time. Consent must therefore be given in such a way that it can be demonstrated when necessary, but there is no requirement for it to be in a specific form. It can be given in the form of a signed form, a tick in a web form (note that consent must be an active action, so it is not possible to have a pre-ticked box where those who do not consent are expected to remove the tick) or a recorded consent at the beginning of a film or audio recording.

Who can give consent?

In relation to the Data Protection Regulation, anyone over the age of 13 can give consent themselves. For children under the age of 13, at least one guardian must approve it.

If the processing requires an approved ethical review, the age limit for consent is normally 18 years, but in certain circumstances it may be 15. For children, all guardians must give their approval.

How long does consent need to be retained?

Consent must be retained for as long as the data is processed on the basis of that consent. If the personal data in question has been deleted, there is no reason to retain the consent, and it should be deleted. If data collected on the basis of consent is subsequently processed on some other basis, there is also no reason to retain the consent, but to determine this, it is advisable to contact the university's archivists or data protection officer for assistance.

What information should be provided when requesting consent?

In addition to a clear description of the data you wish to collect and process, there are a number of things that must be included in the information. The points below describe what information must always be included and what information should be included if there is reason to do so.

The identity and contact details of the data controller

If you are conducting research or studies at Malmö University, the university is the data controller and the address is Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, telephone 040-6657000. If the research project is being conducted in collaboration with other organisations, these organisations may sometimes be joint data controllers, in which case their details must also be provided. This additional information must always be included.

Contact details for the data protection officer

Malmö University's data protection officer can be contacted at dataskyddsombud@mau.se. This information must always be included.

The purpose of the processing and the legal basis

The description of the project should clearly state the purpose of the processing, but it is important that this is explained in a simple and clear manner. The research question normally expresses the purpose, but it may need to be explained in a way that is easy to understand for the person giving their consent. The legal basis is consent.

This must always be included.

Recipients or categories of recipients

If the data will be disclosed, there must be information about who these recipients are. It is not certain that there are other parties, and the information only needs to be provided if there are. Please note that this only applies to personal data. It is therefore not a question of who will have access to the results of the work, for example in the form of an essay or article that reports the results but does not contain any information about individuals.

Transfer to third countries

Third countries are all countries outside the EU/EEA, and transferring personal data to them can be complicated. In some cases, there are countries where the EU has approved the legislation and to which personal data can be transferred without any problems (e.g. Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand and nine other countries), but the United States, for example, is not one of these. If you are going to process personal data with the help of an American company, this is considered a transfer to a third country and you should contact the data protection officer before you begin processing.

This information only needs to be included if there is a transfer to a third country.

The period during which the data will be stored

There must be information about how long the personal data will be stored or, if it is not possible to specify an exact time, what criteria determine this. For a thesis, for example, it may be appropriate to delete the personal data once the thesis has been assessed and the results have been entered into the LadoK system. For a scientific work, it may be more complicated and it may, for example, be appropriate to retain certain data for up to ten years in order to be able to verify the results of the work if necessary.

Information about the storage period must always be included.

That the data subject has the right to request access to, correction, deletion or restriction of the processing of personal data, as well as the right to data portability.

Everyone whose personal data we collect has the right to access the data we hold about them, the right to have errors corrected and, in certain cases, to request the deletion of data or restriction of processing (restriction means that the data remains but may not be used until it has been investigated whether or not it may continue to be used). Furthermore, individuals also have a right to what is known as data portability, which in short means that they have the right to obtain their personal data in a digital format so that they can transfer it from one service to another. In connection with degree projects and research, this is something that rarely becomes relevant in practice, but we have an obligation to inform individuals that this right exists. In addition to information about what rights exist, there should also be information about where to turn to exercise them.

This information must always be included.

The right to withdraw consent

Anyone who gives their consent must also be informed that they can withdraw it at any time and that all data processed on the basis of the withdrawn consent will then be deleted. There must also be information about where to turn if you want to withdraw your consent.

This information must always be included.

Right to complain to the Data Protection Authority

Finally, anyone whose personal data is processed has the right to complain to a supervisory authority, which in Sweden is the Data Protection Authority.

This information must always be included.

