Advantages of Joining the Hi-Acts Community

Your information is in good hands with us.

Trust is the foundation of successful collaboration – especially in partnerships between science and industry. We understand that companies cannot simply share their ideas, questions, data, and know-how without reservation. That's why we place great importance on the responsible handling of confidential information and on clear rules regarding intellectual property (IP).

Confidential handling of your information

We treat any information you provide to us via Hi-Acts Connect, by email, or through other channels with appropriate confidentiality. It is used to understand your request, identify the right experts and expertise within the Hi-Acts network, and support you in your project in the best possible way.

Within the Hi-Acts network, only those individuals directly involved in processing your request have access to your information. To ensure this, the five participating Helmholtz Centers have agreed on shared rules for the confidential handling of information.

If a specific collaboration requires the exchange of particularly sensitive or confidential information, an individual non-disclosure agreement (NDA) can also be concluded between the company and the Helmholtz Center involved. A jointly agreed NDA template between the five centers helps keep this process as simple and efficient as possible.

Intellectual property and results

We also create clarity early on when it comes to intellectual property. As a general rule, any pre-existing intellectual property remains with the partner who contributes it to the collaboration.

Joint development work may give rise to new results and associated intellectual property. How ownership, usage rights, and – where applicable – the commercial exploitation of these results are regulated depends on the specific type and structure of the project. The corresponding agreements are therefore made on a project-by-project basis with the respective participating Helmholtz Center.

For the use or commercial exploitation of results, usage or licensing agreements can, for example, be put in place. This allows the interests of all parties involved to be taken into account while establishing clear terms for the further use and exploitation of the results.

Collaboration with minimal administrative effort

Hi-Acts aims to make collaboration between companies and research as simple and straightforward as possible. Depending on the format and project, different types of agreements may be used – for example, a non-disclosure, cooperation, service, usage, or licensing agreement.

Hi-Acts provides the central point of access to the network's expertise and technologies. The specific contractual agreements are made with the respective participating Helmholtz Center and tailored to the individual project.

Our goal is to keep the administrative effort as low as possible while providing a reliable framework for protecting your information and for the use of joint results. This allows you to share your challenges and ideas with us openly – so that together, we can focus on what matters most: developing innovative solutions.