FAQ

Creating and using an account is free for individual supervisors. Universities can partner with Studyond under institutional agreements, depending on scope, visibility, and integration needs. Feel free to reach out to hello@studyond.com

Register using your official university email address and complete the standard verification process. Once verified, you can immediately publish topics and engage with companies and students.

Supervisors can publish an unlimited number of research and thesis topics, without restrictions or quotas.

Yes. Supervisors can invite existing academic and industry partners to collaborate on Studyond, enabling structured engagement within an established network.

Yes. Supervisors receive real-time notifications when companies publish topics aligned with their research interests. Notification settings can be activated or deactivated at any time.

Universities benefit from:

• Access to practice-relevant, industry-driven topics
• Increased visibility of institutional research strengths
• A centralized platform for managing and showcasing all thesis collaborations

Yes. Studyond is completely free for university researchers and supervisors. No subscription, no hidden fees, no budget request needed. Companies pay to access the platform - researchers and universities use it at no cost.

Absolutely not. You retain full control over methodology, analysis, and publication rights. Companies provide problem framing and data access, but academic supervision authority is yours. This works exactly like any industry-funded research project - standard research agreements protect your IP and publication rights.

For thesis co-supervision: 2-3 hours per month, the same as traditional supervision. Initial problem scoping takes 3-5 hours once. Platform administration is zero - there's no overhead beyond what you'd normally invest in supervising a student project.

Companies on Studyond post concrete research problems, not generic job listings. You can filter by domain, keyword, and industry to find partners working on problems in your field. If there are no matches today, create a researcher profile and let companies with relevant challenges find you.

Thesis co-supervision (Bachelor and Master), applied PhD research projects, postdoc collaborations, joint grant proposals (e.g. Innosuisse), and access to industry data and domain expertise. You choose the format that fits your research agenda.

No. Researchers adopt Studyond individually through their institutional email. No procurement process, no IT integration, no institutional approval needed. Most researchers discover Studyond through peer referrals and start using it independently.

Studyond is a collaborative platform supported by Innosuisse that connects students, academic supervisors, and industry practitioners to collaborate on theses and a broad range of university–industry collaborations, including seminars, applied research projects, and early-career academic–industry initiatives.

Yes. studyond is the new name for the platform formerly known as ThesisNavigator. While the brand has evolved, the core mission, connecting academia and industry through structured collaboration, remains unchanged.

Studyond is backed by Swiss universities, universities of applied sciences, and leading business and industry associations, and Studyond AG ensuring neutrality, quality standards, and long-term relevance.

All software is developed in Switzerland. No development is outsourced to foreign teams, reinforcing high standards in data protection, security, and quality.

Yes. studyond complies with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Swiss Data Protection Act (DPA). Personal data is processed transparently and in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

All data is stored in AWS data centers located in Frankfurt, Germany, ensuring data residency within the European Union.

We use industry-standard security, including encryption and secure communication protocols. The database is isolated in a private cloud network.

Yes. Users may delete their account and personal data at any time via their profile settings or by contacting privacy@studyond.com. Deletion requests are handled in line with legal and regulatory obligations.

Authentication is handled via Auth0 by Okta, an enterprise-grade identity provider. Secure tokens are used to manage authenticated communication between platform services.

If a data breach occurs, Studyond will notify affected users and relevant authorities within 72 hours, in accordance with applicable regulations.

Studyond is currently web-based. The platform's architecture is designed to support future mobile applications if required in the future.

Updates are deployed continuously to the cloud, typically without service interruption, ensuring users always have access to the latest features and improvements.

Yes. Studyond is cloud-native and uses automated scaling mechanisms to adjust system resources based on usage and demand.

Cloud-native backup and recovery solutions are used to regularly back up data and support restoration in the event of a system failure.

Yes. Studyond uses AI-supported systems to improve matching between students, supervisors, and companies, for example by recommending relevant topics, profiles, or collaborations based on interests, skills, and context.

AI on Studyond is decision-supporting, not decision-making. Final decisions, such as selecting a student, approving a topic, or initiating a collaboration, are always made by humans.

No. AI does not automatically accept, reject, or rank individuals in a binding way. It provides recommendations and structured suggestions to support users in navigating large volumes of information.

Studyond is committed to transparency. AI-supported recommendations are based on clearly defined inputs such as profile data, stated interests, and skills. Users remain in control and can always review, ignore, or override AI suggestions.

No personal data is used to train general-purpose AI models. Where AI components rely on learning mechanisms, they are restricted to platform-internal optimization and operate on anonymized or aggregated data where possible.

Studyond is designed to align with the principles of the EU AI Act and Swiss regulatory frameworks. The platform's AI features are classified as low-risk, support-oriented systems and follow core principles such as human oversight, transparency, data minimization, and non-discrimination.

Studyond actively monitors AI-supported features for unintended bias. Matching logic is based on academic relevance, skills, and declared interests, not on sensitive personal attributes. AI outputs are regularly reviewed and adjusted where needed.

Yes. Where AI-supported recommendations are offered, users can choose not to rely on them and instead browse or search manually using filters and structured listings.

AI governance is handled internally by Studyond AG. All AI-related features are reviewed from a legal, ethical, and technical perspective before deployment, with a strong emphasis on responsibility, accountability, and user trust.