Terms and Conditions

GENERAL TERMS

1.1. These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) determine the rules of registration and conduct of the competition named “Project Hyperion Design Competition” (“Competition”).

1.2. Initiative for Interstellar Studies Limited (“i4is”) is a UK-registered Not-for-Profit Company, e-mail address info@i4is.org, which organizes the Competition (“Organizer”).

1.3. By using this Competition platform https://projecthyperion.org/, (“Portal”) and registering for the Competition, the team (“Participant”) fully and irrevocably agrees to these Terms, which form a contract between the Participant and the Organizer. Please review them carefully.

1.4. i4is reserves the right to update or amend these Terms. Material changes to these Terms will be communicated to Participants via email or the Portal.

1.5. Use and disclosure of personal data are subject to the Portal’s Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy. Participants must review these documents before using the Portal or providing any personal data.

DATA PROTECTION AND GDPR COMPLIANCE

2.1. Personal data collected during registration and participation will be processed solely for the purposes of administering the Competition, evaluating a Competition project (“Submission”), and awarding prizes.

2.2. Participants have the right to access, rectify, or erase their personal data, restrict or object to its processing, and lodge a complaint with the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL).

2.3. Data will be retained only for the duration of the competition and any necessary archiving period, in compliance with Article 5 of the GDPR.

2.4. If personal data is transferred outside the EU, appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses will be applied.

PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY AND REGISTRATION

3.1. The Competition is open to any Participant aged 18 and over.

3.2. Participant must be a team. A team consists of at least 2 members. The Competition is open to students, professionals, researchers, creators, artists, etc.

3.3. An authorized team representative (“Contact Person”) must be nominated to act as the sole point of contact regarding the Submission.

3.4. The participation in the Competition is only possible after registering for the Competition and sending in a Submission in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and Competition requirements defined by Organizer in a separate document (“Competition Brief”).

3.5. By paying one fee for registering (“Registration Fee”), Participant is allowed to upload one project.

3.6. By paying additional Registration Fees, Participant is allowed to upload more than one project.

3.7. The team must be multi-disciplinary. For the entire duration of the Competition, each Participant team must have:

At least one architectural designer
At least one engineer
At least one social scientist (sociologist, anthropologist, etc.)

These are flexible denominations. Each team must submit a short bio and team organization description. The Organizers will subsequently determine eligibility.

3.8. A Team cannot participate in the Competition and will be immediately disqualified and forfeit all of prizes if any team member of Participant is or become:

3.8.1. a minor under age 18;

3.8.2. otherwise prohibited by applicable export controls, sanctions programs, and trade embargos;

3.8.3. a resident anywhere that a Competitions are prohibited by law;

3.8.4. a current employee, intern, contractor, corporate member, director of i4is or the Jury, their associate or family member.

3.9. By registering for the Competition and/or providing a Submission the Participant expressly and unequivocally certifies full compliance with any and all eligibility requirements.

3.10. The Organizer reserves the right to verify Participant’s eligibility and to adjudicate any dispute regarding eligibility at its sole discretion. Participant agrees to provide the Organizer with any proof of eligibility requested, and refusal or failure to provide such proof within 5 (five) working days of Organizer's request will result in disqualification from a Competition and forfeiture of any prizes.

3.11. To participate in the Competition, a Participant follows the registration procedure (“Registration”):

Payment of the Registration Fee on the Portal. Once the Registration Fee is received, the Participant will receive an automatically generated confirmation email. Registration is only valid upon the reception of the Registration Fee of $20 by the organizers and passing an eligibility check by the Organizers. Subsequently, the Participant will receive:

Competition rules including the reminder of the dates corresponding to the competition stages
Information on how to submit the Submission
Guidelines, which provide additional information on specific aspects of the Competition.

3.12. Registering for the competition implies unreserved approval of the terms of the Competition rules. Any violation of the competition rules could lead the i4is to disqualify teams.

3.13. The competition unfolds in two phases. If the Participant's Submission is selected during Phase 1, it will receive a notification by e-mail to participate in Phase 2.

3.14. The Organizer reserves the right to change or omit Participant Team names, particularly if they are, in the Organizer's sole opinion, offensive or obscene, or violate the intellectual property rights (“Intellectual Property Rights”) of others. If Participant creates team name that is offensive or obscene, or violates the Intellectual Property Rights of others (in each case, as determined at the Organizer’s sole discretion), Team may be disqualified from the Competition.

