Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

We welcome you to Research Trove and our platform at https://researchtrove.com, and thank you for your interest in these Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”). These terms constitute a legal agreement between you and Research Trove Ltd, Ventonlace, Flatwoods Crescent, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AH, governing the use of our Platform and our Services. We license use of our platform to you on the basis of these Terms. We do not sell our platform to you, and we remain the owner of our Platform at all times.

You agree that by accessing our Platform, you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by all of these Terms. If you do not agree with all of these Terms, then you are expressly prohibited from using our Platform and you must discontinue use immediately.

Supplemental terms and conditions or documents that may be posted from time to time are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to make changes or modifications to these Terms at any time and for any reason. It is your responsibility to periodically review these Terms to stay informed of updates. You will be subject to and will be deemed to have been made aware of and to have accepted the changes in any revised Terms by your continued use of our Platform after the date such revised Terms are posted.

About Research Trove

Research Trove is an online platform providing services for connecting with academics, students and other professionals working in or interested in academic/scientific research, in order to find, set up and develop collaborative partnerships, share information about funding calls and events, connect prospective PhD students with suitable projects and supervisors, connect investigators with Post-Doctoral Research Associates (PDRAs), and other research-oriented activities.

1. Definitions

In this Agreement the following terms shall have the following meanings:

1.1.  “Research Trove”, “we”, “us”, “our” or “ours” means Research Trove Ltd., who owns the Platform at https://researchtrove.com.

1.2.  Depending on the context, “you”, “your” and “yourself” means User, Member/Registered User, or Visitor/Guest/Non-registered User.

1.3.  “User” or “Users” are any person who accesses the Platform at https://researchtrove.com.

1.4.  “Member” or “Registered User” means a User who has a registered Account on the Platform.

1.5.  “Visitor”, “Guest”, “Non-registered User” means a User who has not registered for an Account on the Platform.

1.6.  A User may create an “Account” with Us by providing their name, email address and choosing a unique user id. By having an Account, the User can log into the Platform, using a password set by and known only to the User, and provide information to form a Profile and access additional functionality in the Platform, beyond what Non-registered Users can do.

1.7.  “Profile” is a set of information provided by a Member that is stored in the Member’s Account, some or all of which may be visible to other Users and Members according to the Account holder’s preferences.

1.8.  “Service” or “Services” means any features and functionality available to Users on the Platform.

1.9.  “Posts” or “Contributions” means any Content in any format that a User enters into the Platform to be visible to other Users.

1.10. “Content” means any text, audio, video, graphics, imagery, information, etc. in the Platform.

1.11. “Third Party” mean any party who is neither yourself nor Research Trove. Third Parties may include Our affiliates, partners or service providers; or a User of the Platform who may offer or provide You with a service.

1.12. Each reference in this Agreement to “writing” and any similar expression includes electronic communications whether sent by e-mail.

1.13. Each reference to a statute or provision of a statute is a reference to that statute or provision as amended or re-enacted at the relevant time.

1.14. The headings used in this Agreement are for convenience only and shall have no effect upon the interpretation of this Agreement.

1.15. Each reference to the singular number shall include the plural and vice versa.

1.16. Each reference to any gender shall include the other gender.

2. Terms and Conditions

2.1. The provisions set out in these Terms govern your access to and your use of our Platform and shall constitute a legally binding agreement between you and us. We may change these Terms from time to time and shall notify you accordingly if we do. If you do not agree to such Terms, you must not use our Platform.

2.2. Subject to you agreeing to abide by these Terms, we hereby grant to you a revocable, non-exclusive and non-transferable licence to use our Platform on these Terms.

2.3. By using our Platform, you agree and acknowledge that:

2.3.1. you have read the terms set out in these Terms and agree to be bound by and comply with them;

2.3.2. the information you provide about yourself is true, accurate and current;

2.3.3. you are aged 18 years or over;

2.3.4. you have not been previously banned form Research Trove for any reason whatsoever; and

2.3.5. you are not prohibited from using our Platform under applicable law.

2.4. You may register an Account with us, which will allow you to access more functionality in our Platform. By registering an Account with us, which involves providing us with certain mandatory and voluntary information as required for a successful registration, you acknowledge and agree to clauses 2.3.1 to 2.3.5, as well as that:

2.4.1.  you will create only one Account for yourself using your real name;

2.4.2.  you will use a strong password and keep it safe;

2.4.3.  you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Account and you are responsible for all activities that occur under your Account. You agree not to share your Account with another person. We are not responsible for any loss, damage or liabilities arising as a result of or in connection with the wrongful, fraudulent or illegal use of your Account;

2.4.4.  you will keep your contact details up-to-date;

2.4.5.  you will provide accurate and truthful information about yourself – using false information is a violation of our Terms;

2.4.6.  in order to register an Account, you will be required to provide only your real name and email address, and choose a unique user id and select a suitable Profile type (e.g., academic, industry, PhD student, etc.);

2.4.7.  depending on your selected Profile type, you will be able to complete your Profile by adding voluntary information about yourself and your research or professional experience;

2.4.8.  you are encouraged to complete your Profile and keep it up to date to help you get the most out of using our Platform;

2.4.9.  other Registered Users (i.e., Members) will be able to send you private messages through the private messaging functionality of our Platform, but we will not make your email address visible to anyone unless you post it on a part of the Platform where it will be visible to others;

2.4.10.  you will receive email notifications when other Users interact with you via the Platform, such as sending you private messages, connecting with you, following you, commenting on your Posts, tagging you in a Post, etc. – you can change your notification preferences via the Platform.

2.4.11.  you should avoid including in your Profile personal addresses, telephone numbers and any sensitive personal data under the DPA and GDPR.

2.4.12.  Research Trove will not be liable for any and all consequences of you providing any and all voluntary information in your user Profile.

2.5. We reserve the right to, without any notice, explanation, or liability and in our sole discretion, refuse to allow you or suspend your access to our Platform or your Account at any time, or remove or edit Content (including Content submitted by you) on our Platform.

2.6. We reserve the right to change, modify, suspend, or discontinue any portion of the Services, our Platform or any other products, services, payment methods, and prices and/or other service provided by us in connection with any of the foregoing at any time. You agree that access to or operation of any of the foregoing may from time to time be interrupted or encounter technical difficulties.

2.7. Save to the extent permitted by us in writing, you are not permitted to use, or submit any Content to, our Platform or any of our affiliated platforms to advertise, promote or market any products or services of any Third Party or yourself.

2.8. The following additional terms also apply to your use of our Platform and form part of these Terms:

2.8.1. Our Privacy Policy sets out our policy concerning the collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Data in compliance with the UK’s DPA/GDPR. By using our Platform, you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your Data in the manner set out in our Privacy Policy and you warrant that all Data provided by you is accurate. Should you wish to update your Data and/or withdraw your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your Data, or should you have any feedback or enquiries relating to your Data, you can do so by using the functionalities provided in our Platform or by contacting us.

2.8.2. Our Cookie Policy sets out our policy governing the use of cookies on our Platform, which allows us to enhance and personalise Users’ experience on our Platform. Your use of our Platform shall be in accordance with this Cookie Policy.

3. Use of the Platform

3.1. You acknowledge and expressly accept that your use of the Platform is your sole responsibility.

3.2. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to access the Platform.

3.3. We have the unlimited right to cancel any User Account at any time, whether selected by you or assigned by us.

3.4. By visiting and/or using the Platform, you also agree not to engage in any activity which would adversely affect our image, interests, or rights or those of any of our affiliates, or which would damage, render useless or clutter the Platform, or in any way interfere with the normal use by other Visitors/Users/Members.