Consent template (administration) (in English)

Consent template (researchers) (in English)

Consent template (students) (in English)

The processing of personal data is subject to certain legal prerequisites whereupon at least one of the following six lawful bases must be complied with:

• Consent - The data subject has given his/her informed consent to the processing of personal data. The consent must be registered and documented and may be revoked at any time.

• Processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of an agreement which the data subject is party to.

• Processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of a legal obligation.

• Processing of personal data is necessary for the protection of interests of fundamental importance to the data subject.

• Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

• Processing of personal data is necessary for the legitimate interests of a third party (unless outweighed by the interests, liberties and rights of the data subject). 

For Malmö University, the lawful basis is often public task, the processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or for your official functions. For the sake of research, the lawful basis is usually of a general interest to the public (the Research Data Act). It is important to remember, however, that the research work must be of a certain level for it to be of public interest. In the case of academic dissertations and theses, a different type of lawful basis for the processing of personal data, such as consent, may be required. 

If you have any queries, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer (dataskyddsombud@mau.se).

Are you the person responsible for the processing of personal data (for example, the owner of one of the systems or digital services of the university or the person who process personal data, for example in the course of your research)?

Then you are required to register the processing in the university records where the following information is noted:

• the identity and contact details of the controller, the data protection officer and, where applicable, of the controller’s representative,
• the purpose of the processing,
• a description of the categories of data subjects and of the categories of personal data,
• the recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data,
• any transfer of personal data to a third country and information about suitable safeguards applied by the recipient
• if possible, when the data will be erased and
• if possible, a description of the safeguards of the processing (both technical and administrative).

You will find the register here: dsfregister.mau.se

It is necessary for the person responsible for processing personal data to know the permitted grounds, the duty to provide information and follow the principles and register the processing whereas for those who work with a personal data processing system it is important to have knowledge of what is applicable and to follow the instructions.

All processing of personal data must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation as follows: 

• processing of personal shall be done in a lawful, accurate and transparent manner in relation to the data subject

• the personal data shall be accurate and up-to-date

• the personal data must be processed in a safe and appropriate manner

• the personal data shall be collected for specific and expressly stated legitimate purposes

• the amount of personal data acquired must not be excessive in relation to the purpose

• the personal data acquired must not be stored for a longer period of time than what is required for the processing. 

According to the General Data Protection Regulation, you must know for what purpose you are acquiring someone’s personal data and make certain that you do not acquire more data than what is necessary and for legitimate purposes only. You must also know for how long the data is required even if you do not need to report the exact end date.

When acquiring personal data, the researcher is obliged to provide the data subject with the following information: 

• the identity and contact details of the Personal Data Controller (see below)

• the contact details of the Data Protection Officer (see below for more information about Data Protection Officer)

• the basis and purpose of the data processing

• the recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data, if any

• details of any data transfers to non-EU countries as well as the level of protection and confidentiality provided by the recipient. 

Your obligation to provide details of a potential data transfer applies regardless of whether or not you the data was acquired directly from the data subject (with the exception of the data subject having already been informed of such data transfer or when it is impossible in practice or very difficult to inform the data subject or the transfer is provided by law). Under the Research Data Act, researchers may, however, have the opportunity to reuse personal data.

Before a third party, i.e. a party that is not Malmö University or a participant in an ongoing research project, can process personal data, it must enter into a Personal Data Assistant Agreement with Malmö University.

At Malmö University, the responsibility for drawing up of Personal Data Assistance Agreements lies with the University’s System Administrator. However, if appointing an external company for the processing of personal data, you are personally responsible for entering into a Personal Data Assistant Agreement with the company in question.

Please contact the University's Data Protection Officer for help with this.

We have a legal obligation to be available via email and respond to questions that arise. However, it is important to be careful when handling email. Sensitive personal data and information that may be considered confidential requires extra security measures and must not be sent via email. It may happen that outsiders unsolicited send information about, for example, illnesses, but this information should be deleted from the email. If there is something that needs to be dealt with, do so as quickly as possible but delete the email.

Do I need to add the processing of personal data to the Malmö University General data protection regulation register when I arrange a conference or a seminar with registered participants?

