Confidentiality and protection of intellectual property
Supervisors & Coordinators
Protect confidential information, research data, inventions and other intellectual assets throughout the doctoral pathway and before any public disclosure.
Important
Protection must be assessed before publication or disclosure
A thesis, article, conference presentation, poster, dataset, software repository or informal communication may disclose information that is confidential, contractually restricted or potentially protectable. The Supervisor and candidate should identify these issues before the information becomes public.
01 — Information that may require protection
Confidential information may be acquired or generated during research carried out at UNICAM, at a partner institution, within a company or as part of a funded project.
| Information or result | Examples |
|---|---|
| Unpublished research results | Experimental results, preliminary findings, methods and research hypotheses. |
| Research data | Raw data, processed data, databases, images, recordings and laboratory notebooks. |
| Technical information | Protocols, prototypes, formulas, algorithms, software and technical specifications. |
| Third-party information | Information received from companies, partner institutions, research groups or project participants. |
| Personal or sensitive data | Information relating to research participants, patients, interviewees or identifiable individuals. |
| Potentially protectable results | Inventions, designs, software, databases, plant varieties and other intellectual or industrial assets. |
02 — Responsibilities of the candidate and Supervisor
| Person | Main responsibilities |
|---|---|
| PhD candidate | Treat confidential information appropriately, follow applicable agreements and instructions, use authorised storage systems and consult the Supervisor before disclosing research results. |
| Supervisor | Identifies possible confidentiality and intellectual-property issues, explains the applicable restrictions and involves the competent UNICAM offices when specialist assessment is required. |
| Programme Coordinator | Ensures that relevant issues are considered when approving research activities, mobility, external collaborations and the final examination procedure. |
| Competent UNICAM offices | Provide technical and administrative support concerning intellectual property, industrial protection, research agreements, data protection and technology transfer. |
The candidate must not assume that information is freely reusable or publishable merely because it was accessed during the doctoral research.
03 — Confidentiality declarations and agreements
Depending on the research project and the institutions involved, the candidate may be required to sign a confidentiality declaration or comply with a non-disclosure agreement or similar contractual provision.
| Possible source | What should be checked |
|---|---|
| UNICAM declaration | Scope of the confidentiality obligation and validation by the academic Supervisor where required. |
| Research or funding agreement | Ownership of results, publication review, confidentiality period and reporting obligations. |
| Host-institution agreement | Conditions applying during research periods at another university, laboratory or company. |
| Company non-disclosure agreement | Definition of confidential information, permitted use, disclosure restrictions and duration. |
| Co-tutelle or joint-degree agreement | Allocation of intellectual-property rights and rules governing the thesis and public defence. |
Agreements should be reviewed through the competent institutional channels. Candidates and Supervisors should not independently sign documents committing UNICAM unless they have been authorised to do so.
04 — Research data, documents and materials
Research information and materials should be stored, transferred and shared only through methods appropriate to their level of confidentiality and to the rules governing the project.
| Area | Good practice |
|---|---|
| Storage | Use authorised institutional systems and apply appropriate access restrictions and backups. |
| Access | Share information only with authorised persons who need it for the approved research activity. |
| External transfer | Verify whether an agreement, approval or secure transfer method is required before sending data or materials. |
| Use of personal devices | Avoid storing protected information on unauthorised devices or personal cloud services. |
| End of the collaboration | Return, archive or securely delete data and materials according to institutional and contractual instructions. |
05 — Publications, presentations and public disclosure
Disclosure should be reviewed before a manuscript, abstract, poster, presentation, thesis chapter, dataset, software package or other research output is made public.
| Before disclosure | Check |
|---|---|
| Confidential information | Ensure that no protected information belonging to UNICAM or a third party is disclosed. |
| Potential inventions | Determine whether public disclosure could affect possible industrial-property protection. |
| Contractual review | Verify any prior-review or approval period established by agreements with funders or partners. |
| Authorship and contributors | Agree on authorship, acknowledgements and recognition of contributions. |
| Funding acknowledgement | Include the required project codes, funder statements and logos. |
| Personal data and ethics | Confirm that disclosure complies with consent, ethics approval and data-protection requirements. |
Public disclosure includes conference abstracts, posters, preprints, websites, repositories, social media, public seminars and conversations with persons not bound by confidentiality.
