Student IP and sponsors
In general students are advised not to enter into/sign any legal agreement with an external organisation that relates to their research activities at the University. Students who are asked to sign any form or agreement should consult the Melbourne Research Office or the Student Union Legal Service. Students at the University must never be asked to assign rights or undertake responsibilities in this respect.'Top-up' scholarships
The practice of offering 'top-up' (additional funding) scholarships to students with the expectation that IP rights might flow to the sponsor can lead to confusion on the part of the student and to disputes over rights. The University does not consider that 'top-up' scholarships confer any 'automatic' IP rights to a sponsor. Any offer must take the form of a proposed legal agreement with the University, to be reviewed by the Melbourne Research Office (MRO). Documentation required by the MRO is as follows:- Copy of any agreement that governs the original student project and clearly defines what the project is.
- Copy of the agreement with the sponsor of the 'top-up'.
- Copy of any IP deed of assignment.
Sponsor restriction of publication
Industry and government research sponsors or collaborators sometimes seek to place broad and lengthy restrictions on publication of the results of a project. It would generally be unwise to have students involved in such projects as these restrictions may affect the opportunities to present at conferences, publish and bulid their track record and profile. A limited embargo on publication may be acceptable to allow consideration of commercial potential or the pursuit of statutory protection.No embargo is permissible with respect to the assessment of the student's academic course requirements (e.g. essays or theses) and the University will accept no restriction on assessment timing or information inclusion/exclusion. A request to review the thesis prior to submission is permissible, but only to assess the need for undertakings of confidentiality from examiners. In a limited number of cases the University is able to place a student's thesis on restricted access for a short time after publication (not more than a year).