Terms of Service

Dated 18/09/2026

1. General

For the purposes of these Terms, “Leiden University” means Universiteit Leiden, having its offices at Rapenburg 70, 2311 EZ Leiden, the Netherlands, acting through the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), department LUdev, duly represented by Prof. M.M. Bonsangue.

LUdev is a LUdev is a student-run initiative within the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) at Leiden University. LUdev connects teams of third-year Bachelor students with external partners to work on real-world software development projects as part of their academic training in software engineering.

By submitting a project through the LUdev Call for Projects form or working with LUdev, you (“you”, “client”) acknowledge and accept these Terms of Service.

2. Nature of the Collaboration

  1. LUdev is not a commercial business nor a separate legal entity; it operates within the educational framework of LIACS, Leiden University.
  2. All LUdev projects are carried out by students under academic supervision and primarily serve an educational purpose.
  3. Projects are executed as part of a university course; students are graded on their performance.
  4. LUdev does not act as a contractor or consultancy and makes no commercial guarantees regarding delivery, timelines, or software fitness for purpose.

3. Project Submission and Acceptance

Submissions are reviewed and selected based on:

  • Educational value and feasibility,
  • Technical fit and student interest,
  • Availability of student teams.
  • Commercial priority: where proposals are otherwise comparable, commercial projects are prioritised over non-commercial projects.

Submission of a proposal does not guarantee selection. LUdev may reject or defer any project at its discretion. Clients are notified upon acceptance before project kickoff (see 5.1).

A project can be submitted via our website: https://ludev.nl/onboarding.

4. Product

  1. The outcome of each accepted LUdev project is software based on the client submission, developed by students as part of their academic training.
  2. The product may include:
    • Source code,
    • Documentation (if applicable and agreed upon with students) for running the software in a development environment;
    • Deployment instructions (if applicable and agreed with students).
  3. LUdev does not provide hosting services.
  4. The software is not guaranteed to be production-ready. The client is responsible for further development, maintenance, deployment, and testing before any production use.
  5. Any post-project support, enhancements, or bug fixes are outside LUdev's scope and must be arranged separately.

5. Client Commitments

  1. Be available for the project kickoff on 12 February 2027 to meet your students (digitally or physically).
  2. Be available for, at least, bi-weekly progress meetings (digitally or physically) from February to June.
  3. Provide, at the project start, any data, systems, or specialized hardware required for the project (e.g., VR headsets or robotics equipment), and ensure that these are ready for use by the students.
  4. Complete a mid-term and a final evaluation.
  5. Approve a project summary for possible publication on the LUdev website.

6. Fees

  1. Research projects submitted by or in association with a researcher affiliated with a scientific research institute are free of charge, provided that the research is not explicitly part of a competitively funded project (e.g., larger NWO or EU projects). Research projects that form part of a competitively funded project are subject to an onboarding fee of €5,000, excluding VAT where applicable.
  2. Non-commercial projects, including educational and non-profit projects, incur an onboarding fee of €500, excluding VAT where applicable.
  3. Commercial projects incur an onboarding fee of €5,000, excluding VAT where applicable. Startups meeting all the following criteria are eligible for a 50% discount on this fee, resulting in an onboarding fee of €2,500:
    • The organization is a for-profit company;
    • The company was incorporated no more than five years before the start of the project;
    • The company has fewer than 50 employees; and
    • The company is not a subsidiary of, or otherwise controlled by, an established company.
  4. The applicable fee is determined by the origin and intended purpose of the submitted project. Where the classification of a project is unclear, LUdev may determine the applicable category at its discretion.
  5. The onboarding fee is invoiced after the submitted project has been deemed suitable for the course by LUdev (‘accepted’), of which the client will be informed. The fee must be paid within 30 days of the invoice date. Payment of the onboarding fee does not guarantee that the project will ultimately be matched with a student team (see 3). If the project is not matched, any onboarding fee already paid will be reimbursed in full.
  6. All fees are invoiced by Leiden University and used to support LUdev operations.
  7. If the client fails to pay the applicable onboarding fee within 30 days of the invoice date, Leiden University may terminate the project without any obligation to assign a student team. If the client withdraws before a student team has been matched and before work has commenced, any onboarding fee already paid will be refunded, less any reasonable costs already incurred by Leiden University. If the client withdraws after a student team has been matched or after work has commenced, the onboarding fee shall not be refundable.

