Rise Research Lab Program: Terms and Conditions
Last Updated: 27th October, 2026
These Terms and Conditions govern the Rise Research Lab Program and the website, portal and other platforms we use to run it. The Lab Program combines online mentor-led training with supervised, in-person laboratory work at partner BSL-1 labs. We are Rise Research Inc. [42-4355942]. Because Participants are under 18, a parent or legal guardian must accept these terms, and sign the separate Lab Participation Forms, before the Participant can take part.
Our Services
We operate the Rise Research Lab Program (the "Lab Program"), together with the website, student portal, video sessions and other platforms we use to deliver it (the "Services"). Each student who takes part (a "Participant") receives a personalised research plan (the "Research Plan") and works toward a research paper (the "Research Output").
The Lab Program has two parts:
Online training and mentoring. A research mentor (a "Mentor") teaches the science, methods and safety background online and guides the Participant's analysis and writing.
Supervised laboratory work. The Participant carries out the Research Plan in person at a BSL-1 laboratory operated by a partner organisation (a "Partner Lab"), under the supervision of a laboratory technician ("Lab Staff").
We do not guarantee admission to any school or university, any scholarship or award, or that a Research Output will be accepted for publication or presentation. We also do not guarantee that an experiment will produce a particular result: negative and unexpected results are a normal part of research.
Eligibility and Enrollment
Participants must be high school students aged 13 to 18 when they enroll. A parent or legal guardian (the "Guardian") must complete or consent to enrollment and is responsible for the Participant's compliance with these terms.
Enrollment is confirmed only when all of the following are complete:
the Guardian has accepted the Research Plan and these terms;
we have received full payment, or the first instalment of an approved payment plan;
the Guardian has signed the Lab Participation Forms: the Liability Waiver and Release, and the Medical Information and Emergency Consent form.
we have sent written confirmation.
A Participant may not begin laboratory work until they have also completed the required online training and the laboratory safety induction and sign-off.
We may decline or cancel an application at our discretion, for example where a cohort or lab is full, or a project has prerequisites the Participant does not meet. If we decline before the program starts, we refund everything you paid.
Your Research Plan
Before enrollment we send a personalised Research Plan describing the project, the expected schedule and the techniques involved. The Research Plan is a plan, not a guarantee. We, the Mentor and Lab Staff may adjust the methods, materials, timeline or scope of a project where this is needed for safety, because of equipment or material availability, or in response to results. We will discuss material changes with the Participant and Guardian.
All projects must stay within the limits of a BSL-1 laboratory. We will not approve work with pathogenic organisms, human or animal subjects, or hazardous materials beyond what Lab Staff can safely supervise, unless we have given specific written approval and any required consent or ethics review is in place.
Fees and Payment
The fee for the Lab Program (the "Program Fee") is USD 6,500, as shown in your enrollment confirmation. All fees are in US dollars and are due in full before the program starts unless we agree on a payment plan in writing. You pay any bank, card or currency-conversion charges.
The Program Fee includes:
online Mentor sessions and training as set out in the Research Plan;
supervised laboratory sessions as set out in the Research Plan;
standard laboratory consumables, and reagent needed for the Research Plan; and
access to the Rise portal for the length of the program.
The Program Fee does not include: transport to and from the lab; additional sessions beyond the Research Plan; outsourced services such as external DNA sequencing; specialised materials requested outside the Research Plan; or fees charged by journals, conferences or competitions. We will tell you about any additional cost and get your approval before you incur it.
Refunds and Cancellation
Each place involves advance planning and resources that cannot be reused once allocated, including Mentor matching, lab scheduling and ordering project-specific materials. For that reason refunds reduce as the program progresses. Send refund requests in writing to the email address in the Contact Us section.
The refund is a share of the Program Fee based on the date we receive the request:
before Week 1 begins: 80%
before Week 3 begins: 50%
before Week 5 begins: 25%
after that: 0%
No refund is due where participation ends because of misconduct or a serious or repeated breach of the lab safety rules, where a Participant stops attending without written notice, or after the program has finished.
If we cancel a cohort before it starts, or end a place for reasons other than your breach, we refund the Program Fee in full or, if you prefer, move you to a later cohort. If we end the program part-way through for reasons other than your breach, including the long-term closure of a lab with no reasonable alternative, we refund the unused share of the fee. If a Participant must withdraw for a documented medical reason, we will consider a transfer to a later cohort or a partial refund case by case. Approved refunds go back to the original payment method within 30 days.