3.5. We implement reasonable security measures sufficient to check for the presence of viruses. However, you should be aware that existing security measures for computer systems on the Internet are not fully trustworthy and that accordingly we cannot guarantee the absence of viruses or other items that may contain modifications to your computer systems (hardware and software) or within your systems.

3.6. You agree:

3.6.1. to play an active role in creating and maintaining a safe and enjoyable community for all Research Trove Users to connect and collaborate by always acting with professionalism, treating people with respect, and reporting any Content or conduct that breaches these Terms.

3.6.2. not to abuse or misuse any feature that allows for reporting, flagging, or dispute resolution and the like, by making fraudulent, malicious, duplicate, or unsubstantiated reports or appeals.

3.7. We operate a safe space for people to engage, learn, share, and network. We operate a zero-tolerance policy with regards to the abuse of our Service Users or staff. Personal or targeted insults, threats, obscene and aggressive comments directed at other Service Users or at staff will not be tolerated. Users who persist in engaging in this way may be excluded from our Services. Please report any abusive Posts or incidences of cyber-bullying by using the functionality provided in our Platform or by contacting us directly.

4. Intellectual Property

4.1. All Content included on the Platform, unless uploaded by Users/Members, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, logos, icons, images, sound clips, video clips, data compilations, page layout, underlying code and software is the property of Research Trove, our affiliates or other relevant third parties. By continuing to use the Platform you acknowledge that such material is protected by applicable United Kingdom and International intellectual property and other relevant laws.

4.2. You may not reproduce, copy, distribute, store or in any other fashion re-use material from the Platform unless otherwise indicated on the Platform (e.g., by the presence of a “share” button on a Post) or unless given express written permission to do so by Research Trove.

4.3. You acknowledge that all intellectual property rights in our Platform anywhere in the world belong to us, that rights in our Platform are licensed (not sold) to you, and that you have no rights in, or to, our Platform other than the right to use them in accordance with these Terms.

4.4. Any intellectual property rights in Content uploaded by you to our Platform shall continue to belong to you or their respective owners. You agree that you grant us a royalty-free and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, publish, and display such intellectual property rights for the purposes of performing the Services, promotional purposes, internal administrative purposes, and any other purposes set out in these Terms, including for the purpose of improving the Services and our responses to Users of the Platform.

4.5. You acknowledge that you have no right to have access to our Platform in source code form.

4.6. You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded from our Platform in any way and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.

4.7. You must not use any part of the Content on our Platform for commercial purposes not specified on our Platform without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.

4.8. If you print off, copy, or download any Content on our Platform in breach of this Agreement, your right to use our Platform will cease immediately, and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

5. Your (the User’s) Obligations

5.1. You are solely responsible for the Content of your Profile and Posts, and thus for the information you provide about yourself and in your Posts.

5.2. You assure that the data provided in your Profile are true, not misleading and describe yourself personally.

5.3. You agree that you will not post anything unlawful, misleading, discriminatory, or fraudulent.

5.4. You undertake not to pass off the data of third parties (including but not limited to e-mail addresses) as your own. In particular, you undertake not to provide bank details or the credit card details of third parties.

5.5. You undertake to comply with the applicable laws when registering and using Research Trove and, if applicable, to comply with the conditions specified during registration.

5.6. You undertake to treat messages exchanged via the Service confidentially. Messages, names, telephone numbers, home or e-mail addresses of other Users may not be passed on to third parties without the other Users’ consent.

5.7. The purpose of the Service is to enable Users to connect and communicate with each other for professional and research purposes, with the general aim of building collaborations. You shall comply with this purpose. Furthermore, each User undertakes to be respectful of other Users. In particular, you will not:

5.7.1.  publish your own personal contact data within the scope of the Service or disseminate the personal data of another person (e-mail address, postal address, telephone number, etc.) in any way (in a Profile description, on a photo, listings, Posts, etc.);

5.7.2.  post Content that violates the rights of a Third Party, including general privacy rights, data protection rights, copyrights, trademark rights or other intellectual property rights or contractual rights;

5.7.3.  impersonate any other person (or entity);

5.7.4.  solicit passwords (for any purpose) or personal identifying information from other Users for commercial or unlawful purposes;

5.7.5.  send spam, solicit money from or defraud any User;

5.7.6.  post Content that contains hate speech or threats, is sexually explicit or pornographic, incites violence, or contains nudity or violence;

5.7.7.  post Content that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;

5.7.8.  harass, stalk, intimidate, assault, abuse or defame any person;

5.7.9.  otherwise use the Service for any harmful or illegal purpose;

5.7.10. use the Service to harm us;

5.7.11. use the Service for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms;

5.7.12. use the Service to promote or facilitate services of a sexual nature or any non-consensual sexual activity;

5.7.13. use robots, bots, spiders, crawlers, scrapers, website search/retrieval applications, proxies or any other manual or automated device, method or process to access, retrieve, index, “data mine” or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Platform or its Content;

5.7.14. use another User’s Account, share an Account with another User, or maintain more than one Account;

5.7.15. create another Account if we have already terminated your Account, unless you have our written permission to do so.

5.8. Failure to comply with any of the above obligations of conduct may result in both immediate suspension and termination of usership (even for cause) and may result in civil and criminal penalties for the User himself/herself.

6. Fees and Payment

6.1.  Some Services may require payment and/or other ad-hoc or ancillary fees before you can access or use them (“Fees”). These Fees will be notified to you through our Platform.

6.2.  If you purchase a recurring subscription from us, the subscription period for your Account shall be renewed automatically at the expiry of each subscription period, until terminated successfully through our Platform. By purchasing the recurring subscription, you authorise us or our related corporations to automatically charge the Fees:

6.2.1. upon the commencement of your first subscription period, upon expiration of any applicable trial period or at a date otherwise indicated by us; and

6.2.2. on the renewal date of the subscription period thereafter, without any further action by you.

6.3.  Any Fees due in relation to your Account must be paid by their due date for payment, as notified to you through our Platform or otherwise. Failure to make timely payment of the Fees may result in the suspension or termination of your access to your Account and/or our Platform or any of the Services.

6.4.  Our Fees may be amended from time to time at our discretion. We will provide you with reasonable advanced written notice of any amendment of recurring Fees. Your continued use of a recurring subscription will constitute acceptance of the amended Fees.

6.5.  You can make donations (e.g., “buy the developers a coffee”) to help contribute towards the upkeep and maintenance of the Platform. Please note that donations are non-refundable.

6.6.  Users with registered Accounts on Research Trove can list or advertise opportunities (e.g., funding calls, research pitches, events, speakers, services, consultants, etc. – collectively termed “Listings”). Listings can be elevated from basic to “Featured” or “Premium” status for a non-refundable fee, which will be notified to you through our Platform.

6.7.  Selling tickets to events incurs a commission on each ticket sale. The commission rate will be notified to you through our Platform.

6.8.  Selling courses incurs a commission on each sale. The commission rate will be notified to you through our Platform.

6.9.  You shall be responsible for any applicable taxes (including any goods and services tax) and any foreign exchange fees under these Terms.

6.10. All payments shall be made by using the payment methods specified by us from time to time. You acknowledge and agree that you are subject to the applicable user agreement of any third-party payment methods. We shall not be liable for any failure, disruption, or error in connection with your chosen payment method. We reserve the right at any time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, any payment method without notice to you or giving any reason.

6.11. We must receive payment in full no later than the day on which such payment is required to be paid in immediately available and freely transferable funds, without any restriction, condition, withholding, deduction, set-off or counterclaim whatsoever.

