Terms and Conditions of the CosmosID® 2022 Grant Program for Scientists & Start-Ups

These Terms and Conditions apply to all participants in the CosmosID® 2022 Grant Program for Scientists & Start-Ups (the “Scientific Challenge”).  A person or entity enters the Scientific Challenge by providing a response to all of the competition’s questions found at https://www.cosmosid.com/cosmosid-grant-program. By entering into the CosmosID® Scientific Challenge you are providing that you have read, understand and hereby accept to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.  If you are entering into the Scientific Challenge on behalf of an academic institution, company, organization or other legal entity (an “Entity”) you are also agreeing to these Terms and Conditions on behalf of the Entity. References to “you” or “your” shall refer to the individual participating in the Scientific Challenge as well as any Entity affiliated with such entry.

ELIGIBILITY

Participation in the Scientific Challenge is open to scientists conducting microbiome research in the USA on behalf of an Entity meeting all of the eligibility requirements provided below. 

1. Entrants must be professionally engaged in laboratory-based scientific research as of the date the Scientific Challenge application is submitted.  
2. Participants shall have attained at least the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence (entrants must, in any event, be at least 18 years of age). 
3. All ideas submitted must be original and created by the participant.  Ideas that have already been implemented in existing universities or companies where related business activities have already been initiated, are excluded from entry.

REPRESENTATIONS

By entering the CosmosID® Scientific Challenge, you hereby represent, warrant, and covenant (as applicable), and agree to produce written evidence of such if requested, that:

1. The submissions, in whole and in part, do not violate or infringe upon any proprietary or intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, industrial property rights, personal or moral rights, or any other rights whatsoever of any person and/or entity;
2. The submissions, in whole and in part, are submitted to the Scientific Challenge by or with the permission of all persons (living or deceased), venues and/or entities who worked on, were engaged to work on, or contributed in any respect to the entry or any part thereof, who are depicted (directly or indirectly) in the entry by name, likeness, voice, image or any other information or indicia of persona, or who otherwise have any right, title and interest in and to the entry or any part thereof (including but not limited to rights arising from a work for hire relationship), and all such persons, venues, and/or entities have provided their written consent to submission for purposes of the Scientific Challenge and its use pursuant to the terms and conditions sets out herein;
3. You have all other rights, licenses, permissions and consents necessary to submit the entry and to grant all of the rights granted to the Sponsors pursuant to these Terms and Conditions and the exercise thereof by the Sponsor and/or the use by them of the rights granted by you, in whole or in part, does not and will not give rise to any alleged or actual claims, disputes, actions or liabilities, including but not limited to those for disputes or payment of any kind, including without limitation royalties, residuals, attribution, credit, dues, consultation or any other fees, costs, or expenses;
4. The submissions in whole or in part contain no malware, including viruses, trojans, worms, spyware or any other harmful software, code or other devices; and
5. The submissions in whole or in part contain no pornographic, sexually explicit (including nudity), defamatory, offensive, violent, discriminatory, cruel, abusive, highly sensitive, or illegal content (including but not limited to gambling), and/or technology or other content that is prohibited from export), content of an obscene or menacing character, and does not otherwise offend against reasonable standards of taste and decency..

RESTRICTIONS

Employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives and independent contractors of CosmosID® (the “Sponsors”), their subsidiaries or affiliated companies, together with their immediate family members and members of the same households (whether related or not) are not eligible to participate. Also ineligible are (1) residents of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria or any country subject to U.S. embargo; (2) any persons (including businesses, research institutions, government and private organizations, individuals, and other types of legal persons) on the U.S. government’s Denied Persons List, Specially Designated Nationals list, Entity List, Unverified List or any other similar list maintained by the U.S. government or any other government to whose laws the Sponsors, its subsidiaries or affiliated companies, the CosmosID® Scientific Challenge or such person is subject, and all individuals employed thereby or otherwise associated therewith; and (3) any persons for whom it would be illegal to participate in or win the Scientific Challenge, or with or to whom it would be illegal for the Sponsors to interact or award the prize as contemplated herein. 