It depends, if you arrange a conference with the help of the university's conference service, it is their overall processing that is entered in the university's GDPR register. If you create your own processing containing personal data, in Microsoft Office Forms or Sunet Survey, it is important that you have a legal basis for the processing. If the data collection is part of a larger process, perhaps a research project, it does not need to be registered further.

How should I design the information text in a survey or a registration form? 

At the time of collection, the data subject has the right to receive information about which information is collected. This is easy in cases where the data is collected directly from the data subject, but the requirement also applies in many cases where the data is retrieved from another source. The following information must be provided:

• the purpose of the processing,
• the legal basis for processing,
• if possible, the period for which the data will be stored,
• the recipients or categories of recipients of the data,
• that the university is the controller,
• that the data subject has the right to have access to his/her personal data and have errors corrected,
• that there is a data protection officer that can be reached at dataskyddsombud@mau.se and that the data subject may lodge a complaint to Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten.

Consent form – template

According to Swedish law, anyone who has created a literary or artistic work (product, result, work) that achieves the threshold of originality has copyright to it. Originality means that a work is unique, i.e. that it is the result of intellectual creative activity that is so individual in character that two people, working independently of each other, could not reasonably be expected to produce exactly the same result. Works include, for example, articles, lectures, scientific works, books, maps, drawings, computer programmes, databases, plays, musical compositions, films, visual arts and applied arts.
Copyright consists of economic rights and moral rights. Moral rights are the right of the author to be named and the right to respect when the work is used by others. The economic right is the author's right to dispose of their work by producing copies of it and making it available to the public, regardless of whether this is done for financial compensation or not. The author can only waive their moral rights in exceptional cases.
Works that do not meet the threshold of originality are not covered by copyright. Documents that constitute official decisions, statements or consultation responses and the like are also not covered by copyright protection. When such works or documents are produced within the framework of the university's activities, the university has the right to them.
Copyright only protects the design of, for example, a text or an image, and not the ideas that may appear in the protected work.
It should also be mentioned that data in general cannot be protected by copyright or other intellectual property rights. This also means that data itself cannot be owned. In exceptional cases, however, databases may be covered by the so-called catalogue protection in the Copyright Act. On the other hand, the physical medium (e.g. paper or a server) on which the data is stored is owned by Malmö University. Research data also generally constitutes a public document.
Copyright protection arises automatically when the work is created.

In principle, all material used for teaching at Malmö University is protected by copyright. Copyright law makes no distinction between different types of teaching materials. Both expensive course books and simpler works, such as compendiums written by a teacher/instructor, are protected. Lectures held at the university are also protected by copyright. Students have the right to take notes on what the lecturer says and use these for personal use, but not to copy and distribute the notes through the sale of compendiums or in any other way. Students also have copyright protection for the works they have produced, such as answers to exam questions and degree projects. Teachers/instructors may only use these in their teaching with the student's consent.

Malmö University has a right of use to the teachers' teaching materials, which means the right to use them in the university's normal activities and for the teaching purposes that could be foreseen when the teaching materials were created. This right of use covers, for example, teaching assignments such as exercises, reading instructions, exam questions with answers and other teaching materials that the university needs in order to provide continuous and effective teaching.

The above also applies to recorded lectures, but the university does not claim the right to use them after the author's employment at the university has ended.

According to copyright law, published works covered by a contractual licence may be copied for educational purposes.

Since 1 January 2014, there has been a copying agreement between Bonus Presskopia and all universities and colleges in Sweden. The agreement means that teachers/instructors have the right, under certain conditions, to copy copyrighted material for use in teaching. The new agreement gives teachers/instructors the opportunity to make printouts from digital sources, such as the internet, in addition to the usual photocopying. It is now also permitted to produce digital copies of works for projection using presentation software, such as PowerPoint.

The copying agreement at bonuscopywright.se

Question 1: I have written a handbook on dental technology methodology. Are the ideas and methods described in the handbook protected?

Answer: No, probably not. Your handbook is most likely protected by copyright. However, this does not mean that the ideas and methods in it are protected. If it is a technical solution or similar, it may be possible to patent it, but this requires that the technology has not become known (what is known as the novelty value has been compromised). If there is interest in commercialising the method, you can also consider creating and protecting a trademark.

