Open Science Initiative - Terms and Conditions

Submission of an application to this program constitutes full acceptance of the official Program Terms. Applicants are required to acknowledge reading and accepting the Program Terms in their entirety.

Open Science Initiative: Official Program Terms

1. THE SPONSOR

The Lunaphore Program under the name of “Open Science Initiative” (hereinafter, the “Program”) is sponsored by Lunaphore Technologies S.A., with headquarters at Route de Lully 5C in Tolochenaz, Switzerland a company duly incorporated by the laws of Switzerland, registered within the commercial register of the canton de Vaud under registration number CHE-213.835.541, together with its affiliates (altogether, the “Sponsor”).

2. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Program aims to break down barriers to knowledge and increase the impact of research conducted by COMET™ users. By promoting findings generated on Lunaphore instruments and solutions, the Program seeks to accelerate scientific research and empower the research community. Applicants, as authors of COMET™, Lunaphore HORIZONTM and SPYRETM generated data, are invited to submit a summary of their project through a confidential form. If selected according to the reviewing process outlined below, they may receive monetary support to either cover travel expenses for attending a scientific conference to present their data as a scientific poster or oral presentation. or cover open-access (CC BY 4.0 DEED International) publication fees for manuscripts.

3. PROGRAM PERIOD

The Program begins at 12:00 AM Central European Summer Time (CEST) on June 6, 2024, and ends either when the funds reserved for this initiative are exhausted or on June 30, 2025, whichever occurs first (“Program Period“). Applicants are responsible for determining the corresponding time zone in their respective jurisdictions. The Sponsor reserves the right to extend the Program Period if additional funds are allocated to this initiative or if the initial funds remain available. The maximum annual budget allowance for this Program is 50,000 USD.

4. ELIGIBILITY OF THE APPLICANT

Academic institutions, Centers Research organizations (CROs) and pharmaceutical companies located worldwide that are currently generating COMET™ data (the “Applicant”) are invited to participate in this Program. For being eligible, applicants must meet the following conditions:

Applicants must have authored the COMETTM generated data submitted in the application.
This Program is strictly for researchers only; therefore, healthcare professionals will not be eligible to participate in this Program.
Any individual person submitting a form on behalf of the Applicant represents that they are acting within the scope of their power of representation, employment as an employee, contractor, or agent of the entity. The individual guarantees that (a) the entity is fully aware of and has consented to their actions, and (b) their actions do not violate the entity’s internal policies and procedures. All application forms will be considered submitted by the entity represented by an ad-hoc authorized Applicant. Upon request, the Applicant shall provide proof that their employee, contractor, or agent expressly consents to the Applicant’s participation in this Program on their behalf.
Any individual person representing the Applicant must be aged eighteen (18) or older.
Please note that employees of the Sponsor or its affiliates, as well as immediate family and household members, are not eligible to participate in this Program.

5. REVIEWING PROCESS

Applications are submitted through Lunaphore Open Science Initiative webpage form. Non-accurate or incomplete filling of the online form will lead to the discard of the application.

All applications will be reviewed by a panel of three (3) qualified experts who are employed by the Sponsor or any other affiliates of the BIO-TECHNE Group (the “Expert Panel”). All application forms shall be assessed based on objective criteria of equal weight based on three main parameters: research impact in scientific community, company strategy and required budget. The Sponsor reserves the discretionary right to select only applications that fulfil with these three parameters. The final resolution of the Expert Panel will be final and binding. Communication to the Applicant on their application status will be provided within ten (10) to fifteen (15) business days. Applicant should expressly accept the Sponsor support by sending a confirmatory email to [email protected] within a maximum of twenty (20) working days; in case of late reply, the support will be allocated to another selected project. Not all applications that are submitted will be supported. Sponsor will consider only a maximum of five (5) entries from each Applicant per Program Period. Subsequent entries will be disqualified.

6. FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND REINMBURSEMENT PROCESS

Selected applications can receive financial travel support of either 500.00 USD, or equivalent currency, for scientific poster presentations or 2,000.00 USD, or equivalent currency, for talks in a scientific conference, respectively, as a one-time allowance.