The contest is open to researchers who have not been the winner for another Sponsor contest or program in the past year.

The Scientific Challenge is subject to all applicable laws and regulations, and is void where prohibited or where registration, bonding or language translation is required.

HOW TO ENTER

The Scientific Challenge begins on June 16, 2022 at 12:01am (ET) and ends on August 8, 2022 12:01am (ET) ; entries must be submitted during that period to be eligible. To enter, you must submit a short abstract application digitally at https://www.cosmosid.com/cosmosid-grant-program The application must include: (1) your full name, email address, telephone number and any other contact information required by the Sponsors; (2) the name of the Entity you are submitting the entry with; (3) a descriptive title for the proposed project; and (4) an abstract proposal (written in 300 words or less) demonstrating how your the prize of microbiome sequencing and analysis support could fuel discovery in your field of research. Upon submission, applications and the information contained therein become the property of the Sponsors and may be shared by Sponsors with third parties on a need to know basis for the purposes of evaluating the submission and determining the winner of the Scientific Challenge. 

Samples with adequate quality and quantity to be sequenced must be provided (in accordance with the instructions to be provided to the winners) by November 1, 2022 unless otherwise agreed by the Sponsors. The prize will carry a maximum amount of sequencing, analysis, reporting, and software allowed per winner which will be $50,000.

By entering the Scientific Challenge, you and the Entity give permission to the Sponsors to contact you regarding the Sponsors’ products and services, whether or not the participant is chosen as the winner. Each participant shall be entitled to make one (1) entry into the CosmosID® Scientific Challenge only. In the event that the Sponsors deem a participant to have made multiple applications to enter or to have acted in bad faith with respect to the Scientific Challenge, the participant shall be excluded from the Scientific Challenge and consequently ineligible to win the prize, as defined below.

MATERIALS

If chosen as a winner of the Scientific Challenge, the winners and the Sponsors will agree on the materials to be sent by the winner (e.g.: samples and associated data) to CosmosID® for analysis. By sending in samples or any other materials to the Sponsors (the “Materials”), you represent and warrant to be the rightful owner of the Materials, including, but not limited to, any and intellectual property rights related to the Materials sent.  By sending the Materials, you transfer the ownership of the Materials to the Sponsor as well as the comprehensive rights to use the Materials submitted.  The Sponsors assume no responsibility for any Materials.  After completion of the Scientific Challenge, the Sponsor shall be entitled to destroy all submitted Materials. 

SELECTION OF WINNERS AND NOTIFICATIONS

Three (3) winners will be selected from all qualified applications by a panel of the Sponsors’ scientists, who will choose the application that, in the sole discretion of the Sponsors, best makes use of the prize to demonstrate the power of the microbiome. The decision of this panel will be final and binding and shall not be subject to review or appeal by any participant or by any third party. The Sponsors will attempt to notify the selected winners by email within approximately five (5) business days after selection. If the selected winner has not responded to email inquiries within three (3) days, the Sponsors will attempt to contact the winner by telephone. If the winner cannot be reached by telephone within forty-eight (48) hours of first telephone attempt to notify such winner, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner may be selected, based on the criteria set forth above, at the Sponsors’ discretion. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.

PRIZE DESCRIPTION AND CONSUMER DISCLOSURE

Each winner will receive: 90 samples extracted and sequenced up to 1gb, taxonomic profiling, functional profiling, Statistical comparative analysis, and a CosmosID-HUB bronze subscription (the “Isolates and Data”). The combined total value of each price is approximately $50,000 per winner.

The Sponsors do not assume any liability for defects of the prizes for use by winners of the prize. Participant is responsible for and will defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsors against all losses, claims, expenses or damages which may result from (i) accident, injury, damage, or death due to negligence, unauthorized or misapplication of any component of the Isolates and Data, (iii) violations of law, (iv) the breach of any provision of these Terms by the participant, Entity its affiliates, or those employed by, controlled by or in privity with them or (iv) the use by participant, Entity of any materials, products (including without limitation, microbes) or data generated directly or indirectly in connection with the Scientific Challenge.