Question 2: I have designed a new watering can with smart features. Can it be protected in any way by intellectual property rights?

Answer: Yes, probably. Depending on various factors, design protection and/or a patent may be appropriate. Contact one of MaU Innovation's employees who can help you further.

Question 3: I have recorded a lecture on urban studies as part of a related compendium. I understand that the university has the right to use the material, but does the university also have the right to modify it?

Answer: Yes, as long as the university does not infringe on your moral rights, for example by damaging your reputation or your individuality. However, the university does not claim the right to use the recording after your employment at the university has ended.

Question 4: An employer generally owns the copyright to computer programs. I understand that the university waives that right. What does that mean?

Answer: It means that the university does not claim ownership of computer programs developed in research and education. However, for computer programs created in other activities at the university, the legal rule applies that the employer owns the copyright to computer programs.

Question 5: I am collaborating with a company through contract research. We are in complete agreement that the company should own the result, which will probably be in the form of a patent. How do we achieve this?

Answer: A provision to this effect is included in the contract for contract research. You then sign a simple agreement with the university whereby you waive your rights to the invention/patent. This is referred to as conditions for participation in externally funded projects. Contact the legal department at the University Executive Office for assistance.

Question 6: At our department, we have many students who write their degree projects on and in collaboration with a company. Can we help to protect the students' inventions or other ideas?

Answer: Not really, because the students are external to the university. What we can do is inform them so that they can protect their rights and not give the company ‘too much’.

Question 7: After ten years at Malmö University, it is time for me to look for a new job. My latest research project contains extensive research data that I would like to take with me. Can I do that? Who owns the data?

Answer: Research data is not protected by any intellectual property rights (exception: so-called catalogue protection). It therefore cannot really be owned at all. However, the university owns the medium on which it is stored, e.g. a hard drive, paper or a USB stick. You may not take this with you without an agreement between you, your manager and your new employer. Since research data (which is generally public information at the university) is often protected by confidentiality, there may also be difficulties in transferring the data from this perspective.

Question 8: I developed lecture material on surface chemistry five years ago. I no longer teach surface chemistry, but the university has continued to use my presentations, which I have no objection to in principle. However, the presentations are now becoming outdated as the subject is developing rapidly. Can I prevent their continued use?

Answer: Depending on the circumstances, using outdated teaching materials could violate your individuality and/or your reputation and thus your moral rights. All teachers/instructors also have a responsibility to ensure that the materials they use are up to date.

Question 9: In the Oral Health course, a compendium with exercises that I have produced is being used, even though I no longer teach the subject. However, my name is not mentioned. Is this right?

Answer: No. Moral rights mean that the author must always be named.

Question 10: At my department, we are going to sign a cooperation agreement with a game development company regarding research that is commercially interesting. We are interested in doing this together with the company, but they are not paying anything. Now the company wants the agreement to state that they own all the results. Is that acceptable?

Answer: No. Only in the case of fully funded contract research is it acceptable for the other party to own all results without additional compensation. Contact the legal department for help with drafting agreements and negotiations.

The university has business travel insurance through Kammarkollegiet, which applies when you are on business trips both within and outside Sweden.

Travel insurance

Foreign guests

Most foreign guests received by the university already have adequate insurance cover, for example from their home university, through travel insurance or exchange agreements. For foreign guests at Malmö University who do not have adequate insurance cover, there is a collective insurance policy for foreign guests.

The insurance includes accident cover, cover for illness, dental care and repatriation, property cover, liability cover and legal cover. For more information about this insurance, please contact your HR specialist or visit the Kammarkollegiet website, where you will find more information and forms for reporting claims.

Contact your HR specialist

Kammarkollegiet website

Incoming students

All foreign exchange students enrolled at the university are covered by the ‘Student IN’ group insurance policy. An exchange student is defined as a student who is studying or doing an internship in Sweden under an exchange or reception agreement between Malmö University and a foreign educational institution. The insurance covers medical, dental and repatriation cover, disability and death insurance, liability cover and legal protection. It is valid around the clock and therefore supplements the standard personal injury insurance for students.

