When you wish to collaborate with a researcher or research group at Health on a specific project, you have three types of collaboration: co-financed research, commissioned research or the company employing a researcher under one of the industrial PhD or postdoc schemes.
In the case of co-financed research, all parties involved contribute financing. This means that both your company, AU and any other partners will contribute financially to the project. This also means that co-financed research requires a smaller financial contribution from your company compared to commissioned research.
On the other hand, as a general rule all of the involved parties share the rights to the project’s joint results. AU will always be able to publish the results of the project. Please contact the business engagement partner to find out more about various types of collaboration and financing.
Commissioned research is comparable to a consultancy service. This means that the department carries out a research service in return for payment. Your company's financial contribution will be greater than in the case of co-financed research, because the research service is offered on market terms.
In return, you have greater influence on the research being carried out, and you will also have better control over the research results, because Aarhus University can – subject to further agreement – decline its right to publish.
One possibility for commissioning research is to utilise the Core facilities at Health.
If you wish to employ a researcher, this can be done either in the form of an industrial PhD or an industrial postdoc. The researcher will carry out a research project in a collaboration between your company and Aarhus University.
An industrial PhD project is an exciting opportunity for a close, focused collaboration between development-oriented companies and relevant research environments at Aarhus University. Under the scheme, companies can apply to the Innovation Fund Denmark for funding to employ an industrial PhD student to carry out a three-year research project of relevance to the company, while also completing a PhD programme at Aarhus University.
An industrial PhD project gives the company bottom-line value, knowledge and growth, while also providing access to Aarhus University’s leading research groups, state-of-the-art facilities and research-based knowledge. The industrial PhD student is employed in the company and enrolled at a graduate school at Aarhus University. The industrial PhD student divides his or her working hours between the company and the university and spends time in both locations working on the project and the PhD programme.
An industrial postdoc is a business-orientated research project lasting between one and three years which is carried out at a company by a researcher who has been awarded a PhD degree within the past five years. The project must have a clear focus on the company’s commercial development.