7. Non-exclusive Licence

7.1. Research Trove grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sub-licensable license to use the Platform solely as necessary for you to use the Service; and you will not (and you will not allow any Third Party to):

7.1.1. copy, modify, adapt, translate or otherwise create derivative works of the Platform;

7.1.2. reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Platform, except as expressly permitted by the law in effect in the jurisdiction in which you are located;

7.1.3. rent, lease, sell, assign or otherwise transfer rights in or to the Platform, or the Service;

7.1.4. remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Platform or placed by the Service;

7.1.5. use, post, transmit or introduce any device, software or routine which interferes or attempts to interfere with the operation of the Service or the Platform.

8. Content Disclaimer

8.1. We are under no obligation to verify the accuracy of the Content, and we do not warrant the usefulness, accuracy, completeness, or relevance of the Content and/or that such Content is current. We expressly exclude any and all liability for errors or omissions in relation to the Content and the Platform. An exception to this is where there has been an act of fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation on our part or is related to death or physical injury resulting from our negligence.

8.2. The Content of this Platform does not in any way constitute the provision of recruitment services or any other type of service. Research Trove expressly disclaims any and all liability for any decisions you may have made based on the Content.

8.3. We may use the Content uploaded by you for the purpose of data analytics or to implement artificial intelligence or machine learning. Any such Content shall be anonymised and used only for the purposes of improving the Services and our response to Users of the Platform.

8.4. Research Trove user-generated Content may contain information about medical conditions, treatments, investigations, interventions and surgical procedures. Research Trove is not affiliated with any user-generated Content provided. Research Trove is not responsible for any Content being, appropriate, complete, true, up to date, or correct. Research Trove is not responsible for harm as a result of any Content provided. We are not liable for damage to an individual, business, loss, profit, income. You indemnify us, if you cause us loss, cost, liability, expense, or damage by breach or claim of a breach, of you, of our Terms or Policies, and any amount paid by us to settle third-party expense. This includes the cost of legal advice incurred by you breaching our Terms or Policies.

9. Acceptable Use and Content Standards

9.1. These content standards apply to any and all information and material which you post or upload on our Platform (“Contributions”).

9.2. You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any Contribution as well as to its whole.

9.3. Contributions must:

9.3.1. comply with applicable law, in particular, the UK’s DPA/GDPR and the laws of any country from which they are posted; and

9.3.2. be placed in the correct and appropriate categories.

9.4. You shall be responsible for ensuring all Contributions are up-to-date, authentic, truthful and accurate. You shall be responsible for the origin of the Contributions and must ensure that you either have all ownership rights to the Contributions posted or all rights and/or consents or licences allowing you to upload and post the Contributions to and on our Platform.

9.5. Contributions must not:

9.5.1. infringe any intellectual property right of any other person or entity;

9.5.2. be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a Third Party, such as a contractual duty, a duty of confidence or any duty arising under law;

9.5.3. contain any material which is defamatory of any person, obscene, offensive, or inflammatory or promotes any illegal activity, discrimination, violence, or ill-will and hostility;

9.5.4. be threatening or abusive, invade another’s privacy, or cause or be likely to cause annoyance, alarm, inconvenience or needless anxiety to any other person;

9.5.5. be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person;

9.5.6. give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case; or

9.5.7. advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act or otherwise contain any material which is criminal in nature.

9.6. We reserve the right to request that you amend or delete the Contributions if it is found that any of the Contributions posted by you is in contravention of this acceptable use policy. If you fail to do this, then we will delete these Contributions.

9.7. Where you choose to terminate your Account with us, you may delete all previous Contributions made by you, and retain a copy of the same, except where other Users have shared any of your Contributions or stored them as a legitimate use of Service and except for reasonable effort to remove said Contributions from our backups.

10. Contribution Licence

10.1. By posting your Contributions to any part of the Platform or making Contributions accessible to the Platform by linking your Account from the Platform to any of your social networking accounts, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to us an unrestricted, unlimited, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, fully-paid, worldwide right, and license to host, use, copy, reproduce, disclose, publish, broadcast, retitle, archive, store, cache, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, transmit, excerpt (in whole or in part), and distribute such Contributions (including, without limitation, your image and voice) for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such Contributions, and grant and authorise sublicences of the foregoing. The use and distribution may occur in any media formats and through any media channels.

10.2. This licence will apply to any form, media, or technology now known or hereafter developed, and includes our use of your name, company name, and franchise name, as applicable, and any of the trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, and personal and commercial images you provide. You waive all moral rights in your Contributions, and you warrant that moral rights have not otherwise been asserted in your Contributions.

10.3. We do not assert any ownership over your Contributions. You retain full ownership of all of your Contributions and any intellectual property rights, or other proprietary rights associated with your Contributions. We are not liable for any statements or representations in your Contributions provided by you in any area on the Platform.

10.4. You are solely responsible for your Contributions to the Platform, and you expressly agree to exonerate us from any and all responsibility and to refrain from any legal action against us regarding your Contributions.

10.5. We have the right, in our sole and absolute discretion,

10.5.1. to edit, redact, or otherwise change any Contributions;

10.5.2. to re-categorise any Contributions to place them in more appropriate locations on the Platform; and

10.5.3. to pre-screen or delete any Contributions at any time and for any reason, without notice.

10.6. We have no obligation to monitor your Contributions.

10.7. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed to create an entitlement to any share of, payment of, or other form of compensation in, any income or revenues generated, including but not limited to advertising, search, promotions, sponsorship, usage, statistics, data analysis, partnerships, by Research Trove through Research Trove’s use, promotion or any commercial exploitation whatsoever of your uploaded Content, materials, submissions, in any form or form, media, or technology now known or hereafter developed.

11. Prohibited Uses

11.1. You may use our Platform only for lawful purposes. You may not use our Platform:

11.1.1. in any way that breaches any applicable local or international laws or regulations;

11.1.2. in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect;

11.1.3. to send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with our content standards as set out in our prevailing Terms as amended from time to time; and

11.1.4. to knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.

11.2. You also agree:

11.2.1. not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of our Platform in contravention of the provisions of our Terms; and

11.2.2. not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:

11.2.2.1. any part of our Platform;

11.2.2.2. any equipment or network on which our Platform is stored;

11.2.2.3. any software used in the provision of our Platform; or

11.2.2.4. any equipment or network or software owned or used by any Third Party.

12. Account Suspension and Termination

12.1. Research Trove reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to suspend or delete at any time and without notice, User Accounts which it deems inappropriate, offensive or in violation of these Terms.

12.2. We will determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach of these Terms through your use of our Platform. When a breach of this agreement has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate.

12.3. Failure to comply with these Terms constitutes a material breach of these Terms upon which you are permitted to use our Platform, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

12.3.1. immediate temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our Platform;

12.3.2. immediate temporary or permanent removal of any Services rendered;

12.3.3. issuance of a warning to you;

12.3.4. legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including but not limited to reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach;

12.3.5. further legal action against you; and/or

12.3.6. disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.

12.4. We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of these Terms. The responses described in these Terms are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

13. Restrictions

13.1. Except as expressly set out in this Agreement or as permitted by any applicable law, you undertake:

13.1.1. save for internal distribution amongst your employees and persons authorised by you for your internal business purposes, and any other purposes contemplated under these Terms or the Platform, not to reproduce, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publish, display, communicate, transmit, sell, exploit or use the whole or any part of any Service, our Platform or any of the Contents therein for any commercial or other purposes;

13.1.2. not to disassemble, decompile, reverse-engineer or create derivative works based on the whole or any part of the source code of our Platform nor attempt to do any such thing, or to reproduce, display or otherwise provide access to the Services, our Platform or any of the Contents therein, including but not limited to framing, mirroring, linking, spidering, scraping or any other technological means;

13.1.3. not to provide or otherwise make available our Platform in whole or in part (including but not limited to program listings, object and source program listings, object code and source code), in any form to any person without prior written consent from us;

13.1.4. to include our copyright notice on all entire and partial copies you make of our Platform on any medium;

13.1.5. to comply with all applicable technology control or export laws and regulations; and

13.1.6. not to disrupt, disable, or otherwise impair the proper working of the Services, our Platform or our servers, such as through hacking, cyber-attacks (including but not limited to denial-of-service attacks), tampering or reprogramming.