Entitlement to healthcare benefits

Students and visitors from EU/EEA countries or countries with which Sweden has agreements on healthcare benefits are entitled to certain healthcare benefits in Sweden upon presentation of a certificate.

If a student's stay in Sweden exceeds one year, he/she is entitled to register with the tax authorities and is then covered by the general health insurance scheme.

Medarbetare på Malmö universitet som råkar ut för en arbetsskada kan vända sig till AFA försäkring för att få sitt ärende prövat. AFA försäkring prövar rätten till ersättning enligt sina kriterier, och en förutsättning för att få eventuell ersättning är att Försäkringskassan har bedömt skadan som en arbetsskada. 

Om arbetsskada, arbetssjukdom och hur du anmäler ditt ärende till AFA försäkring

Försäkring för svenska praktikanter och gäster

De flesta praktikanter och gäster som universitetet tar emot har redan fullgott försäkringsskydd, till exempel från sitt hemuniversitet, Arbetsförmedlingen eller arbetsgivare. Malmö universitet har tecknat en samlingsförsäkring för praktikanter som inte är studenter och för gäster som saknar tillfredsställande försäkringsskydd, en så kallad samlingsförsäkring för särskilt personskadeskydd. Försäkringen gäller för praktikanter och gäster i verksamheten som innehar ett svenskt personnummer. Praktikanter och gäster vid Malmö universitet som saknar ett svenskt personnummer omfattas istället av Försäkring för utländsk besökare ovan.

Försäkringen ger ett personskadeskydd på skadeståndsrättslig grund som motsvarar arbetsskadeförsäkringens olycksfallsskydd. För mer information gällande denna försäkring, ta kontakt med din HR-specialist eller se Kammarkollegiets webbplats där det finns mer information och ett formulär för att anmäla skada.

As a government employee, you have occupational pension insurance through the Swedish Government Employee Pension Agency (SPV) in accordance with the 2016 Pension Agreement for Employees in the Government Sector (PA16).

Retirement

As an employee of Malmö University, you are covered by a group life insurance policy (TGL), which means that your family can receive money if you die, through the Swedish National Pension Agency (SPV). Your family may also be entitled to a survivor's pension.

Swedish National Pension Agency website

Malmö University has taken out a so-called business insurance policy with Kammarkollegiet, covering property insurance, consequential damage insurance and liability insurance. There is an agreed risk amount for each part of the insurance. The risk amount, less the excess, constitutes the maximum amount that can be paid out as compensation in the event of damage. An excess has also been determined for each part of the insurance, which is stated in base amounts. The minimum excess is one base amount.

Terms and conditions of business insurance (kammarkollegiet.se)

Property insurance

Property insurance is an all-risk insurance for Malmö University's property. In the event of damage, the insurance covers the cost of replacing all property that is restored. Compensation that is not restored is compensated based on the market value at the time of the damage.

Consequential damage insurance

Consequential damage insurance covers additional costs incurred in the event of property damage, such as the rental of premises or equipment during the repair period.

Liability insurance

Liability insurance covers Malmö University's liability for damages and also covers certain other costs.

Personal injury insurance

Students and doctoral students/PhD students who are admitted to and pursue education at Malmö University are insured through the Swedish Higher Education Authority's ‘Personal injury insurance for students’. This covers both students who are resident in Sweden and students who come here from abroad to study.

The insurance is valid during ‘school hours’ and during direct travel between the place of residence and the place where school hours are spent. However, it is only valid in Sweden. The insurance covers personal injury due to accidents and certain cases of illness due to infection.

Insurance terms and conditions (Kammarkollegiet website)

Report damage (Kammarkollegiet website)

Outgoing students

The ‘Student UT’ collective insurance applies to students who are studying or doing an internship abroad under an exchange or reception agreement between the university and a foreign educational institution, company or other institution that receives students or interns. The insurance covers personal injury, medical, dental and repatriation cover, visits by relatives in the event of life-threatening injury or illness, interruption cover, luggage cover, luggage delay, cash assistance, liability cover and legal protection. However, for partner universities in certain countries, students may need to take out separate insurance. Malmö University has taken out supplementary insurance to the ‘Student UT’ collective insurance, which means that the insurance also covers students who go on shorter trips abroad, such as study trips as part of their studies at Malmö University.