Lab Sessions, Scheduling and Attendance
Laboratory sessions normally run for an hour a week, and are booked through the Rise portal. Available days and times depend on the Partner Lab and are shown on the portal.
Booking and changes. Participants should book the sessions their Research Plan needs. To cancel or move a booked session, give at least 24 hours' notice. A session cancelled with less notice, or missed without notice, counts as used.
Time-sensitive steps. Some experimental steps must happen at fixed times (for example, readings taken at set intervals). Missing them may mean repeating part of the experiment, which depends on lab capacity and is not guaranteed.
Punctuality. Participants who arrive more than 20 minutes late may be unable to start lab work that day for safety reasons.
Make-up sessions. We will try to offer a make-up session for a session missed for a good reason, but cannot guarantee one.
Changes by us. We may need to reschedule or cancel a session because of lab closure, equipment failure, staff illness, a safety concern or events outside our control. We will give as much notice as we can and offer a replacement session.
Lab Safety Rules
Safety comes first in every session. Participants must:
complete the safety induction and sign-off before their first lab session, and any further training Lab Staff require before using particular equipment;
wear the protective equipment provided (lab coat, gloves and safety glasses) whenever Lab Staff require it, plus closed-toe shoes and long trousers or a long skirt, with long hair tied back;
follow all instructions from Lab Staff, the approved protocol for their project, and the rules of the Partner Lab;
use equipment only after training and only with Lab Staff permission. Equipment such as the biosafety cabinet, autoclave, hotplate, incubator, centrifuge and UV sources may only be used under direct supervision;
handle only the materials approved for their project. Hazardous chemicals are measured and dispensed by Lab Staff;
not eat, drink, chew gum, apply cosmetics or handle contact lenses in the lab, and never taste, smell or take home any experimental material;
keep phones and personal items in the designated area, and use phones in the lab only for approved purposes such as photographing their own results;
report every spill, breakage, injury, exposure or equipment problem to Lab Staff immediately, and not try to clean up biological or chemical spills themselves; and
wash their hands before leaving the lab.
Lab Staff may stop an activity, or ask a Participant to leave a session, if they consider the Participant's behaviour unsafe. A serious or repeated breach of these rules may lead to the Participant's place being ended under the Term and Termination section.
Health, Medical Information and Emergencies
The Guardian must complete the Medical Information and Emergency Consent form before lab work begins and keep it up to date. It asks about allergies (for example to latex, yeast, foods or chemicals), medical conditions, medications, and emergency contacts. We use this information only to keep the Participant safe, and share it only with Lab Staff and others who need it.
Participants should not attend a lab session if they are unwell or have a condition that could make lab work unsafe for them or others. If a Participant is injured or becomes unwell during a session, Lab Staff will give first aid, contact the Guardian, and, where they judge it necessary, call emergency services. By signing the Medical Information and Emergency Consent form, the Guardian authorises us to arrange emergency medical treatment if the Guardian cannot be reached. The cost of any medical treatment is the responsibility of the Guardian or their insurer.
Assumption of Risk and Release
Laboratory work carries risks that careful supervision reduces but cannot remove entirely. These include cuts from glassware or sharp tools, burns from hot surfaces or liquids, skin or eye irritation from chemicals, allergic reactions, and exposure to ultraviolet light. The Guardian confirms that they understand these risks and consent to the Participant taking part.
The Guardian must sign our separate Liability Waiver and Release, which forms part of these terms. To the extent the law allows, and except for injury caused by our gross negligence or wilful misconduct, the Guardian releases Rise, our Partner Labs and their staff from claims arising from the ordinary risks of laboratory participation.
Arrival, Departure and Transport
The Guardian is responsible for the Participant's transport to and from the lab, and for the Participant's supervision before a session starts and after it ends. Participants should arrive no more than 10 minutes before their session and be collected promptly at the end. Our responsibility for supervision covers the booked session time only.
Participants may not leave the lab during a session without telling Lab Staff. Some projects include supervised sample collection outside the lab, such as collecting water or soil samples. This takes place only with Lab Staff or another approved adult present, at a location and time we share in advance, and with the Guardian's written consent for that activity.
Supervision and Safeguarding
Every lab session is supervised in person by Lab Staff. In person, staff follow an open-door policy and avoid being alone with a Participant out of sight of others. Online sessions take place on Rise-approved platforms.