06 — Inventions and potentially protectable results
When research produces a potentially innovative technical result, the Supervisor should involve the UNICAM technology-transfer service before the result is publicly disclosed.
| Step | Responsible person | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Candidate and Supervisor | Identify the potentially innovative result and the persons who contributed to it. |
| 2 | Supervisor | Temporarily suspend publication or presentation where necessary to preserve possible protection. |
| 3 | Technology-transfer service | Assesses the type of result, applicable ownership rules and possible protection strategy. |
| 4 | UNICAM and any partners | Verify ownership, contractual obligations and the appropriate protection procedure. |
| 5 | Candidate and Supervisor | Coordinate any subsequent publication with the protection timetable. |
07 — Ownership of research results
Ownership cannot be determined solely from authorship of the thesis or from the fact that the candidate produced the result. It may depend on legislation, UNICAM Regulations, the funding source and agreements with other institutions.
| Factor | Possible relevance |
|---|---|
| Nature of the result | Different rules may apply to inventions, software, databases, publications, designs and know-how. |
| Persons contributing | The intellectual contribution of the candidate, Supervisors, researchers and external collaborators must be assessed. |
| Funding source | Public or private funding may establish specific ownership and exploitation rules. |
| Partner institutions | Joint research may create shared rights or require allocation under a specific agreement. |
| Use of external information or materials | Third-party rights and contractual restrictions may limit use or dissemination. |
08 — External research periods and collaboration with companies
Confidentiality and ownership arrangements should be clarified before the candidate begins research at an external institution or receives confidential information from a partner.
| Before the activity | Check |
|---|---|
| Institutional agreement | Whether a partnership, host, co-tutelle, industrial-PhD or project agreement already applies. |
| Background information | Which knowledge, data, software or materials each party brings to the collaboration. |
| New results | How ownership, protection and exploitation of newly generated results will be managed. |
| Publication rights | Whether the partner may review a proposed publication or request a temporary delay. |
| Thesis requirements | How confidential material can be managed while preserving the academic requirements of the thesis and public defence. |
09 — Doctoral thesis and confidentiality review
Confidentiality, intellectual-property and publication issues should be reviewed while the thesis is being prepared, not only immediately before submission.
| Thesis phase | Required check |
|---|---|
| Initial drafting | Identify confidential sections, third-party material and potentially protectable results. |
| Before electronic submission | Confirm that the thesis version may be transmitted to external evaluators. |
| Before external review | Determine whether reviewers require confidentiality undertakings or special transmission instructions. |
| Before the public defence | Decide which information can be presented publicly and whether particular organisational measures are needed. |
| Before final deposit | Verify the final public version and submit any justified embargo request. |
10 — Embargo of the doctoral thesis
An embargo temporarily restricts access to the full text of the deposited thesis while allowing the related bibliographic information or metadata to remain available.
| Possible reason | Supporting consideration |
|---|---|
| Patent or protection procedure | Public access could prejudice a pending assessment or filing. |
| Contractual confidentiality | A research, funding or partnership agreement temporarily restricts disclosure. |
| Publication process | Temporary restriction is necessary in relation to a justified publication requirement. |
| Third-party rights | The thesis includes material whose public dissemination is temporarily restricted. |
An embargo is not automatic and should not be requested merely because the candidate prefers to delay publication. The request must be justified, supported by the Supervisor and submitted through the applicable procedure before final deposit.
11 — External evaluators and examination committee
External evaluators and examination committee members normally need access to the thesis and related assessments. Any confidentiality restrictions must therefore be identified before their appointment and before documents are transmitted.
| Check | Required action |
|---|---|
| Confidential thesis content | Inform SAS before formal transmission of the thesis. |
| Reviewer undertaking | Determine whether a confidentiality declaration is necessary and institutionally appropriate. |
| Public defence | Plan how protected information will be handled while preserving the public nature of the examination. |
| Documents distributed | Transmit only the authorised version through the official procedure. |
12 — Operational workflow
| Step | Phase | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify information and results | Determine what may be confidential, third-party owned or potentially protectable. |
| 2 | Check applicable documents | Review project, partnership, host and confidentiality agreements. |
| 3 | Apply protective measures | Control access, storage, transfer and permitted use of the information. |
| 4 | Assess before disclosure | Review articles, presentations, thesis content, datasets and software before release. |
| 5 | Involve specialist support | Contact the competent UNICAM office before disclosure when protection or ownership is uncertain. |
| 6 | Manage the thesis procedure | Coordinate reviewers, public defence, final deposit and any justified embargo. |
Operational principle
Protect first, disclose afterwards
Once information has been made public, confidentiality may be lost and some forms of intellectual or industrial protection may no longer be available. Early coordination is therefore essential.
Is a result confidential or potentially protectable?
Contact the competent UNICAM research and technology-transfer office before publication, thesis submission, conference presentation or transmission of the result to an external party.