Please note that the insurance does not apply to students who apply to an educational institution in another country on their own initiative.

Outgoing exchange students (Student UT) (Kammarkollegiet website)

Entitlement to healthcare benefits abroad

Anyone studying in another EU/EEA country is entitled to healthcare benefits if their health condition requires immediate treatment (emergency care). This applies to Swedish citizens and citizens of other EU/EEA countries.

If you are not a citizen of such a country but are resident in Sweden, you are entitled to healthcare benefits in certain cases. Your rights are set out in the agreements that Sweden has entered into with all EU countries except Belgium and Ireland. Within the Nordic region, it is sufficient to be resident in one of the Nordic countries (regardless of citizenship) for the rules on entitlement to emergency care to apply. Within the Nordic region, there are also additional benefit rules, such as the right to compensation for additional costs incurred when travelling home. In certain countries outside the EU/EEA area, you may also be entitled to health benefits.

Study visits, internships and degree projects

During study visits outside Malmö University or during degree projects, students are covered by the same insurance as during other educational activities. This only applies in Sweden.

The

Work Injury Insurance Act also applies to certain students, namely those undergoing training that involves a particular risk of occupational injury. More detailed provisions on students are found in the Ordinance (1977:284) on Occupational Injury Insurance and State Personal Injury Protection (FASP) and in the Act (1977:265) on State Personal Injury Protection. Through these statutes, the Occupational Injury Act is extended to also apply to those who, after completing their compulsory schooling, undergo vocational training. Higher education studies generally fall under this concept. However, the protection only applies during those parts of the training when the student performs work that corresponds to, or is similar in nature to, work that is normally performed in gainful employment.

According to the Swedish Tort Liability Act, the employer is liable for the employee's liability for damages when damage occurs in the course of employment. Students doing work experience in a workplace are considered by law to be employees of the employer concerned, see Chapter 6, Section 4 of the Tort Liability Act. If an intern causes damage, the employer is therefore liable for damages.

In healthcare, the Patient Injury Act applies, with responsibility placed on the healthcare provider, as well as patient insurance and additional liability insurance that the employer may have taken out.

In the case of internships at non-governmental workplaces, the state is liable to the employer under the Ordinance on Compensation from Public Funds for Damage Caused by Students at State Higher Education Institutions during Internships at Non-Governmental Workplaces (1982:1077). According to this ordinance, the internship must be prescribed in the education plan or course syllabus.

Compensation is paid for personal injury or property damage caused to the employer, regardless of whether the person who caused the damage is at fault or not. Applications for compensation must be submitted to the vice-chancellor, who forwards the case with a statement to the Swedish Higher Education Authority, which decides on compensation not exceeding SEK 100,000. If the case is of fundamental importance or is of particular significance, it shall be decided by the Government. The same conditions apply to degree projects and project work carried out at a workplace.

Regulation on compensation from public funds for damage caused by students at state higher education institutions during work placements at non-state workplaces (Notisum website)

Research students employed as doctoral students at Malmö University receive the same contractual and insurance benefits as other employees through their employment. PhD students who are not employed by Malmö University are treated as students in terms of insurance.

Those who come to Malmö University for contract education are not covered by the personal injury insurance for students. The employer/department that has ordered the contract education is responsible for ensuring that the person undergoing the education is insured.

The insurance applies to interns at Malmö University who are not students and who do not have insurance cover from elsewhere, as well as guests who participate in the activities and who have a Swedish personal identity number.

Special personal injury cover on the Kammarkollegiet website

The Swedish Higher Education Act contains provisions for universities and higher education institutions run by the state. In addition to the Higher Education Act, the Higher Education Ordinance and the Statute Book for the Swedish Council of Higher Education, there are several laws and regulations that govern state universities and higher education institutions.

The following links lead to pages in Swedish.

Högskolelagen

Högskoleförordningen

Förordningen om uppdragsutbildning

Förordning om redovisning av studier m.m. vid universitet och högskolor

Diskrimineringslagen

Offentlighets- och sekretesslagen

Arkivlagen

Förvaltningslagen