7. Intellectual Property Rights

  1. Definitions

    For the purposes of this Article:

    • “Project Results” means the software and other materials created specifically by the student team in the performance of the project described in the Call for Projects form, including, where applicable, source code, object code, documentation, designs, images, videos and other project deliverables;
    • “Background Materials” means any software, data, documentation, know-how or other materials owned or developed by a party independently of the project; and
    • “Third-Party Materials” means any materials, software components, libraries or other elements in which intellectual property rights are owned by a third party, including open-source software.
  2. Assignment

    Subject to Articles 7.3 and 7.4, Leiden University hereby assigns and transfers to the client, and the client hereby accepts, all transferable intellectual property rights held or subsequently acquired by Leiden University in the Project Results, including the exclusive copyrights and database rights and the right to use, reproduce, modify, further develop, publish, distribute, license and commercially exploit the Project Results.

    This assignment includes rights in Project Results created after the date on which these Terms are signed, insofar as such rights are sufficiently identifiable by reference to the project described in the Call for Projects form. These Terms, together with the relevant Call for Projects form, are intended to constitute a deed of assignment within the meaning of Article 2 of the Dutch Copyright Act.

  3. Moment of transfer
    • Where no onboarding fee is payable, the assignment takes effect automatically when and to the extent that Leiden University acquires the relevant intellectual property rights in the Project Results.
    • Where an onboarding fee is payable, the assignment takes effect at the later of:
      • receipt by Leiden University of the applicable onboarding fee in full; and
      • acquisition by Leiden University of the relevant intellectual property rights in the Project Results.

    Until the assignment has taken effect, the client may use the Project Results solely for evaluation, testing, and internal review. Commercial use, production deployment, sublicensing, or distribution is not permitted during this period without Leiden University’s prior written consent.

  4. Excluded materials

    The assignment does not include:

    • Background Materials belonging to Leiden University, the students, the client or any third party; or
    • Third-Party Materials.

    Third-Party Materials remain subject to the applicable third-party or open-source license terms. Where Project Results include Background Materials of Leiden University that are necessary to use the Project Results, Leiden University grants the client a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual and royalty-free license to use those Background Materials solely as part of, and insofar as necessary for the use of, the Project Results.

  5. Educational and promotional use

    Leiden University retains a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, and royalty-free right to use the Project Results, or parts thereof, for internal educational purposes and for the non-commercial promotion of LUdev and Leiden University. This may include the use of project descriptions, screenshots, images, videos, documentation, and limited excerpts of source code.

    Leiden University shall not publicly disclose the client’s confidential information, personal data, or complete source code without the client’s prior written consent. Where reasonably practicable, the client will be informed in advance of the intended external promotional use.

  6. Moral rights and acknowledgement

    Any moral rights of the student authors remain subject to Article 25 of the Dutch Copyright Act and to the arrangements separately agreed between Leiden University and the students. For research projects, the client shall appropriately acknowledge the contribution of the student team in publications and other relevant public outputs, unless otherwise agreed.

  7. No warranties

    The assignment does not constitute a warranty that the Project Results are suitable for a particular purpose, production-ready or entirely free from third-party rights. Article 8 remains fully applicable.

8. Liability & Warranties

  1. LUdev projects are educational and experimental. Software is provided “as is” without warranties.
  2. LUdev, LIACS, and Leiden University do not accept liability for damages resulting from the use of the software.
  3. Clients are solely responsible for testing and validating any software before adoption or deployment.

9. Privacy & Data Protection

LUdev complies with Leiden University's data privacy policies. Any data provided should be anonymised unless otherwise arranged.

See: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/privacy.

10. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Netherlands. Any disputes related to LUdev projects fall under the jurisdiction of the Dutch courts.

11. Contact

LUdev – LIACS, Leiden University

For questions or clarifications regarding these terms, please contact us at ludev@liacs.leidenuniv.nl.

Upon project acceptance, the client will receive a signed copy of these Terms of Service, together with their completed Call for Projects form and the applicable fee category.

For and on behalf of Leiden University

Prof. M.M. Bonsangue

Leiden University