FEES AND COSTS

4.1. During Registration Participant must effect payment of the $20 (twenty US-dollar) Registration Fee for the Competition.

4.2. The Registration Fee for the competition is non-refundable, except in circumstances where the Competition is suspended, cancelled, or technical difficulties prevent participation. In cases of force majeure or other unforeseen events (as defined in Section 14.2), refunds will only be provided if the Competition cannot resume within a reasonable timeframe.

4.3. Participant is responsible for their costs in preparing Submissions.

4.4. The Registration Fee is payable by Participant in US-Dollars or an equivalent amount in euros through PayPal or by credit or debit card.

SUBMISSIONS

5.1. All Submissions must be the original work of the Participant. The visual materials of the Submission must not have been previously published by the Participant or its team members. In case of detection of a violation of this term, the Organizer solely evaluates the significance of the violation.

5.2. The Organizer is not obligated to disclose the evaluation process or findings publicly. After the evaluation is conducted, an internal jury will determine whether the work is to be disqualified. The Organizer’s decision and evaluation are final and cannot be used as evidence or referenced in any legal action that may be initiated by third parties against the Participant.

5.3. The Participant confirms that the Submission does not infringe any copyright, rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, designs or patents of any third party.

5.4. The Participant shall be ready to supply copyright licenses for images used if requested by Organizer. A failure to supply such licenses within the period specified by Organizer may be grounds for disqualification.

5.5. The Participant assumes full liability for any infringement of rights and acknowledges that any Submission in any significant breach of these rights may be grounds for disqualification (see Disqualification of Submissions Section). In case that a third-party asserts infringement of Intellectual Property Rights against Organizer, the Participant shall be liable for all costs in relation to acts required to defend against such actions.

5.6. All Submissions must strictly and completely conform to the Terms and the rules and guidelines set out in the Competition Brief. Any significant breach of this term may be grounds for disqualification (see Disqualification of Submissions Section).

5.7. All Submissions must be made solely through the specified upload panel within the Portal, access to which is granted upon successful Registration and payment of the Registration Fee. In case of technical difficulties, an alternative means of transmitting the Submission will be communicated by the Organizers.

5.8. The Participant may continue to upload Submissions and/or edits through the specified upload panel within the Portal until 24:00, Pacific Time, on the date of the Submission deadline. Participant is responsible for determining the corresponding time in their time zone.

DISQUALIFICATION OF SUBMISSIONS

6.1. Participants will be disqualified if non-compliance with the above restrictions for participants, also in case of providing false information about Participant during registration or concerning eligibility.

6.2. Any Intellectual Property Rights with these Terms and Conditions, the Competition Brief, or other applicable requirements may be grounds for disqualification. 'Significant non-compliance' refers to violations that materially affect the fairness, integrity, or administration of the Competition, as determined at the Organizer’s sole discretion. Minor violations may result in warnings or conditional allowances for correction. The Organizer will notify Participant regarding the disqualification of a Submission but is not obliged to inform the Participant about the evaluated arguments.

6.3. All Submissions received by the Organizer after the closing date and time for Submission will be automatically disqualified.

6.4. In case the Participant does not pay the Registration Fee, the Participant will be automatically disqualified from participating in the Competition and the prizes received by the Participant will be revoked.

6.5. The Organizer is under no obligation to refund any Registration Fee to a Participant whose Submission was disqualified. If winning Submission will be disqualified, the Participant shall be obliged to return any prize monies awarded.

SELECTION OF WINNERS

7.1. The Organizer appoints a group of professionals judging Submissions of the Competition (“Jury”).

7.2. The Jury shall be identified on the Portal. Any changes to the Jury shall be at the Organizer’s discretion.

7.3. The Organizer reserves the right to assign judges, agents, or other authorised administrators to administer the Competition, including making any decision or exercising such decisions at its discretion.

7.4. After the submission deadline for Phase 1, the Jury, with the support of the Organizer and additional experts will select about 20 Submissions from all eligible Submissions. The Organizers will subsequently invite the Participant associated with a selected Submission to Phase 2. Participant submits a separate Submission for Phase 2.

7.5. Only Participant with an invitation to participate in Phase 2 by the Organizers has a right to send in a Submission for Phase 2.

7.6. The determination of the Competition winners (“Winner”) commences following the closure of the submission deadline of Phase 2, wherein the Organizer administration, in coordination with the Jury and invited specialists undertake the task of analyzing and evaluating all Submissions. Organizer reserves the full liberty to select and appoint Jury members at its discretion, as well as to invite external experts and specialists as deemed necessary for the Competition.

