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The Study Start Survey - Consent, Anonymity and GDPR

This web page provides detailed information about consent, anonymity and GDPR for the NMBU's Study start survey.

Purpose and participants

The purpose of the study start survey is in part to map how new students find their first months at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and in part to follow the students’ academic development during their studies. The results will enable us to further develop study start services and programmes at the university.

The questionnaire is performed every year among new students who have been admitted to a bachelor’s or master’s degree programme. The candidates’ answers to the survey will be updated every year for up to six years with select data from the university’s student system in order to investigate the links between the start and course of studies. The survey is performed as a research project, and NMBU is responsible for the project.

What does participation in the survey entail?

Participation entails answering a short questionnaire, which will take approximately 4 to 6 minutes to answer. The questions are about your first months as a student and your thoughts about the future. Your answers to the questionnaire will be registered electronically.

When you participate in the survey, you also consent to NMBU obtaining information about you from NMBU’s student system for use in the data analysis, until one year after you have completed your degree or a maximum of six years after you started your studies. This covers information about what study programme you are actively taking, admission data to the program, leaves of absence, exchanges, whether you are studying full or part-time, student status, study right status, academic results and conferred degrees.

Taking part is voluntary

Participation in the project is voluntary. If you choose to participate, you can withdraw your consent at any time without giving a reason. All your personal data will then be deleted. There will be no repercussions for you if you do not want to participate or subsequently decide to withdraw.

Your personal privacy – how we store and use your data

We only use your personal data for the purposes we have outlined in this document. The data are processed confidentially and in accordance with the personal data protection regulations. No individual answers will be forwarded. Aggregate answers for groups can only be used on the condition they are of sufficient size, to ensure it is not possible to identify individuals. Data is stored on NMBUs storage solution for research data.

Only the project group at NMBU has access to the collected data until they are anonymised. Your name and contact information will be replaced with your student number when the questionnaire is completed. This code will be deleted when the data set is anonymised.

What happens to your data when we conclude the research project?

The data will be anonymised within one year of you leaving NMBU as a student or after a maximum of six years.

Your rights

As long as you can be identified in the data material, you have the right to:

  • access the personal data registered about you, and to receive a copy of the data
  • have your personal data corrected
  • have your personal data erased, and
  • send a complaint to the Norwegian Data Protection Authority about the processing of your personal data

What gives us the right to process personal data about you?

We process data about you based on your consent.

On assignment from NMBU, the Norwegian Centre for Research Data AS (NSD) has concluded that the processing of personal data in this project is in accordance with the data protection regulations.

Where can I find more information?

If you have any questions about the survey, or you would like to exercise your rights, please contact:

  • NMBU repr. by project manager Ulrik Meisner: ulrik.meisner@nmbu.no
  • NMBU’s data protection official: personvernombud@nmbu.no

If you have questions related to NSD’s assessment of the project, you can contact:

  • NSD by email (personverntjenester@nsd.no) or by phone: (+47) 55 58 21 17

GDPR

NMBU is the data controller for all the collected data, and all enquiries can be made directly to NMBU. Nettskjema from University of Oslo is the processor and handles the technical solution for the questionnaire. Nettskjema is a web-based solution for the collecting of data, which is to say that data is processed as it is colleted.

Grounds for processing

NMBU's lawful basis for processing data is Articles 6(1)(e) and 6(1)(a) of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). (consent)