The statement dealt with a GSP allegation, involving the social sciences, on the basis of which a university had failed to launch a preliminary inquiry as provided for in the GSP guideline. The matter involved a dispute between a researcher, who made the allegation, and the leader of a research group. The dispute concerned the implementation of the research plan and the right to use research data, which was gathered during the researcher’s term of employment, after the termination of the employment relation.
The Advisory Board’s statement sided with the university’s view, according to which there was no need to launch a preliminary inquiry into the matter. The Advisory Board did, however, point out that the university should, in accordance with good scientific practice, have made written agreements of the rights of each individual member of the research group before the launch of the research project and the recruitment of employees for the group. The Advisory Board’s statements do not take a stance on intellectual rights issues, however.