Mentors and Lab Staff must keep all communication professional and within Rise channels. They must not ask for or share personal contact details, social media connections, gifts or money, or arrange private meetings or transport with a Participant.
If anything makes a Participant or Guardian feel uncomfortable or unsafe, tell us straight away at the email address in the Contact Us section. We look into every report promptly.
Mentors and Lab Staff
Mentors are researchers, professionals or graduate students engaged by us to give academic guidance. Lab Staff are trained laboratory professionals engaged by us or by a Partner Lab to supervise lab work. Neither gives legal, medical, psychological or admissions advice. We assign Mentors and Lab Staff based on the project and their availability, and may change either for availability, quality or safeguarding reasons.
Partner Labs and Locations
Lab sessions may take place at facilities owned and operated by Partner Labs. The location for each Participant is confirmed at enrollment and shown on the Rise portal. Each Partner Lab has its own rules, which Participants must follow in addition to these terms.
We may change the location of lab sessions, including moving a cohort to a different Partner Lab, where needed. We will give reasonable notice. If a new location is not reasonably accessible for you, you may ask to transfer to a later cohort or to receive a refund of the unused share of the Program Fee.
Equipment, Materials and Personal Property
Laboratory equipment, materials, cultures and samples remain the property of Rise or the Partner Lab. Participants may not remove any material, culture, chemical or sample from the lab. Biological and chemical waste is disposed of by Lab Staff according to the lab's procedures. Samples and cultures are not kept after the project ends unless we agree otherwise in writing.
Participants must take reasonable care of equipment. We may charge the Guardian for repairing or replacing equipment damaged deliberately or through reckless misuse, after first discussing it with them. We are not responsible for loss of or damage to personal belongings brought to the lab.
Research Data and Lab Notebook
Participants record their work in a lab notebook and on the Rise portal. Raw observations must be recorded at the time they are made, before any calculation. The Participant may keep copies of their own notebook, data, graphs and photographs of their results. Rise and the Partner Lab keep copies of portal records, approvals, safety records and Lab Staff notes for safety, quality and record-keeping purposes.
Your Research Output
The Participant keeps authorship and ownership of the Research Output they write. Mentors and Lab Staff act as guides, and Rise does not claim authorship, though their contribution may be acknowledged where appropriate. A Mentor or Lab Staff member is listed as a co-author only if the Participant, the Guardian and that person agree in writing.
The Participant gives Rise a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, reproduce and display the Research Output for quality review and program records. We will not sell it or present it as written by anyone else.
Where a Research Output builds on datasets, code, protocols or papers owned by others, the Participant must follow their licence and citation terms.
We may help Participants prepare and choose where to submit a Research Output, but submission is voluntary and the Participant (with their Guardian) is the submitting author. We do not guarantee acceptance and are not responsible for the fees, rules or decisions of journals, conferences or competitions.
Academic Integrity
Participants, Mentors and Lab Staff must work honestly. The Research Output must be the Participant's own work, guided but not written for them. Plagiarism, fabricated or altered data, results reported from experiments that were not run, fake citations, ghostwriting and misrepresenting the Participant's role are serious breaches.
AI tools and other software may be used only as the Mentor and Rise permit for the project, and any use must be disclosed in the Research Output. If we conclude that these rules have been broken, we may end the Participant's place with no refund, remove a Mentor or staff member, inform the Participant's school or a journal or competition organiser where a submission is affected, and take legal action where the law allows.
Photography and Media
Lab Staff may photograph experimental set-ups and results for the Participant's portal record and for safety records.
Participants may photograph their own work for their notebook and Research Output. They must not photograph or record other Participants, staff, or Partner Lab information without permission.
Prohibited Activities
You may use the Services only for the purpose we make them available for. In particular, you agree not to:
share logins, session links, protocols or program materials with anyone not enrolled, or resell or redistribute them;
bring anyone who is not enrolled into the lab without our permission;
remove materials, samples or equipment from the lab;
record or publish sessions or Mentor materials without our written permission;
contact Mentors, Lab Staff or other Participants outside Rise channels for private tutoring, payment or personal relationships;
harass, bully, threaten or discriminate against anyone taking part in the Lab Program;
share content that is unlawful, abusive, sexual, hateful or inappropriate for a program involving minors;
bypass security features, introduce malware or scrape data from the Services;
impersonate another person or give false details about identity, age, school or health; or
use the Services or program materials to build a competing program.