14. Upskill Courses

14.1. Members of Research Trove may offer “Upskill Courses” to other Users, either for a fee or free of charge. Upskill Courses consist of video lectures, quizzes, assignments and other materials, and must be of an educational nature, designed to provide learners with useful skills and/or knowledge.

14.2. To offer Upskill Courses, Members must register to become instructors.

14.2.1. To become an instructor, you must: (a) complete your Research Trove profile, including uploading a profile photo, (b) complete your course creator/teacher’s bio in your Upskill Dashboard settings, (c) click on “Apply Now” after following the link to “Become an Instructor” in the Upskill menu of the Research Trove Platform.

14.2.2. Research Trove reserves the right, at its sole discretion, not to approve a Member’s application to become an instructor.

14.2.3. Approving a Member’s application to become an instructor is in no way an endorsement of the Member or indication of the Member’s suitability, fitness, competence or similar to provide learning material or of the quality of such material that the instructor might provide

14.3. You must be a member of Research Trove to enrol in an Upskill Course

14.4. You may use the learning material on the platform for your own learning only. You may not share or sell this material to others. You may not copy and make this material available on any other platform, electronic or otherwise, in any format (such as, but not limited to, printed materials, screen captures, photographs, Word documents etc.)

14.5. You are granted a limited, non-transferable licence to access and view the content you have paid for, solely for your personal, educational use through our Services. You are not allowed to use the content for any other purpose, and all other uses are strictly prohibited.

14.6. The content you have purchased will be available to you for a given lifetime, as specified by the course creator(s)/instructor(s), and indicated to you on the Course page. However, we reserve the right to revoke your access for legal or policy reasons.

14.7. Lifetime access does not apply to add-ons and subscriptions. Instructors may choose to stop offering these at any time.

14.8. Instructors are not permitted to license content directly to learners. If any instructor offers to sell courses to you directly, outside of the Platform, then please report this to us at [email protected]. Any violation of this policy will result in the termination of the learner’s and instructor’s accounts.

14.9. Payment, Pricing, Refunds and Gift Codes

14.9.1. Prices for Upskill Courses may vary across different platforms, such as mobile platform providers, or at different times. The price displayed at the time of enrolment is the amount that will be charged to the Member’s payment method.

14.9.2. By enrolling in an Upskill Course, you agree to pay for the content that you purchase.

14.9.3. You must provide a valid payment method for your purchase.

14.9.4. If your payment method fails and you gain access to the learning materials, you must make every reasonable effort to pay for the content as soon as possible. If you do not provide a valid payment method within 5 days of being made aware that your payment failed, then we will remove access to the learning materials until payment is made.

14.9.5. You may request a refund for an Upskill Course within 14 days of purchase if you are unsatisfied with the quality of the material provided. We may issue a refund or credit at our sole discretion.

14.9.6. We may issue refunds beyond the 14-day period if material is removed for legal or policy reasons, or in cases of account fraud.

14.9.7. Credits issued as refunds can be used against the purchase of any product or service on the Platform. Credits have no monetary value and cannot be exchanged for cash. Credits will expire after one year if not used.

14.9.8. If we suspect abuse of the refund policy, such as watching a significant portion of the content or repeatedly requesting refunds, we reserve the right to withhold the refund and potentially suspend or terminate your account.

14.9.9. We or our affiliates may offer gift or promo codes, which may expire after a specific time. These codes are not redeemable for cash and are subject to availability.

14.10. Subscriptions

14.10.1. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the services provided in the subscription plan that you have selected.

14.10.2. You may not transfer your subscription to another user or share it with another party.

14.10.3. We reserve the right to revoke your license to the content in your subscription plan for legal, policy, or other reasons at our sole discretion.

14.10.4. To cancel your subscription, you must follow the cancellation process outlined on our platform. If you cancel your subscription, you will lose access to all material on the platform on the last day of your billing cycle. You will not be entitled to any refund for fees already paid.

14.10.5. Your subscription may start with a free trial, the duration of which will be specified when you sign up. Free trials are offered at our sole discretion and may be subject to limitations on access, eligibility, or duration. We reserve the right to terminate a free trial and suspend your subscription if we determine that you are not eligible for the trial or have violated our terms and conditions.

14.10.6. The fee for your subscription plan will be listed at the time of signup. Payments are non-refundable, and we will not refund any unused period of your subscription.

14.10.7. To subscribe, you must provide a valid payment method and provide us with permission to charge that payment method for the services provided in your subscription. We will automatically renew your subscription for the same length of time as your previous subscription and will charge the same payment method. If you change your payment method, you agree to allow us to charge that payment method for the auto-renewal of your subscription.

14.10.8. If we are unable to process payment or if you successfully issue a chargeback, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate your subscription at our sole discretion.

14.10.9. We reserve the right to change the prices or plans for our subscriptions, and any such changes will be applied after we have given you notice.

14.10.10. We make no guarantee as to the availability of any specific content in any subscription plan or the minimum amount of content that will be provided. We reserve the right to offer or stop offering additional features to any subscription plan at our sole discretion.

14.10.11. We also reserve the right to modify or terminate any subscription plan at our sole discretion. We have no responsibility to preserve or store any content added by you related to your use of the subscription.

14.11. Instructor Earnings

14.11.1. Payments for courses and subscriptions are subject to payment gateway fees, which depend on the country where payment is taken and are non-refundable.

14.11.2. The course or subscription fee, net of gateway payment fees, is then subject to a 30% commission. The remaining 70% constitute the instructor’s earnings from the sale of the course or subscription, and will accrue in the instructor’s Upskill Dashboard. The instructor’s balance will be shown in the Withdrawals section of their Dashboard.

14.11.3. Instructors can request a payout from their Dashboard, subject to the following:

14.11.3.1. The minimum payout is £100.

14.11.3.2. Course earnings cannot be paid out sooner than 14 days after the purchase of a course,

14.11.3.3. Payment will be made by Research Trove via bank transfer to a bank account of the instructor’s choice.

14.11.3.4. If the bank account chosen is outside the UK and/or the currency is not in GBP, all transfer/exchange fees will be deducted from the instructor’s payout.

14.11.4. No interest will be paid on Dashboard balances.

14.11.5. Any refunds offered to Members, for courses or subscriptions, will be taken from the balance in the instructor’s Dashboard.

14.11.6. Where more than one instructor co-creates a course, the lead instructor will receive all of the course fee (minus gateway fees and commission) in their Dashboard. Once a payout has been requested and successfully fulfilled, the lead instructor is solely responsible for paying the other instructors. Research Trove will not mediate in any disputes arising from a lead instructor not paying another instructor’s earnings, or similar. Research Trove will not be held responsible for any damages or losses arising from such cases.

14.12. User Conduct and Content Guidelines

14.12.1. You are solely responsible for any content you post on Research Trove, including but not limited to, text, images, videos, and audio recordings. By posting any content on our Platform, you confirm that you have all necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use, reproduce, publish, and distribute such content.

14.12.2. You must comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and legal obligations when using our Platform. You are prohibited from using our Platform for any illegal purpose or for any purpose that violates the rights of others, including but not limited to, intellectual property rights, privacy rights, and publicity rights.

