Private companies, associations, NGOs, etc. can help finance a research project with SDU if the organisation has a special interest in the research. The project must have scientific interest and relevance for SDU.
The research project can also be co-financed by public funds, e.g. from Innovation Fund Denmark.
First step
The first step towards a collaboration is a conversation about ideas and wishes, identification of the project and identification of relevant researchers at SDU.
Depending on the project, the organisation may need to provide access to data, facilities, conversations with employees, or other resources along the way.
If your organisation wants to share knowledge with a researcher about a specific research project, it may be a good idea to enter into a non-disclosure agreement – depending on the nature of the project. A non-disclosure agreement ensures that organisations and researchers treat information confidentially.
Publication of research results
The researcher has the right to publish their own research results, but it can be agreed to wait with the publication of the research results for a brief period until the partner has had time to protect their own results.
After the completion of the project, the partner can gain commercial access to SDU’s share of the rights to the results created in the project.
Learn more about licensing research results here.
Examples of research projects
- Employee well-being: After the corona pandemic, more employees are working from home. To understand the implications of this, SDU researchers have established a research collaboration with the Region of Southern Denmark to investigate employee motivation, relationships and working conditions.
- Algorithm for lighting control: Researchers from SDU, in collaboration with Aarhus University and the nursery Knud Jepsen, have developed an algorithm that optimises lighting control in relation to electricity rates.
- Working environment: Funded by the Work Environment Research Foundation and the Esbjerg Municipality, the research project ‘Management of and with social capital in the public sector’ has investigated the relationship between management, social capital of the workplace and sick leave among employees in Esbjerg Municipality.
- Organisation: Researchers from SDU have investigated (micro) variations in political organisation in seven municipalities as a basis for recommendations for the future organisation of municipalities, e.g. committee structure, overlap, gaps between sectoral areas, etc.