NO RIGHT TO ASSIGN

The prize may not be transferred or assigned; no substitutions or cash equivalents are allowed. The winner may be required to execute and return an affidavit of eligibility/release of liability/publicity release (where legal) within twenty-one (21) days of first notification attempt. If the winner fails to return the affidavit/release by the deadline, the prize will be forfeit and an alternate winner may be selected, based on the criteria set forth above, at the Sponsors’ discretion. 

FEEDBACK AND CONFIDENTIALITY 

The responses to the application questions, information, feedback and ideas that you provide in connection with the Scientific Challenge including, any feedback or ideas regarding the the CosmosID platform or any suggested improvements thereto (together, the “Feedback”) will be the exclusive property of the respective Sponsor(s). To the extent you own any rights in the Feedback, you agree to assign and hereby does assign to the respective Sponsor(s) all right, title and interest in and to the Feedback. You agree to perform all acts reasonably requested by the respective Sponsor(s) to perfect and enforce such rights. The respective Sponsor(s) will reimburse you for direct out of pocket costs incurred in complying with its requests. All resulting applications from this scientific challenge are non-confidential.

COSTS 

All taxes on the prize and reporting thereof, and any other costs, fees and expenses relating to the prize or the scientific challenge, are the sole responsibility of the winner and/or the winner’s institution or company (including shipping costs of samples to CosmosID).

OTHER TERMS

By submitting an application , you agree  on behalf of the participant and the Entity: (1) to be bound by these official terms and conditions; (2) that the Sponsors shall retain full authority, in their sole discretion, to interpret and administer these terms and conditions; (3) that any dispute with regard to the conduct of the Scientific Challenge, rule interpretation or award of the prize, shall be resolved by the Sponsors, whose decision shall be binding and final and (4) to be bound by all decisions and interpretations made by the Sponsors.  Furthermore, the participant represents and warrants that: (1) the participant meets the eligibility requirements of the Scientific Challenge as provided at https://www.cosmosid.com/cosmosid-grant-program (2) the participant is authorized and empowered to agree to these terms and conditions and has obtained all required authorizations and permissions from the Entity for which participant is employed to participate in the Scientific Challenge; (3) entering into the Scientific Challenge does not and will not violate any law or regulation, policy, contract, or other instrument to which the participant is bound; (4) the information contained in the application is true and correct in all material respects and (5) all information and proposals, ideas, and concepts provided in participant’s proposal are the original work of participant and will not infringe on any copyright, patent or other intellectual property right of a third party unless specific advance notice is obtained by the owner. The Sponsors may refuse to award the prize if the Sponsors determine in their sole discretion that doing so would likely result in a violation of an applicable law, rule, or policy.

If requested, the participant shall provide to the Sponsors concurrently with the delivery of his/her proposal all such evidence of authority to act including, without limitation, written consents of any institution or company for which participant is employed, as the Sponsor may require. The Sponsor may continue to rely on all such evidence until notice to the contrary given hereunder has been received by it.

PUBLICATION OF DATA

It is the objective of both parties that the winners will present results from the proposed study in one or more publications. It is understood that the Sponsor(s) will be enabled to use such results to create marketing materials for their Microbiome Products.. Results of these studies are expected to lead ultimately to high profile publications and will be presented in international conferences.

If the winner does not submit the data in one or more manuscripts to any journal prior to December 2023, The Sponsors have the right to publish all data on its website and in its distributed materials per the tech transfer office’s requirements.

USE OF WINNER’S NAME

The participant acknowledges and agrees that, if the participant is selected as the winner, the participant’s name, biographical information, likeness, the name of the participant’s institution or company and the project title (excluding further project details) may, without further compensation, be published on one or more Sponsor website(s) and, at the Sponsors’ discretion, through social media. By accepting the prize, the winner grants to the Sponsors, on behalf of the winner and the winner’s institution or company, the right, at any time and from time to time, to print, publish, broadcast and use, worldwide and in any media now known or hereafter developed (including, but not limited to, social media, the Internet and the world wide web), the winning participant’s name, biographical information, (if provided by the participant) image, likeness, the name of the winning participant’s institution or company and the project title (excluding further project details).