7.7. The decision is final, no appeals will be allowed and no further communication will be entered into by the Organizer either with Participant or judges.

7.8. Unless stated otherwise in the particular Competition Brief, the association and/or relationship of Organizer with any member of the Jury does not imply any contract, partnership, agency relationship or endorsement of any member of the Jury.

PRIZES AND AWARDS

8.1. The monetary award for the Participant for winning the Competition (“Prize”) is announced on the Portal. If the Prize is a prize fund, then the prize fund is distributed among all Participants who have the right to receive the Prize.

For the Competition, the i4is will award $10,000 in prizes to Participant that have submitted projects in Phase 2.

If a Participant wins, the prize will be awarded to the Contact Person, who will be responsible for distributing the amount among the team members.

The prize amounts are allocated as follows:

1st: $ 5000 (five thousand US dollars)

2nd: $ 3000 (three thousand US dollars)

3rd: $ 2000 (two thousand US dollars)

10 honorary mentions (no cash award)

8.2. In case a prize is awarded, the Contact Person is responsible for receiving and distributing the Prize among the team.

8.3. Participant is entitled to receive the Prize only personally via the Contact Person and is not entitled to transfer the Prize to other persons.

8.4. Prize pay-out conditions:

After announcing the results of the Competition, the Participant must communicate a bank account for payment of the Prize to the Organizers (if the Participant is entitled to receive a Prize).
To allow time for any public concerns regarding copyright claims or plagiarism, to be fully addressed, the Organizer will endeavour to send the Prizes to the Winner starting from 40 (fourty) business day after notification of the decision of the Jury and receiving a signed confirmation from the Winner.
The Prize is paid out via wire transfer to the account of the Participant.
The Organizer is entitled to pay out the Prize in one or more payments.
The Organizer is obliged to pay the prize no later than within 1 (one) year from the publication of the results.

8.5. If a Participant whose Submission has been selected as a Winner cannot accept, receive, or becomes ineligible for the Prize for any reason, the Prize will be awarded to the next highest-ranked Participant. In this case, the Participant who cannot accept, receive or becomes ineligible for the prize is not entitled to request a later transfer of the Prize from the Organizer.

8.6. The Winners are authorized to communicate on obtaining the Prize. The name of the Project Hyperion Design Competition must, in any case, be mentioned in full.

8.7. Participant is solely responsible for complying with all applicable tax laws and filing requirements, as well as for paying all taxes, duties, and other fees imposed on prizes awarded.

CLOSING EVENT

9.1. A closing event for the Competition is foreseen for 2025, with a date after the announcement of the Winners. The presence of team members of the Winners is highly appreciated.

CANCELLATION OF THE COMPETITION

10.1. The Organizer reserves the right to cancel or suspend the Competition or alter the Terms and Conditions and/or the Competition Brief and/or other applicable requirements at any time and stage at its own discretion, including but limited if it is considered necessary or if circumstances arise outside of its control.

10.2. In a case of suspension of a Competition the Registration Fees of Participant shall be returned.

PUBLICITY

11.1. By registering for the Competition, the Participant acknowledges and agrees that all aspects of any Submission (including, but not limited to, narratives, descriptions, details, images, illustrations, photographs, and animations and names and images of the Participants) may be used by the Organizer for publicity purposes.

11.2. The Participant agrees to participate in the promotional activities and the publicity arrangements for the Competition. The Organizer is authorised to use any and all statements made by the Participant in connection with the Competition without additional approval and consent.

11.3. The Organizer reserves the right to undertake promotional activities and/or publicity arrangements through the Portal or other channels, as well as to discontinue any of its activities and/or arrangements at any time.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

12.1. Intellectual Property Rights include all rights including but not limited to copyright, trademarks, service marks, trade names, design rights, patents, know-how, trade secrets, inventions and other forms of intellectual or industrial property, whether registered or unregistered and all applications for the same.

12.2. Participants retain ownership of their Submissions but grant the Organizer a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, display, and adapt Submissions for publicity and educational purposes. This license is subject to proper crediting of authors and respect for moral rights under French law.

12.3. Participants are encouraged to share their Submissions with the public.

12.4. Participants are encouraged to attribute a Creative Commons license (Recommended: CC BY 4.0) to their Submissions after the conclusion of the Competition to stimulate innovation and collaboration. Participants are free to apply Creative Commons after granting the Organizer its irrevocable rights.