For selected open-access fee applications, the full open-access fees for journals featuring accepted COMET™ generated data will be covered, up to 15,000.00 USD or equivalent currency. It is important to note that this support exclusively covers the open-access publication fees and does not extend to cover the entirety of publication fees associated with the selected journal.

Within the aforementioned thresholds, the Sponsor will reimburse the selected Applicant/s upon receipt of the invoice and respective proof of payment. Reimbursement of expenses will be deposited into the indicated bank account within a reasonable timeframe after document submission.

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. LICENSES

By accepting the Program Terms and participating in this Program, the individual person submitting the project on behalf of the Applicant confirms that they (i) are the author of the COMET™ generated data and/or (ii) have been authorized by the legal entity of their institution to submit this application and participate in this Program under the present Terms and obtain support from the Sponsor for travel or open-access publication fee sponsorship.

Applicants shall not grant or assign to the Sponsor and its affiliates, by default, any license or right to use, reproduce, edit, display, transmit, prepare derivative works of, modify, publish, or otherwise make use of all information, images, and other materials or contents contained in the application form.

Notwithstanding the above, Applicants who are selected to receive monetary support from the Sponsor hereby expressly grant the Sponsor a non-exclusive, royalty – free, worldwide, non-revocable license to publish, reproduce, and display the COMET™ generated data in digital and physical media, including social media channels, for marketing and promotional purposes only.

Application forms must be original and must not infringe any third-party proprietary rights, intellectual property rights, industrial property rights, personal or moral rights or any other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or confidentiality obligations, or otherwise violate applicable laws. No trademarks, logos, company names or advertising of third parties are allowed unless expressly permitted by Sponsor. Content may not be offensive or defamatory, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject and/ or disqualify any entries (in whole or in part) that Sponsor deems, in its sole discretion, to be threatening, abusive, harassing, offensive, obscene, defamatory, libelous, hateful, embarrassing to another person or entity, profane, discriminatory, false, misleading, deceptive, invasive of another’s privacy, tortious, or that promote illegal behavior, or otherwise are inconsistent with its editorial standards or reputational interests, or that Sponsor believes may violate any applicable law or regulation, these rules, or the rights of any third party.

8. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

All information disclosed by the Applicant and the Sponsor, including the application submitted through the Program website and email exchanges, shared in connection with this Program shall be considered confidential (“Confidential Information”).

Both parties agree to treat such information with the same degree of care as they would their own confidential information and to use the disclosed information solely for the purposes of the Program. Confidential information includes, but is not limited to, all application materials, project summaries, data, and any other proprietary information shared during the Program.

The Applicant and the Sponsor agree not to disclose any confidential information to any third party without the prior written consent of the disclosing party, except as required by law. This confidentiality obligation will continue for two (2) years from disclosure, surviving the conclusion of the Program.

The Applicant further represents and warrants that they will not disclose to Lunaphore any confidential information that belongs to third parties, or patients’ information, or that is protected under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with any third party. The Applicant agrees to be fully responsible for ensuring that all information submitted to Lunaphore does not violate any third-party rights or existing confidentiality agreements.

9. SPONSOR ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Applicant acknowledges and agrees to mention the existence of this sponsorship Program in the acknowledgments section of any manuscript, poster, or presentation supported by the Program. The expected wording for posters and presentations is: “Attendance to this meeting was supported by Lunaphore’s Open Science Initiative (https://lunaphore.com/open-science-initiative/).” For manuscripts, the expected wording is: “The open-access publication fees have been sponsored by Lunaphore’s Open Science Initiative (https://lunaphore.com/open-science-initiative/).”

10. DATA PRICACY AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

The Applicant acknowledges and agrees that any personal data provided in connection with this Program (“Personal Data”) will be collected, processed, and used in accordance with applicable data protection laws and regulations. The Sponsor will collect, store, and process Personal Data solely for the purpose of administering the Program and communicating with the Applicant regarding their participation. Additionally, Personal Data may be stored and used by Sponsor for marketing and promotional purposes and to communicate with Applicants in the future to discuss relevant information and news about the Sponsor and its services and products.