14.12.3. If you submit any assignment, or project for a course on our Platform, you confirm that it is your original work and not copied or plagiarized from any other source. You acknowledge that submitting any work that is not your own may result in immediate termination of your account.

14.12.4. We reserve the right to remove any content from our Platform that violates any applicable law, regulation, or legal obligation, including but not limited to, intellectual property rights, copyrights, and trademarks. We also reserve the right to remove any content that we, in our sole discretion, consider to be inappropriate, offensive, or harmful to other users.

14.12.5. To provide a safe and respectful learning environment for all Users, Upskill Courses must not contain certain topics and behaviours that may be offensive, harmful or illegal. Examples of prohibited topics are listed below (non-exhaustive):

14.12.5.1. Content related to firearms or other weapons, including but not limited to, information on how to make, use, or obtain such items in violation of applicable laws or regulations.

14.12.5.2. Content related to illegal drugs or drug use, including but not limited to, information on how to make, use, or distribute such substances in violation of applicable laws or regulations.

14.12.5.3. Content containing nudity, sexual content or explicit sexual material that is deemed inappropriate or offensive to our Users.

14.12.5.4. Content containing hate speech or discriminatory content, including but not limited to, content that promotes or incites violence, racism, sexism, or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

14.12.5.5. Content that promotes or encourages dangerous or harmful activities, including but not limited to, self-harm, suicide, or harm to others.

14.12.5.6. Content containing graphic or violent material, including but not limited to, depictions of extreme violence, gore, or torture.

14.12.5.7. Content that promotes or encourages illegal or unethical behaviour, including but not limited to, fraud, hacking, or phishing.

14.12.5.8. Content that infringes on the intellectual property rights of others, including but not limited to, copyrighted or trademarked material, without the appropriate permission or licence.

14.12.5.9. Content that promotes or facilitates plagiarism or academic dishonesty, including but not limited to, selling or purchasing academic papers or assignments.

14.12.5.10. Content containing personal attacks or harassment of others, including but not limited to, defamation, bullying, or stalking.

14.12.5.11. Content containing fraudulent or deceptive practices, including but not limited to, phishing, impersonation, or scams.

14.12.5.12. Content containing misinformation or fake news, including but not limited to, intentionally false or misleading information.

14.12.5.13. Content that violates any laws or regulations, including but not limited to, laws related to privacy, data protection, or intellectual property.

14.12.5.14. Content that promotes or supports political campaigning, propaganda, or lobbying activities.

14.12.6. Any other content that is deemed inappropriate, offensive, or harmful to the Users of the Research Trove platform is strictly prohibited. We reserve the right to remove any content that violates these terms, at our sole discretion.

14.13. Disclaimer of Liability and User Responsibility

14.13.1. By accessing and using our Platform, you acknowledge and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions, and you do so at your own risk.

14.13.2. We do not review content for legal issues, nor do we have editorial control over the content posted on the Platform. Accordingly, we make no representation or warranty as to the reliability, validity, accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content on the platform.

14.13.3. You acknowledge and accept that your use of the Platform exposes you to content that may be offensive, indecent, or objectionable, and we disclaim all liability for such content. We shall have no obligation to monitor, edit, or remove any content from the platform.

14.13.4. You are solely responsible for any content that you post on the Platform and agree not to share personal information, such as email addresses or phone numbers, with other users. We are not responsible for any content posted by users and disclaim all liability for any loss, damage, or injury resulting from such content.

14.13.5. We do not hire instructors, and we are not responsible for the conduct of any users on the Platform. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users on the Platform and must exercise caution and good judgment when using the Platform.

15. Job Advertising Rules

15.1. We have rules regarding the content and format of jobs posted on our Platform. The purpose is to ensure that Users who search the site get results which are presented accurately. We may at our sole discretion remove any advertisement which is posted.

15.2. Job-seekers, Employers and Businesses need to be aware that Research Trove operates as a venue only and does not introduce or supply Job Seekers to Businesses nor conversely. Thus, we do not:

15.2.1. obtain sufficient information for potential Businesses to select a suitable Job Seeker for the position which the Business seeks to fill;

15.2.2. obtain confirmation of the identity of a Job Seeker or that they have the experience, training, qualifications or authorisation to work in the position to be filled or that they wish to undertake the role to be filled;

15.2.3. take any steps to ensure the Job Seeker and Business are each aware of any requirement imposed by law or otherwise which must be satisfied by either of them to permit the Job Seeker to fulfil the position to be filled;

15.2.4. take any steps to ensure that it would not be detrimental to the interests of the Job Seeker or the Business for the Job Seeker to fulfil the position to be fulfilled;

15.2.5. give any indication to Businesses whether Job Seekers are unsuitable (or suitable) for any position to be filled in any circumstances;

15.2.6. propose Job Seekers to Businesses or provide any information about them.

15.2.7. take up any references in relation to a Job Seeker; or

15.2.8. make any arrangements for accommodation of Job Seekers.

15.3. Therefore, we do not propose or introduce Job Seekers to Businesses or vice versa. It is recommended that, if you are a Job Seeker, you undertake steps as set out in the Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 to ensure your suitability for the role advertised or, if you are a Business or employer, to ensure a Job Seekers’ suitability for the role, including but not limited to checking the identity of the Business/employer, risks to health and safety, experience, training, qualifications, and authorisation.

15.4. Advertisements which appear to discriminate on grounds of sex, race or disability are illegal and may result in proceedings being taken against both the advertiser and the publisher. Advertisements are accepted on the basis that the advertiser confirms that any requirement or qualification which may appear to discriminate illegally is in compliance with any exemption available under the relevant legislation.

15.5. Notwithstanding this confirmation, if we nonetheless believe that an advertisement may be discriminatory, we may at our discretion either amend the advertisement or remove it without liability to you to make any refund of amounts paid or due to be paid in respect of the posting or otherwise and will inform you accordingly.

15.6. We do not guarantee any response to your advertisement or that responses will be from individuals suitable for the job advertised. It is your responsibility to carry out such checks and procedures as are necessary to ensure that candidates are suitable for the job advertised and have the required qualifications and personal characteristics.

16. Event Listings

16.1. Event Content and links are provided by the Users of the Platform, who may be individuals, businesses or organisations. Research Trove is not responsible for the accuracy of the event Content or external links provided. Users who list events on the Platform must ensure the event information is accurate and external links are correct and do not harm Users. Events must be related to scientific/academic research, career development, professional development and similar. Social events related to personal meetings, dating, or unlawful events are not allowed. Research Trove is not responsible for individuals missing an event due to website functionality, communication by event organisers or inaccurate information.

16.2. Members who are organising events and list them through Research Trove may offer tickets with either free or paid admission. For paid admission tickets:

16.2.1. A non-refundable booking fee of 7% + £0.50 of the total price of each ticket will be deducted to cover payment gateway fees, platform expenses and administrative costs.

16.2.2. If the total price of each ticket is below £0.54, then the event organiser will receive no earnings from their ticket sales and Research Trove may invoice the event organiser for costs incurred from the sale of ticket through our Platform.

16.2.3. Tickets will be issued to the purchasers with the total price of each ticket shown. The event price of these tickets is the total price of each ticket minus the non-refundable booking fee. If a ticket is refunded, the ticket holder will receive the event price of the ticket.

16.2.4. Earnings from ticket sales will accrue in the event organiser’s Wallet (https://researchtrove.com/my-wallet/) and remain there until the event has taken place. After five working days of the event finishing, and after having processed any and all ticket refunds, the event organiser may request a “pay out”, where Research Trove will transfer the earnings from an individual event to a bank account of the event organiser’s choice.

