CONRAD CHALLENGE: RULES AND REGULATIONS

Last Updated: August 20, 2019 

Please read Conrad Challenge’s “Rules and Regulations” in their entirety before registering for the Challenge. The Conrad Challenge reserves the right to update the competition rules at any time, for any reason.

ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST HAVE A SIGNED COPY OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ON FILE WITH THE CONRAD FOUNDATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2019-2020 CONRAD CHALLENGE.

TEAM ELIGIBILITY AND REQUIREMENTS

1.    Each Conrad Challenge team must consist of 2 to 5 students (ages 13-18).

2.    Teams must have one team coach, who is at least 18 years of age, to serve as an adult supervisor.

3.    Teams must consist of at least two team members at all times. While team members may be removed, new members cannot be added once a team has submitted in Round 1: The Investor Pitch.

4.    The team’s idea must be original work that has been developed as a group. The idea may include elements and components created by others, as long as the proper credit is given.

5.    Each team member and coach must read, and understand, the terms and conditions set forth in the competition rules & regulations. Registration of a team results in the agreement that the team and the coach will abide by all rules and follow the Code of Civility (detailed below).

6.    The competition is open to international participants.

7.    Teams participating in the Challenge are aware and agree to pay the necessary funding to submit their content in Round Two: Business Plan ($399/team). In addition, teams selected to attend the Conrad Innovation Summit, are aware and agree to pay all costs associated with registration, travel and accommodations to attend.

8.    Students who have competed in the past:

a.    May compete again, as long as they still meet the above eligibility and requirements.

b.    Must have made significant advancements or changes to a product, if they are opting to submit an innovation similar to what was submitted in a previous year.

CONCEPT SUBMISSIONS

This section refers to all concept elements submitted by the team for consideration of the Conrad Challenge. This includes, but is not limited to, the Investor Pitch, team video, photos and Business Plan.

1.    All submissions must be in English.

2.    All elements submitted by the team must be entirely the work of the student team members. Team coaches may guide the students, but may not create any of the submitted elements or provide excessive influence on the concept design.

3.    The submission and/or presentation may not disclose any third-party intellectual property or violate any existing copyright protections.

4.    Submissions may not copy or use other materials without properly citing the source. Proper citation includes the standard information of a scientific citation, including authors, publication source, dates, volume, pages or URL information.

5.    The basic information (team member names, team product, team location or school) for any teams completing the requirements for Round 2: The Business Plan (who are named Conrad Innovators), or named as Finalists will be posted publicly on the Conrad Challenge website and shared via social media.

6.    It is the responsibility of each team to determine how much information about their concept is publicly disclosed. Please refer to “A Word About Confidentiality and Patents” in this document for more guidance. All Finalist teams will be required to file a Provisional Patent by Friday, April 10, 2020. There may be representatives of press, sponsors, and other members of the public at the Innovation Summit, so all information shared at the Summit in a group setting should be considered publicly disclosed.

7.    The Conrad Foundation reserves the right to use basic team information, photos and videos taken at the Innovation Summit to promote the Conrad Challenge competition and Innovation Summit.

The Conrad Challenge is sponsored by different companies and organizations that may be able to offer valuable benefits to the teams participating in the Conrad Challenge. The Conrad Foundation may share a team’s contact information, concept submissions with a sponsor, in confidence, for the purpose of allowing the sponsor to contact the team regarding a potentially valuable benefit or service, or for the purpose of deciding whether to grant an award to the team. By submitting materials to the Conrad Challenge, teams give the Conrad Foundation permission to share their contact information, concept submissions, including their Business Plans and other technical submissions, with sponsors in confidence for this purpose.

COMMUNITY CODE OF CIVILITY

As part of our commitment to making the Conrad Challenge, its “Site” (www.conradchallenge.org) and all Conrad social media channels a great place to meet and interact with others around the world who have a passion and commitment to science, technology, engineering, math, innovation and entrepreneurship, you agree to abide by this Code of Civility. By participating on the Site and social media community, you give your commitment to abide by this Code when contributing to all Conrad Challenge resources and programs, including, but not limited to, profiles, team pages, forums, chats, posts and comments, emails, social media sources, etc. ("Communication Services"), and to help create a positive experience for all the community’s users.

We reserve the right in our sole discretion to eject or ban any user from participating in the Conrad Challenge, the Site or social media community who behaves in a manner deemed inappropriate or offensive, or who violates the guidelines of this Code of Civility. The Conrad Foundation and its partners and service providers are not responsible for any user-created content or other activities. All activity on the Site is also governed by the Site’s Terms of Service (“TOS”).

