Enter into a project collaboration with AAU students

Project collaboration with AAU students

On this page, you will find alle the information you need about collaborating with students in their semester projects: A timeline for the course, tips for a good project collaboration, templates for collaboration agreements, and a guide to writing a project proposal.

Post your project proposal for free in AAU Jobbank

The advantages of a project collaboration with AAU students

At AAU, the students are engaging in project work - often in groups. Therefore, as the project partner, you will be collaborating with one or more students on a project you need new eyes on.

The project does not need to be specifically defined before the collaboration begins. It is a part of the AAU students' competencies to both define and solve the problem you are facing.

The students have a high professional level, and a project collaboration gives you:

New eyes on current challenges or drawer projects
Access to the latest specialised knowledge
Opportunity to enter into your first collaboration with an academic
Opportunity to have a case tested or a problem analysed by students with special professional qualifications
An international perspective, e.g. new markets, language, and cultural understanding, if you work with an international student

Be aware that a project collaboration is a learning process, not an employment.

Indicative timeline for a typical project collaboration at AAU:

Tips for a good project collaboration

How to write a good project proposal

When you are looking for a project collaboration, the chance of success is bigger if the proposal advertisement is concrete, so that it is easy for the students to understand. We therefore recommend that you include information on all 6 points below.

In order to increase the readability of the job ad, it is also a good idea to divide the text into sections with space between them and insert sub-headings for each section.

More information on project collaboration with AAU students

How do your business benefit from the collaboration?

Students from Aalborg University acquire a high level of professional competences, and a project collaboration will give you:

the opportunity to give your company extra resources to solve tasks
fresh input regarding current challenges or future projects with potential
access to the latest specialised knowledge in a wide range of areas

Through student projects in collaboration with students at Aalborg University, companies have the opportunity to have a case tested or analyzed a problem by students with special academic qualifications.

The company may have a case that the company wants the students to work on, or the students may have an idea for a case that they would like to collaborate with the company on.

The company is expected to provide a company supervisor for the student project, as a kind of mentor and a partner for dicussion for the students. In this way, the company continuously acquires knowledge of what is being worked on in the project and the opportunity to make suggestions for the direction of the project, as well as which issues are being addressed. The student project typically lasts a semester.

It is crucial that the case is relevant to the student's study and academically corresponds to the student's level of education. The collaboration between company and student aims to generate new knowledge and enable the student to fulfill the project module's learning objectives.

Companies help to mature the students to work with the practical problems of reality by making cases available to students in correlation with a project-oriented course . Companies can thus contribute to educating students within the company's area of interest and contribute to the recruitment basis for future employees.

As part of the project process, the students have access to laboratories and facilities at Aalborg University, which are included as a general part of the students' education. In this way, the company gains access through the student project to have systems, methods, and materials analyzed and tested that the company may not have access to in its own business.

It is noted that there may be restrictions in relation to software licensed to AAU, mainly for university employees to use.

How do the students benefit from the collaboration?

At Aalborg University, there is a strong focus on educating talented students who are qualified to meet the challenges of the future and the demand of the business community. In its programs, Aalborg University uses the learning model PBL (Problem Based Learning), which i.a. gives students at Aalborg University the opportunity to:

acquire knowledge and skills independently and at a high professional level
work analytically, interdisciplinary, problem- and result-oriented
collaboration with the business community on solving authentic professional problems
develop their teamwork skills
get prepared for the job market

A significant contribution to qualifying the students is made through project-oriented collaboration with private and public companies.

Students at Aalborg University typically have the opportunity at several levels in the study program to complete a project-oriented course in collaboration with a company, in order to work with advanced issues in a business context and acquire the subject's practical application in addition to the theoretical application.

What do we expect from the company?

To get the most out of the collaboration, we expect the company to provide a company supervisor.

The company supervisor must have competencies within the subject area in question. The tasks of the company supervisor are to ensure that the goal of the collaboration is fulfilled as much as possible by ensuring that the student:

deals with a study-relevant problem at a level corresponding to the semester the student is in. It must be ensured that the nature of the work enables the students to fulfill the learning module of the project module.
receive support and guidance. The supervisor is expected to spend a reasonable amount of time weekly on supervision. At the same time, however, it must be pointed out that the student also receives supervision from the university, so that it is not the company's supervisor who is solely responsible for supervising the student.

In addition, the individual study board may have set special expectations for the company in connection with the student project.

The cost of project collaboration

The role of the university

In connection with the student project, Aalborg University assumes a role as project supervisor and is also responsible for examining the student at the end of the project.

The project-oriented course involves a semester or subject coordinator and a project supervisor who is employed at Aalborg University. A project-oriented course in collaboration with a company must be approved by the study board before the start of the project.

The course ends with an individual, oral exam based on the student's project report. The student, the AAU project supervisor and the examiner participate in the exam.

The individual study board can decide on the company supervisor, or other relevant company representatives can participate. The examination is carried out by the AAU project supervisor, and the assessment itself takes place only between the examiner and the examiner.

Both the supervisor and the external examiner (regardless of whether it is an external external examiner) are subject to a duty of confidentiality regarding the company's trade secrets, cf. Public administration § 27, in terms of their activities within the public administration.

Terms of collaboration

The project report is important for the student in relation to applying for a job when the student has completed their education. For that reason, the student should, as far as possible, be free to use their report afterwards without restrictions.

However, there may be cases where the company's trade secrets are included in the report or where the report is otherwise centered around the company's core activities, so that a publication of the report will compromise the company's business. In such cases, one will choose to keep the report secret and close the exam to the public.

The students are not employees of the university and therefore decide for themselves which terms they will accept in an agreement on the implementation of a student project. To the extent that a student receives confidential information from the company for the purpose of preparing the project report, it is important that the student has the opportunity to pass on this information to the supervisor at the university, to the extent necessary to discuss the project's progress and issues.

The same applies in relation to the possibility of sharing the project report with the external examiner so that the student can complete the examination.

If the company assesses that there is a need for an agreement on the implementation of the student project, there are two different agreement templates below for use in student projects. These are pre-approved by the university and can therefore be used to advantage in connection with student projects. Using a standard agreement also ensures a fast process for the company and the student.

Confidentiality agreement on student project
In many cases, companies contribute interesting issues, product specifications, data, strategies, and market and financial information. Many want such information kept secret. In order to ensure a confidentiality obligation in relation to trade secrets that are passed on from the company to the student, there is a 'Non disclosure agreement for student project'.

Secrecy and rights agreement on student project
As the companies have contributed time and knowledge to the student project, the companies usually expect to be able to utilize the results obtained afterwards. The students put a lot of work into the project and basically achieve the right to the results that they produce. Most students will be willing for the company to gain an advantage in terms of being able to utilize the results of the student project. To the extent that the parties want an agreement which includes both a confidentiality obligation and rights in connection with utilizing the project's results, the 'Non disclosure and rights agreement for student project' can be used.

Some companies prefer to use their own agreement template for student projects. In this connection, it is up to the students to decide whether they will accept the terms of the agreement. However, the parties should ensure that the student can share necessary information with the supervisor and examiner and thus can go to the exam. It is noted in this connection that the student can not impose obligations on the university in an agreement between student and company.

In special cases, the university will be willing to enter into agreements on student projects as a party if it is deemed crucial for the company that the supervisor is included in the agreement. In such a case, the company can contact the study board, which will assess whether the university will initiate negotiations on the agreement, based on a number of predetermined criteria.

Such an agreement will require legal control of the university's contract unit and case processing time must be anticipated. A prioritization of student agreements over the university's other activities cannot be expected.