By participating in the Program, the Applicant expressly consents to the collection, processing, and use of their Personal Data for these purposes. The Applicant further expressly consents that their name, title and affiliation may be publicly disclosed by the Sponsor upon selection of their application within this Program, and that the Sponsor may contact them via electronic communication methods provided during the application process, including email and phone, for Program-related communications.

The Applicant understands their right to access to the Personal Data at any time and their right to withdraw their consent for the processing of their personal data by contacting the Sponsor. However, withdrawal of consent may result in the Applicant’s disqualification from the Program. To exercise such rights or to obtain a copy of the Program Terms at no charge, Applicant may send a request to [email protected].

The Applicant acknowledges that while the Sponsor will take reasonable measures to protect the security and confidentiality of personal data, no transmission of data over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Therefore, the Applicant accepts any risks associated with the transmission of their personal data over electronic communication channels.

To further understand how Sponsor stores and uses Personal Information you can read the full Privacy Policy on https://www.lunaphore.ch/privacy/.

This clause shall survive the termination of the Program and any subsequent contractual relationships between the Applicant and the Sponsor.

11. WARRANTY & INDEMNITY

Applicants warrant that their submissions are original and do not infringe any third-party proprietary rights, intellectual property rights, industrial property rights, patients’ rights, animals’ rights, personal or moral rights or any other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or confidentiality obligations, or otherwise violate applicable laws. Each Applicant represents and warrants that all permissions, if any are required, have been granted prior to submission of the entry and that Applicant may legally grant all licenses and permissions contained within these Program Terms to Sponsor.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, each Applicant indemnifies, and agrees to keep indemnified, Sponsor at all times from and against any liability, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs and expenses resulting from any act, default or omission of the Applicant and/or a breach of any warranty set forth herein. To the maximum extent permitted by law, each Applicant agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Sponsor from and against any and all claims, actions, suits or proceedings, as well as any and all losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or accruing from (i) any entry materials submitted or otherwise provided by Applicant that infringes any copyright, trademark, trade secret, trade dress, patent or other intellectual property right of any person or defames any person or violates their rights of publicity or privacy, (ii) any misrepresentation made by the Applicant in connection with the Program; (iii) any non-compliance by the Applicant with these Program Terms; (iv) claims brought by persons or entities other than the parties to these Program Terms arising from or related to the Applicant’s involvement with the Program; (v) acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any monetary support or participation in any not related Program activity; (vi) any error in the collection, processing, or retention of entry information; or (vii) any typographical or other error in the printing, offering or announcement of the selected Applicants.

12. RIGHT TO CANCEL, MODIFY, OR DISQUALIFY

If for any reason the Program or any portion of either is not capable of running as planned due to change in Sponsor’s strategy or to technical or administrative problems, infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Program, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Program, or any portion of it at any time.

13. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

IN NO EVENT SHALL SPONSOR OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR LOSS OF PROFITS, INCURRED BY APPLICANTS OR ANY THIRD PARTY, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY OR IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF SUCH DAMAGES, ARISING FROM THE PROGRAM, USE OF MONETARY SUPPORT OR SPONSOR TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES, EVEN IF SPONSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Sponsor is not responsible and shall not be liable for late or lost submissions, whether caused by website users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Program and assumes no responsibility for any computer, telephone, cable, network, electronic or internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, availability or intervention, error, omission, interruption, detection, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to the website.

By accepting the monetary support, each selected Applicant agrees to release and hold harmless Sponsor, its affiliates and agents from any and all liability, loss or damages arising from or in connection with awarding and they shall have no liability for any injury, misfortune, or damage to either persons or property incurred by entering, participating in this Program.

14. DISPUTES

The Sponsor will interpret these Program Terms and resolve any disputes in accordance with the substantive laws of Switzerland. In the event that any provision of these Rules is found to be invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

The Sponsor reserves the right to modify or terminate the Program, or to make such other decisions regarding the administration or outcome, as deemed appropriate. Any formal claims will be resolved in good faith and in an amicable manner. Should a friendly solution prove elusive, the parties agree that the courts of Lausanne (Canton of Vaud) shall have sole jurisdiction over any legal proceedings.

Place and Publication date: Tolochenaz, May 30, 2024.