Intellectual Property
We own or license all intellectual property rights in the Services and program content, including curricula, protocols, Research Plans, templates, guides, the portal software, branding and recordings of Rise-led sessions.
We give you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use program content for the Participant's own learning, during and after the program. You may not copy, sell, republish or use it commercially without our prior written permission.
Your Submissions
If you send us feedback, comments or ideas about the Lab Program or the Services ("Submissions"), we may use them for any lawful purpose without credit or payment. This does not apply to the Research Output. You confirm that your Submissions are your own, are not confidential, and do not infringe anyone else's rights.
User Representations
By using the Services, you confirm that:
all enrollment, health and contact information you give is true, accurate, current and complete, and you will keep it up to date;
the Guardian has the legal capacity to accept these terms on the Participant's behalf;
the Participant is aged 13 to 18 and is a high school student; and
you will not use the Services for any unlawful purpose.
If any information you give is untrue, inaccurate or incomplete, we may suspend or end access to the Services.
Privacy
We collect only what the Lab Program needs: names, email addresses, school and grade details, Guardian contact details, payment records, the health and emergency information described above, attendance and session bookings, portal records, Lab Staff notes, and the documents, data and photographs a Participant submits. We do not sell personal data. We share it only with Mentors, Lab Staff and Partner Labs who need it to deliver and supervise the program, with service providers (such as video, payment, portal and storage providers) who process it for us under confidentiality obligations, or where the law requires.
For Participants under 18 we collect and use data with the Guardian's consent. A Guardian may ask to see, correct or delete their child's data, or withdraw consent, by writing to us. We keep health and emergency information only for the length of the program and any period needed to deal with an incident, and other records for as long as needed for the purposes in these terms and our legal obligations. Data may be processed in the United States and other countries where our providers operate, with appropriate safeguards.
Term and Termination
These terms apply while you use the Services. We may end a Participant's place or deny access to the Services, with or without notice, for breach of these terms, a serious or repeated breach of the lab safety rules, academic dishonesty, unsafe or abusive behaviour, non-payment, or false information. Refunds follow the Refunds and Cancellation section. You may withdraw at any time by written notice.
Payment obligations and the sections on assumption of risk, academic integrity, intellectual property, privacy, disclaimer, limitation of liability, indemnification and governing law continue after the program ends.
Changes and Interruptions
We may change the content and delivery of the Services, including schedules, tools, Mentors, Lab Staff, project scope and lab location. We will tell you promptly about changes that materially affect a program you have paid for, and your refund rights under the Refunds and Cancellation section still apply.
We are not responsible for delays or cancellations caused by events outside our reasonable control, including lab closures, utility or equipment failures, public-health orders, extreme weather or natural disasters. In those cases we will try to reschedule, move sessions to another lab, or offer a transfer or refund of the unused share of the fee.
We may update these terms by posting a revised version with a new "Last updated" date. Changes do not alter the Program Fee or refund schedule for a cohort you have already paid for.
Disclaimer
To the fullest extent the law permits, the Services and the Lab Program are provided "as is" and "as available", and we exclude all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We make no warranty that the Lab Program will lead to any experimental result or any academic, admissions or career outcome.
Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent the law permits, Rise, our affiliates, directors, employees, agents, Mentors, Lab Staff and Partner Labs are not liable for indirect, consequential, incidental, special or punitive damages, including lost opportunity or data, arising from the Services. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the Program Fee actually paid for the cohort concerned.
Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for fraud, gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify Rise, our affiliates, officers, employees, agents and Partner Labs against third-party claims, losses and reasonable legal fees arising from your breach of these terms, deliberate damage to property, or your violation of a third party's rights, including through a Research Output. This does not apply to claims caused by our own breach or negligence.
Electronic Communications and Signatures
You agree that emails, online forms, portal notices and electronic signatures, including on the Lab Participation Forms, satisfy any legal requirement that communications or agreements be in writing.
Miscellaneous
These terms, the Lab Participation Forms, your Research Plan and your enrollment confirmation make up the entire agreement between you and us for the Lab Program. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest stays in force. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign your rights without our written consent. These terms do not create a partnership, employment or agency relationship.
Contact Us
Email is the fastest way to reach us. We reply within two working days.
Email: admin@riseresearch.com
Phone: +1 (650) 547-8905