16.2.5. If the bank account chosen is outside the UK and/or the currency is not in GBP, all transfer/exchange fees will be deducted from the event organiser’s earnings.

16.2.6. No interest will be paid on Wallet balances.

16.2.7. Event organisers are responsible for providing a Refund Policy, which must be clearly stated in their Event Listing.

16.2.7.1. If refunds are permitted, event organisers must state clearly in the listing the circumstances under which refunds will be provided.

16.2.7.2. Refund policies may be changed after an event listing has been posted only if the new refund policy provides more options for ticket purchasers to obtain a refund. For example, a no-refunds policy may be changed to allow refunds but a listing that allows refunds cannot be changed to a no-refunds policy. If you change your refunds policy, you need to inform all ticket holders of this change as soon as reasonably possible after making the change.

16.2.7.3. Irrespective of a listing’s refund policy, if an event is cancelled ticket holders are entitled to a refund of the event price (i.e. the ticket price minus the non-refundable booking fee).

16.2.7.4. Irrespective of a listing’s refund policy, if an event is rescheduled any ticket holders who are not able to attend the new date are entitled to a refund of the event price (i.e. the ticket price minus the non-refundable booking fee).

16.3. Members purchasing tickets agree for their email addresses to be sent to the event organiser, so that they can be informed of any updates or changes to the event.

16.3.1. Event organisers agree not to share the email addresses of ticket purchasers with any third party and only to use the email addresses to contact the ticket holders regarding the organisation of the event, in accordance with the UK’s DPA/GDPR and/or equivalent policy in the country or countries where the event is being organised and/or held, and with our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

16.4. Research Trove reserves the right to remove Listings that infringe on our Terms and Policies. Any listing fees will not be refunded to the event organiser. If any tickets have been sold, ticket holders will receive a refund for the event price of the ticket (i.e. the total price minus the non-refundable booking fee). If you feel an Event Listing has been removed incorrectly, please contact us.

17. Reliance on Information

17.1. The Platform is intended to provide general information only and, as such, should not be considered as a substitute for advice covering any specific situation. You should seek appropriate advice before taking or refraining from taking any action in reliance on any information contained in the Platform.

17.2. The information provided on the Platform is not intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject us to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country.

18. Warranties

18.1. We provide the Services, Platform and all Related Content on an “as is” and “as available” basis, unless otherwise specified in writing. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation of any of the foregoing, unless otherwise specified in writing.

18.2. As part of the Services, you may communicate with Third Parties and have access to Third Party’s advice. Any information about Third Parties is provided on an “as is” basis, based on information provided to us by the Third Parties. We do not make any warranties, express or implied, as to the qualifications, quality, suitability, fitness for purpose, completeness or correctness of any Third Party or Third Party’s advice.

18.3. You acknowledge that Third Parties are not our agents or employees, and all Third Parties are solely responsible for any advice they provide. No Third Party is authorised to make any statement or representation for and on behalf of us. We do not make any representations or warranties as to the qualifications or experience of any Third Party and you are encouraged to conduct your own due diligence on each Third Party, including whether such Third Party and Third Party’s advice is relevant or suitable for your needs.

18.4. To the full extent permissible by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, relating to our Platform or any Services, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. We do not warrant that the Services, our Platform, the Related Content, or electronic communications sent by us are free of viruses or other harmful components.

19. Limitation of Liability

19.1. We are not liable for the completeness, accuracy or correctness of any information uploaded on our Platform and any Related Content. You expressly agree that your use of the Services and our Platform, including reliance on any Third Party’s advice, is at your sole risk.

19.2. We do not assist with dispute resolution between you and any User of the Platform, including Third Parties, and are not obliged at any time to adjudicate on any such dispute. In the event of any dispute, you are responsible for contacting the relevant party. Without prejudice to the foregoing, we remain entitled at all times to investigate at our discretion any complaint regarding the use of our Platform or any suspected unlawful activity and to take any action that we deem appropriate, including to file a report with the appropriate authorities.

19.3. You agree not to use the Services, our Platform and the Related Content for any re-sale purposes, and we have no liability to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising under or in connection with these Terms (including but not limited to the use of, or inability to use, the Services, our Platform or any other platform or software) for:

19.3.1. loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;

19.3.2. business interruption;

19.3.3. loss of anticipated savings;

19.3.4. loss or corruption of data or information;

19.3.5. loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or

19.3.6. any other indirect or consequential loss or damage.

19.4. Nothing in these Terms shall limit or exclude our liability for:

19.4.1. death or personal injury resulting from our negligence;

19.4.2. fraud; and/or

19.4.3. any other matter in respect of which we are prohibited under applicable law from limiting or excluding our liability.

19.5. Our Platform is not intended to serve a record-keeping function and we shall not be liable for any loss of data or Content.

19.6. These Terms set out the full extent of our obligations and liabilities in respect of the supply of the Services and our Platform. Except as expressly stated in these Terms, there are no conditions, warranties, representations or other terms, express or implied, that are binding on us. Any condition, warranty, representation or other term concerning the supply of the Services and our Platform which might otherwise be implied into, or incorporated in, these Terms whether by statute, common law or otherwise, is excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

20. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold us, our related, and our respective directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives, independent contractors, licensees, successors and assigns harmless from and against all claims, losses, expenses, damages and costs (including but not limited to direct, incidental, consequential, exemplary and indirect damages), and reasonable legal fees, resulting from or arising out of your act, default or omission, whether in your use of our Platform, Services, and/or any platforms or software in relation thereto or otherwise, and whether in respect of your breach of these Terms or any laws or regulations or otherwise.

21. Privacy

21.1. For the purposes of applicable data protection legislation, Research Trove will process any personal data you have provided to it in accordance with our Privacy Policy available on the Platform or on request from Research Trove.

21.2. You agree that, if you have provided Research Trove with personal data relating to a Third Party (a) you have in place all necessary appropriate consents and notices to enable lawful transfer of such personal data to Research Trove and (b) that you have brought to the attention of any such Third Party our Privacy Policy. You agree to indemnify Research Trove in relation to all and any liabilities, penalties, fines, awards or costs arising from your non-compliance with these requirements.

22. Platform Management

22.1. We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to:

22.1.1. monitor the Platform for violations of these Terms;

22.1.2. take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates the law or these Terms, including without limitation, reporting such User to law enforcement authorities;

22.1.3. in our sole discretion and without limitation, refuse, restrict access to, limit the availability of, or disable (to the extent technologically feasible) any of your Contributions or any portion thereof;

22.1.4. in our sole discretion and without limitation, notice, or liability, to remove from the Platform or otherwise disable all files and Content that are excessive in size or are in any way burdensome to our systems;

22.1.5. otherwise manage the Platform in a manner designed to protect our rights and property and to facilitate the proper functioning of the Platform.

23. Corrections

There may be information on the Platform that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions that may relate to the Platform, including descriptions, pricing, availability, and various other information. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions and to change or update the information on the Platform at any time, without prior notice.

24. Availability of the Platform

24.1. The Service is provided “as is” and on an “as available” basis. We give no warranty that the Service will be free of defects and/or faults. To the maximum extent permitted by the law we provide no warranties (express or implied) of fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy of information, compatibility, and satisfactory quality.

24.2. Research Trove accepts no liability for any disruption or non-availability of the Platform resulting from external causes including, but not limited to, ISP equipment failure, host equipment failure, communications network failure, power failure, natural events, acts of war or legal restrictions and censorship.

25. Other Important Terms

25.1. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms to another organisation, but this will not affect your rights or obligations under these Terms.