Honest Communication
As a general matter, all contributions are expected to:

  • Be in compliance to this Code of Civility

  • Be accurate (where they state facts)

  • Be genuinely held (where they state opinions)

  • Be in compliance with applicable law in the United States and in any country from which they are posted

Respect Yourself and Others

  • We require that all Conrad Challenge participants treat each other with respect. Any use of the Communication Services to threaten, harass, stalk or abuse others participating in these services is unacceptable and is strictly forbidden.

  • We reserve the right to remove posts that advocate or encourage expressions of violence, bullying, general cruelty, bigotry, racism, illegal activity, hatred or profanity. This includes postings that are deemed inappropriate, offensive or that violate guidelines in the Terms of Service or this Code of Civility.

  • Falsely impersonating a Conrad Foundation or Conrad Challenge employee, agent, manager, host, or any other person other than yourself, is forbidden.

Protect Your Privacy

We caution you against sharing unnecessary personally identifiable information (such as social security numbers, credit card numbers and driver license numbers) online, which may be inadvertently obtained by others or, in rare instances, used for illegal or harmful purposes. Talk to your coach, parent or the Conrad Challenge staff if you have a question or concern. To read the Site's Privacy Statement, please click here.

Non-Discrimination Policy

The Conrad Foundation continuously addresses issues of diversity and multiculturalism and is committed to engaging in actions that create inclusive communities, increased diversity and the elimination of discrimination. The Conrad Foundation prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity or expression in all of its programs and activities.

No-Spam Policy

Please don't "spam" through our Communication Services. To spam includes sending identical and irrelevant submissions to many different discussion groups, mailing lists, chats or communities. Usually, such postings have nothing to do with the particular topic of the group or are of no real interest to those on the mailing list. All spam will be deleted and the person who sent it may be ejected from the social media community and/or the Conrad Challenge.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND PATENTS

When you conceive, design and create an innovative product as part of the Conrad Challenge competition, you are creating intellectual property that belongs to you. When you start work on your product, you should think about whether you want to try and protect your intellectual property through patents or confidentiality agreements. You may want to share your ideas with the public at large and decide not to seek any special legal protections for them. The choice is up to you. You should bear in mind, however, that venture capitalists and other investors usually consider whether the intellectual property in an innovative product has been kept confidential or claimed in a patent application, in deciding whether to invest in efforts to commercialize the product.

For this reason, the Conrad Challenge is asking all Round 2: The Business Plan judges to keep confidential any technical or business information they learn when reviewing the Business Plan submitted by the teams as part of Round 2. However, all information you present at the Conrad Innovation Summit is not considered confidential. These materials are intended to interest the public and potential investors in your ideas! 

The Conrad Foundation encourages all teams (and requires all Summit Finalist teams) to file a provisional patent application covering their product and including any important confidential details from their product documents before submitting any materials that may include their unique ideas and inventions. You can find information regarding the process and requirements for filing a patent application at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s website, www.uspto.gov.

If you have any questions about the value or procedures for filing a patent application, we encourage you to consult your own patent attorney or agent who can give you advice tailored to your particular product. Unfortunately, because of the number of submissions we receive, the Conrad Foundation cannot provide you any specific advice regarding whether to file a patent application.

INNOVATION SUMMIT APPEARANCE RELEASE AGREEMENT

successors and assigns to make use of my appearance during the event.  I authorize Conrad and its partners to use, in whole or in part, my name, likeness, image, voice, and to tape and photograph me, and record my voice, movements, conversation and sounds, including any technical presentations and the performance of any musical composition(s), during and in connection with my appearance in Program.  I agree that Conrad and its partners shall be the exclusive owner of their respective results and proceeds of such taping, video streaming, photography and recording with the right, throughout the world, an unlimited number of times in perpetuity, to copyright, to use and to license others to use, in any manner, all or any portion thereof or of a reproduction thereof in connection with the Program or otherwise, including use by NASA for education and outreach purposes.  For purposes of clarity, I expressly waive any and all moral rights I may have in connection with my appearance. 

I further agree that Conrad and its partners may use and license others to use my name, voice, likeness and any biographical material concerning me, in any and all media and in the promotion, advertising, publicizing and exploitation of the Program in connection with the Program and in connection with Conrad’s affiliated services, throughout the world in all media, an unlimited number of times in perpetuity.  I further represent that any statements made by me during my appearance are true, to the best of my knowledge, and that neither they nor my appearance will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party. 

I hereby waive any right of inspection or approval of my appearance or the uses to which such appearance may be put.I acknowledge that Conrad will rely on this permission potentially, at substantial cost to Conrad, and hereby agree not to revoke this release or to assert any claim or any nature whatsoever against anyone relating to the exercise of the permissions granted here-under.