Intellectual Property Ownership at The University of Portsmouth

The following is my complete write-up of the default owner of any research done by a student at The University of Portsmouth (Hampshire, United Kingdom) at BSc (Hons) level.

If research has been done as part of a degree course, in which there has been no input from any of the University of Portsmouth academics and the student has not received any funding, the student will own all of the Intellectual Property (IP) and can freely use the IP to develop the product, service or startup.

The above general case is nullified in the case where an agreement or a waiver is made for part-ownership with any University of Portsmouth academics (including supervisors and moderators), external academic institutions, external companies or external individuals.

If the student would like to start their business, the Nest team here at the University of Portsmouth can offer support, advice and access to the Nest development programmes for five years post-graduation. More information can be found at nest.community.


This information was put together by myself and two members of the Higher Management team at The University of Portsmouth. I have not received approval in over four months. As such, I have published this information for people who are looking for guidance on the ownership of their research.

Because this has not been approved by The University of Portsmouth, I continue to own the above-unapproved guidance.

Please speak to your supervisor for individual guidance relating to your project.

The above ownership rules do not apply if the student got the idea from any member of staff at The University of Portsmouth or have another agreement with The University of Portsmouth (to use their name) or a third party (such as a company or sponsor).