25.2. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these Terms to another person if we agree in writing.

25.3. No joint venture, partnership or agency or employment relationship has arisen by reason of these Terms.

25.4. These Terms and any document expressly referred to in them constitute the entire agreement between us regarding their subject matter, and supersedes and extinguishes all previous agreements, promises, assurances, warranties, representations, and understandings between us, whether written or oral, relating to that subject matter. You agree that you shall have no remedies in respect of any statement, representation, assurance, or warranty (whether made innocently or negligently) that is not set out in these Terms, or any document expressly referred to in them. You agree that you shall have no claim for innocent or negligent misrepresentation or negligent misstatement based on any statement in these Terms or any document expressly referred to in them.

25.5. If we fail to insist that you perform any of your obligations under these Terms, or if we do not enforce our rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If we do waive a default by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will automatically waive any later default by you.

25.6. Each of the conditions of these Terms operates separately. If any court or competent authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining conditions will remain in full force and effect.

25.7. These Terms, their subject matter and their formation, and any other disputes or claims in connection therewith, are governed by the law of England and Wales. In the event of any such disputes or claims in connection with these Terms, you agree to first engage in good faith discussions with us to resolve such dispute or claim. If such dispute or claim is not resolved within sixty (60) days, we both irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

These Terms were last updated on 8 May 2023.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

We welcome you to Research Trove and our platform at https://researchtrove.com and thank you for your interest in this Privacy Policy. At Research Trove we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy when you use our Platform and Services (“Platform”).

In principle, we will only use your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws, in particular the UK’s Data Protection Act (“DPA”), the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), and only as described in this Privacy Policy.

What is Personal Data?

Personal data is any information relating to personal or material circumstances that relates to an identified or identifiable individual. This includes, for example, your name, date of birth, e-mail address, postal address, or telephone number as well as online identifiers such as your IP address. In contrast, information of a general nature that cannot be used to determine your identity is not personal data. This includes, for example, the number of users of a website.

The Data Controller

Responsible for data processing is:

Research Trove Ltd.
Ventonlace
Flatwoods Crescent
Claverton Down
BATH
BA2 7AH

Web: https://researchtrove.com
E-Mail: [email protected].

General information on data processing

All personal data that we obtain from you via the Platform will be processed for the purposes described in more detail below. This is done within the framework of the DPA and GDPR and of course, only when data processing is permitted and if:

• you have given your consent,
• the data is necessary for the fulfilment of a contract / pre-contractual measures,
• the data is necessary for the fulfilment of a legal obligation or
• the data is necessary to protect the legitimate interests of our company, provided that your interests are not overridden.

We process and store your personal data only for the period of time required to achieve the respective processing purpose or for as long as a legal retention period (in particular commercial and tax law) exists. Once the purpose has been achieved or the retention period has expired, the corresponding data is routinely deleted.

Data processing when you submit it to our Platform

a) Contacting us

If you contact us, we process the following data from you for the purpose of processing and handling your request: first name, last name, e-mail address, and, if applicable, other information if you have provided it, and your message. The legal basis for the data processing is our obligation to fulfil the contract and/or to fulfil our pre-contractual obligations and/or our overriding legitimate interest in processing your request.

b) Data management and customer support

For optimal customer support, we use first name, last name, e-mail address, and the data related to your contract with us. Your data may be stored on our Platform and/or our customer relationship management system (“CRM system”). This data processing is based on our legitimate interest in providing our customer service.

c) Contract processing

We process your first name, last name, e-mail address and the data related to your contract with us to handle the contractual relationship between you and us. The legal basis for the data processing is the fulfilment of our contractual obligations and, in individual cases, the fulfilment of our legal obligations.

If you make a purchase your payment will be processed via the payment service provider Stripe and payment will solely be processed through the payment system of Stripe. The legal basis for the provision of a payment system is the establishment and implementation of the user contract for the use of the service.

d) Registration

Users can create a user account. As part of the registration process, doing so users provide first name, last name, e-mail address during the registration process. The data provided will be used for the purposes of using the account and providing and/or purchasing offerings and using our services. Users may be informed by e-mail about information relevant to the offer or registration, such as changes to the scope of the offer or technical circumstances. If users have terminated their user account, their data with regard to the user account will be deleted, subject to where their retention is necessary for commercial or tax reasons. It is the responsibility of the users to save their data in the event of termination before the end of the contract.

In the context of the use of our registration and login functions as well as the use of the user account, we store the IP address and the time of the respective user action. The storage is based on our legitimate interests, as well as the user’s protection against misuse and other unauthorised use.

e) Profile

As a registered user, you have the opportunity to create a user profile with just a few clicks and details. If you make use of the option, the relevant profile data you provide will be transferred to your profile. Of course, you can change the information at any time via the settings in your profile. When creating a profile, you can submit personal data such as your profile picture, photos and images etc. Most content and data are publicly viewable. You have choices about the information on your profile. You don’t have to provide additional information on your profile; however, profile information helps you to get more from our Services. It’s your choice whether to include sensitive information on your profile and to make that sensitive information public. However, it is not necessary to provide any sensitive information to use our Platform and we discourage everyone from doing so. Please do not post or add personal data to your profile that you would not want to be seen by others. The legal basis for the processing of your personal data is the establishment and implementation of the user contract for the use of the service. We store the data until you delete your user account. Insofar as legal retention periods are to be observed, storage also takes place beyond the time of deletion of a user account.

f) When using our services

We process the data of our registered users, in order to be able to provide our contractual services as well as to ensure the security of our services and to be able to develop it further. The user can upload additional personal and non-personal data, as well as content such as videos, photos and text. Some of the data you choose to provide to us may be considered “special” or “sensitive” in certain jurisdictions, for example your racial or ethnic origins, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs. We do not ask for or require any “special” or “sensitive” data for you to use our Platform. By choosing to provide this data, you consent to our processing of that data.

Where any Personal Data relates to a third party, you represent and warrant that the Personal Data is up-to-date, complete, and accurate and that you have obtained the third party’s prior consent for our collection, use and disclosure of their Personal Data for the Purposes. You agree that you shall promptly provide us with written evidence of such consent upon demand by us.

Unless otherwise specified the purposes of processing are contractual performance and service, contact requests and communication, office and organisational procedures, administration, and response to requests, visit action evaluation. The legal basis for the data processing is the fulfilment of our contractual obligations and, in individual cases, the fulfilment of our legal obligations as well as your Consent.

You may withdraw your consent and request us to stop using and/or disclosing your Personal Data for any or all of the Purposes by submitting your request to us in writing to [email protected].

g) Information and personal data you share

Since our goal is to help you make contacts and connections, we naturally disclose user data primarily to other users. For example, your email address will be sent to the organiser of an event when you purchase a ticket or tickets to that event, so that the event organiser can contact all ticket holders to inform them of updates and any other matters regarding the organisation of the event. Event organisers must agree not to disclose your email address to any other party and to use your email address only for the purposes of communicating with you regarding the event. When you voluntarily share information on our Services (including your public profile), you disclose that information to other users. Please be careful with your information and make sure that you only share content that you truly agree to publish, as neither you nor we can control what others do with your information once you share it. If you want to make all or part of your profile or certain content visible only to certain groups of users, you can set appropriate restrictions in your settings. The legal basis for the processing of your personal data is the establishment and implementation of the user contract for the use of the service.

h) Information we receive from others

In addition to the information, you provide to us directly, we also receive information about you from third parties. Also, other users may provide us with information about you while using our Services. For example, we may process information about you from other users when those users contact us about you.

i) Donations

If you decide to support us, the following data is processed by Stripe: Amount of donation, Browser language, and Identifying information about the devices that connect to Stripe. The legal bases of the data processing are our obligation to fulfil the contract and/or to fulfil our pre-contractual obligations and/or our legitimate interest.