INDEMNITY, DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

By participating in the Scientific Challenge, you hereby affirm and declare that the Sponsors may not be held responsible for any violation or infringement of the above stated warranties. Your irrevocably indemnify the Sponsors against any claims, losses, damages, expenses (including attorney’s fees), proceedings, suits or losses which may arise out of and/or in connection with the submission. In the event you’re your submission wins the Scientific Challenge, and is later on challenged on the ground of infringement or breach of any of the above said warranties, the Sponsors shall have the right to enforce their legal rights against you and will also have the right to disqualify you from participating in the Scientific Challenge

The Sponsors have not made any warranty, representation, or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, with respect to the prize, including, without limitation, to such prize’s quality or fitness for a particular purpose. 

THE SPONSORS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST, LATE, STOLEN, INCOMPLETE, ILLEGIBLE, INACCURATE, UNDELIVERED, DELAYED OR MISDIRECTED ENTRIES, OR FOR ANY COMPUTER, THE INTERNET, EMAIL, TELEPHONE OR TECHNICAL MALFUNCTIONS OR DELAYS, OR FOR ANY HUMAN ERRORS THAT OCCUR IN THE PROCESSING, TRANSMISSION OR RECEIPT OF ENTRIES, OR FOR INACCURATE TRANSCRIPTION OF ENTRY INFORMATION, OR IF THE SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGE IS NOT CAPABLE OF BEING CONDUCTED AS PLANNED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INFECTION BY COMPUTER VIRUSES, BUGS, TAMPERING, UNAUTHORIZED INTERVENTION, FRAUD, TECHNICAL FAILURES, OR OTHER CAUSES BEYOND THE CONTROL OF THE SPONSORS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE SPONSORS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR REPRESENTATIVES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONJUNCTION WITH PARTICIPATION IN THE SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGE OR THE ACCEPTANCE, POSSESSION, USE OR MISUSE OF THE PRIZE, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT ANY OF THEM ARE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. THE SPONSORS’ TOTAL AND CUMULATIVE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGE SHALL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE TOTAL VALUE OF THE PRIZE.

DATA PRIVACY

1. In order to be able to participate the Scientific Challenge, it is essential to indicate personal information in a complete manner and that this information is free from error. By participating in the Scientific Challenge, the participant expressively gives the Sponsor his/her consent to save and process the required information. Furthermore, the participant expressly gives his/her consent to transfer the data for the purpose of conducting the Scientific Challenge.
   
   b. The participant may revoke his/her consent to process and save the information at any time and thereby withdraw from participation in the Scientific Challenge.
   
   c. Upon request, the Sponsors shall give each participant information free of charge on all personal data that has been saved by it and shall immediately delete this information upon request free of charge. For this purpose, it is sufficient to send a message via e-mail with a list of the information to be deleted.
   
   d. The Sponsors shall undertake to adhere to legal regulations concerning data privacy.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Sponsors reserve the right to suspend, modify, cancel or terminate the Scientific Challenge without advance notice, including, without limitation, in the event of any act, occurrence or reason that it believes would compromise the legality, integrity, administration or fairness of the Scientific Challenge. If one or more provisions of these official rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall be valid and enforceable. These official rules are governed by and shall be construed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without application of its choice of law principles. Should there be a conflict between the laws of the State of California and any other laws, the conflict will be resolved in favor of the laws of the State of California. The failure of the Sponsors to comply with any provision of these official rules due to civil unrest, threat of or actual acts of terrorism or war, embargoes, governmental actions, acts of God, earthquakes, floods, storms, fires, supplier delay, accidents, explosions, epidemics, quarantine restrictions, or other such contingencies beyond the control of the Sponsors, shall not be considered a breach of these rules.

For US Participants Only!

 

CONTACT

SPONSOR(S)

COSMOSID 20030 Century Blvd, Suite 300, Germantown, MD 20874