12.5. The Organizer may publish Submissions in books or other media with proper attribution to the authors. Participants waive the right to additional compensation for these uses.

12.6. The Organizer reserves the right to use Submissions in machine learning processes, provided that such use complies with applicable laws and does not compromise the moral rights of Participants as stipulated in Section 12.2.

12.7. The Organizer has the rights but is not obliged to use all or any of the Intellectual Property Rights licensed above.

12.8. All credits in connection with the Submission are associated with the registered name of Participant. Organizer shall make a reasonable effort to display the Participant’s name on any Submission whenever published or otherwise featured.

12.9. The Participant undertakes to not exploit any of its personal rights arising out of the Intellectual Property Rights in any time and manner contrary to the interests of the Organizer.

12.10. In addition to the rights granted above, the Participant and/or each member of the Participant Team expressly grants to the Organizer the right to use, publish, and include the Submission (or any part thereof) in any book or publication produced by or on behalf of the Organizer, without the need for any additional permission from the Participant or any member of the Participant Team. This includes the right to use the Submission for the purposes of compiling, editing, and publishing such book or publication, in any format or media, and to distribute, sell, or otherwise make available such book or publication to the public. The Participant and/or each member of the Participant Team agrees that no additional payment, royalty, or other compensation is required to be provided by the Organizer for such use of the Submission.

12.11. The Participant and/or each member of the Participant Team acknowledges and agrees that the Organizer is under no obligation to use, publish, or include the Submission in any book or publication and that any decision to do so is at the sole and absolute discretion of the Organizer.

12.12. The rights granted under this clause are irrevocable and shall remain in effect indefinitely. The Participant and/or each member of the Participant Team waives any right to inspect or approve the finished book or publication, or the use to which it may be applied.

LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY

13.1. By registering or providing a Submission to a Competition, the Participant agrees to release, discharge and hold harmless the Organizer and its partners, representatives and Jury from any claims, losses, damages, expenses and liabilities (including attorney’s fees and settlement fees) arising out of the involvement of Participant in a Competition, the provision of any Submission, any exploitation of Submission by the Organizer, including any infringement of Intellectual Property Rights, or any other activities of Participant related to a Competition.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND GOVERNING LAW

14.1. Registering and participating in this Competition implies unreserved acceptance of these rules. These regulations are subject to French law. Any difficulties concerning the nullity, interpretation or execution of these regulations, and more generally any disputed case, will be submitted to a French court, and after exhaustion of all amicable means of settlement.

14.2. The Organizers cannot be held liable if, following a case of force majeure or an unforeseen event beyond its control, the competition should be canceled, postponed or modified or the duration of the competition shortened. Participants will be notified, and registration fees will be refunded only if the competition is permanently canceled. Force majeure is any event external to the parties, of an unforeseeable and insurmountable nature, which prevents either party from performing an essential obligation, including but not limited to natural disasters, acts of government, or other unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances.

14.3. In all cases, Organizers reserve the right to extend the period of participation and to postpone any date announced or to cancel the competition at any time. The Organizers cannot be held liable for any damage linked to a suspension or an interruption, to any dysfunction whatsoever, or to the end of the competition or even linked to the allocation or use of a prize, and this, for whatever reason.

WARRANTY

15.1. The Participant guarantees that they are the exclusive authors of the projects’ contents (ideas, creations, images and more generally all the documents), that the latter are entirely original and do not violate, directly or indirectly, any rights and do not include any element likely to be the subject of any private law or to harm anyone.

15.2. Consequently, Participant guarantees the Initiative for Interstellar Studes against any recourse or action by any natural or legal person believing they have any right to assert. In this context, Participant holds the Initiative for Interstellar Studies compensated for all possible costs, convictions and / or any expenses whatsoever resulting from these actions or actions.

CONCLUSION

16.1. If any term (or part of a term) of the Terms is invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the rest of the Terms will remain in effect.

16.2. These Terms and Conditions shall enter into effect when the Participant has registered on the Portal and expressed acceptance of these Terms.

16.3. When making changes in the current wording of the Terms, the date of the last amendment is indicated.

16.4. The new wording of the Terms shall enter into force from the moment of its posting on the Portal.

16.5. The Participant may address any questions to: info@i4is.org

TRANSPARENCY AND NOTICE

17.1. Participants will be informed of any significant changes to the rules, guidelines, or jury composition via email or the Competition Portal.

Date of wording: December 15, 2024

Date of publication: December 15, 2024