Processing of automatically collected data

a) Collection of access data and log files

We also collect data on every access to our Platform. The access data includes the name of the Platform accessed, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user’s operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider.

Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g., for the clarification of abuse or fraud) for a maximum of 7 days and then deleted. Data whose further storage is necessary for evidentiary purposes is exempt from deletion until the respective incident is finally clarified. The legal basis for the data processing is our legitimate interest in providing an appealing Platform.

b) Use of cookies

We use so-called cookies on our web site. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your respective device (PC, smartphone, tablet, etc.) and saved by your browser. For further information please refer to our Cookie Policy. The legal basis for the use of cookies is our legitimate interest.

Integration of third-party services and content

We use content or service offers of third-party providers on the basis of our legitimate interests in order to integrate their content and services (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “content”).

This always requires that the third-party providers of this content are aware of the IP address of the user, as without the IP address they would not be able to send the content to their browser. The IP address is therefore necessary for the display of this content.

Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as “web beacons”) for statistical or marketing purposes. The “pixel tags” can be used to evaluate information such as visitor traffic on the pages of our Platform. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user’s device and may contain, among other things, technical information about the browser and operating system, referring Platforms, time of visit and other information about the use of our Platform, as well as being linked to such information from other sources.

The following provides an overview of third-party providers and their content, together with links to their privacy policies, which contain further information on the processing of data and so-called opt-out measures, if any:

• System notifications and Mailing: Amazon SES, Amazon WorkMail and FluentSMTP
• Web Hosting Provider: Amazon EC2 through RunCloud
• Analytics and Tracking: Google Analytics by Google Inc
• Newsletter Dispatch: Mailchimp by Intuit Inc
• Spam protection: reCAPTCHA by Google Inc

Transfer of personal data

In the course of our business and Platform operations, we may disclose your personal data by transmission to third parties and, where applicable, to so-called third countries outside the UK and the EEA. Where we transfer data to third parties, we ensure a system of adequate protection mechanism and so-called “processing agreement” is signed with them. We will not disclose or otherwise distribute your personal data to third parties unless this:

• is necessary for the performance of our services,
• you have consented to the disclosure,
• or the disclosure of data is permitted by relevant legal provisions.

However, we are entitled to outsource the processing of your personal data in whole or in part to external service providers acting as processors within the framework of the DPA and GDPR. External service providers support us, for example, in the technical operation and support of the Platform, data management, the provision and performance of services, marketing, as well as the implementation and fulfilment of reporting obligations.

The service providers commissioned by us however will process your data exclusively in accordance with our instructions and we remain in accordance with the DPA and GDPR responsible for the protection of your data. Doing so we always make sure that service providers commissioned by us are carefully selected, follow strict contractual regulations, technical and organisational measures, and additional controls by us.

We may also disclose Personal Data to third parties if we are legally obliged to do so e.g., by court order or if this is necessary to support criminal or legal investigations or other legal investigations or proceedings at home or abroad or to fulfil our legitimate interests.

Duration of data storage

We store personal data on our secure server and only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed or for as long as any consent you have given us has not been revoked by you. Insofar as statutory retention obligations must be observed, the storage period for certain data may be up to 6 years, irrespective of the processing purposes.

Direct marketing in the context of a customer relationship

Insofar as you have also given us your separate consent to process your data for consulting, marketing and advertising purposes, we are entitled to contact you for these purposes via the communication channels you have given your consent to.

Advertising and marketing

Insofar as you have also given us your separate consent to process your data for marketing and advertising purposes, we are entitled to contact you for these purposes via the communication channels you have given your consent to.

You may give us your consent in a number of ways including by selecting a box on a form where we seek your permission to send you marketing information, or sometimes your consent is implied from your interactions or contractual relationship with us. Where your consent is implied, it is on the basis that you would have a reasonable expectation of receiving a marketing communication based on your interactions or contractual relationship with us.

Direct Marketing generally takes the form of e-mail but may also include other less traditional or emerging channels. These forms of contact will be managed by us, or by our contracted service providers. Every directly addressed marketing sent or made by us or on our behalf will include a means by which you may unsubscribe or opt out.

Your data subject rights

These rights are standardised in the DPA and GDPR. These include:

• the right to information,
• the right to rectification,
• the right to erasure,
• the right to restriction of data processing,
• the right to data portability,
• the right to object to data processing,
• the right to revoke any consent you have given, and
• the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

Please contact us at any time with questions and suggestions regarding data protection and to enforce your rights as a data subject.

We encourage you to contact us if you have any information requests, requests for information or objections about data processing or concerns. However, you also have the right to file a complaint with your local supervisory authority. However, we would appreciate it if you would contact us with your concern before turning to a supervisory authority.

Security

State-of-the-art internet technologies are used to ensure the security of your data. During the online enquiry process, your details are secured with SSL encryption. For secure storage of your data, the systems are protected by firewalls that prevent unauthorised access from outside. In addition, technical and organisational security measures are used to protect the personal data you have provided against accidental or intentional manipulation, loss, destruction, or access by unauthorised persons.

Updating your information

If you believe that the information, we hold about you is inaccurate or that we are no longer entitled to use it and want to request its rectification, deletion, or object to its processing, please do so by contacting us. For your protection and the protection of all of our users, we may ask you to provide proof of identity before we can answer the above requests.

Keep in mind, we may reject requests for certain reasons, including if the request is unlawful or if it may infringe on trade secrets or intellectual property or the privacy of another user. Also, we may not be able to accommodate certain requests to object to the processing of personal information, notably where such requests would not allow us to provide our service to you anymore.

Withdraw your consent

You may withdraw your consent and request us to stop using and/or disclosing your Personal Data for any or all of the Purposes by submitting your request to us in writing to [email protected]. Should you withdraw your consent to the collection, use or disclosure of your Personal Data, it may impact our ability to proceed with your transactions, agreements, or interactions with us. Prior to you exercising your choice to withdraw your consent, we will inform you of the consequences of the withdrawal of your consent. Please note that your withdrawal of consent will not prevent us from exercising our legal rights (including any remedies) or undertaking any steps as we may be entitled to at law.

Data intermediary

Where we process your Personal Data as a data intermediary on behalf of a third party, we will process your Personal Data in accordance with the instructions of the third party and shall use it only for the purposes agreed between you and the third party. All such Personal Data will be protected and retained in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the terms of the DPA and GDPR. We will take steps to inform the third party of any requests, complaints, or questions that you may have regarding such Personal Data.

Third party policies

Our Platform may, from time to time, contain links to and from the Platforms of our partner networks, business partners and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these Platforms, please note that these Platforms have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any Data to these Platforms.

Personal information and children

Our services are aimed at people aged 18 and over. We will not knowingly collect, use or disclose personal information from minors under the age of 18 without first obtaining consent from a legal guardian through direct offline contact.

Online presences in social media

We maintain online presences within social networks and Platforms in order to be able to communicate with the customers, interested parties and users active there and to inform them about our services there. When calling up the respective networks and Platforms, the terms and conditions and data processing guidelines of their respective operators apply. Unless otherwise stated in our privacy policy, we process the data of users if they communicate with us within the social networks and Platforms, e.g., write posts on our online presences or send us messages.

Does this policy change?

We may from time to time update our Privacy Policy, to reflect a change in the law, in our business practices or the cookies we use. This Privacy Policy was last updated on Monday, 27 February 2023.

Do you have any questions?

Please contact us if you have any comments or questions about this policy and/or our use of your Personal Data.