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Rules

Understand the legal rules governing the competition.

Thank you for your interest in the NIH Build UP Trust Challenge (the “Competition”). The Competition is sponsored by National Institutes of Health (“Competition Sponsor”) with platform support provided by Carrot. Please know that by participating in this Competition and in accordance with these Rules you are eligible to receive various forms of recognition and a possible Award from the NIH of up to $45,000 (USD) as a Phase I Finalist and $200,000 (USD) as a Phase II Winner. The Rules governing this Competition ("RULES") are stated here as an extension of the official challenge.gov announcement, and as an extension of Terms & Conditions ("TERMS") for use of this website. The full TERMS are available for your review by accessing them on this Website. The RULES constitute "Competition Terms and Conditions" under Clause 2.3 of the TERMS. Capitalized words used but not defined in the RULES have meanings given to them in the TERMS. Further, any language contained on this website, including but not limited to these RULES, are also an extension of the TERMS, and therefore You are required to read and understand the entirety of the Website content before proceeding.

Please read these RULES and the TERMS carefully, as they describe the conditions under which you are allowed to participate. As you participate, you may periodically be asked to recognize your acceptance of these RULES and the TERMS by clicking "accept" at various pages on this website, but by continuing any use of this website you expressly consent to all of these RULES and the TERMS.

SUBMISSION OF AN ENTRY INTO THIS COMPETITION CONSTITUTES FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL AGREEMENT TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES AND THE TERMS.

1. Eligibility Rules

To be eligible to win a prize under this Competition, a Lead Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity):

  • Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as published in this announcement.
  • Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement.
  • In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. However, non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents can participate as a member of a team that otherwise satisfies the eligibility criteria. Non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible to win a monetary prize (in whole or in part). Their participation as part of a winning team, if applicable, may be recognized when the results are announced.
  • Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment.
  • Shall not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity.
  • Who is employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS), should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge.
  • Shall not be a judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, step-parent, child, or step-child).  
  • Shall be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission.

Eligible Lead Participants are welcome to collaborate with individuals, nonprofit organizations, for-profit entities, schools, government agencies, and other entities to implement the proposed solution. Solutions must be implemented within the United States.

An organization or individual can serve as the Lead Participant on only one application. A participant can serve as a partner on a team for multiple submissions provided that each submission proposes a separate and distinct solution.

Regional or location-specific branches of larger organizations, as well as departments, schools, and nonprofits within or based in a college/university, can each register and submit separately as the Lead Participant on one entry as long as the proposed solutions are different and separate. There should be little to no overlap in team members. The intent of this policy is to ensure that any team is concentrating their best effort into a single entry. We encourage teams to select a single project that best represents your team’s ability to deliver a solution that meets the scoring criteria.

2. Participation Rules

  1. Only one Entry per Lead Participant is permitted.
  2. Your submitted entry must be in English.
  3. You must complete registration to participate in the Competition. You cannot reside in nor be governed by countries that are prohibited by law, regulation (including United States or other applicable export laws and regulations), treaty or administrative act from entering into trade relations (including export of technology) with the United States of America or its citizens. 
  4. Your Entry should meet the submission requirements stipulated on this website. You are required to register in advance of any deadlines for the submission of an Entry, and You must comply with all other deadlines posted on this website. Your Entry may not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of NIH and/or Carrot, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. NIH reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend Competition in whole or in part without liability to You. NIH and/or Carrot also reserves the right to disqualify You from participating. 
  5. While Carrot is providing an online platform for your participation, Carrot is not responsible for the payment of any Award(s). Payment of any Award(s) is the sole responsibility of NIH and its designees, and under the Terms each participant has agreed to look solely to NIH, as the Competition Sponsor, for the payment of any Award.  
  6. Participants (whether individuals, groups of individuals, or entities) may not use federal funds from a prize or cooperative agreement to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.  
  7. Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.  
  8. Federal awardees may not use federal funds from an Other Transaction (OT) award to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submission.
  9. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) agrees to assume any and all risks and waive claims against the federal government and its related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.  
  10. Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, no Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance, or demonstrate financial responsibility, or agree to indemnify the federal government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities in order to participate in this Challenge.  
  11. A Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis.
  12. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) warrants that they are sole author or owner of, or has the right to use, any copyrightable works that the submission comprises, that the works are wholly original with the Participant (or is an improved version of an existing work that the Participant has sufficient rights to use and improve), and that the submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant is aware.  
  13. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) grants to the NIH an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license to reproduce, publish, post, link to, share, and display publicly the submission on the web or elsewhere, and a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice, or have practiced for or on its behalf, the solution throughout the world. Each Participant will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable. To participate in the Challenge, each Participant must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participants will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to NIH, but Participants must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein.  
  14. Each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies.
  15. Each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.

Contact Information

You may contact us at by email with any questions or comments about these RULES.

Let’s build community trust and improve people’s health and well-being.

The NIH Build UP Trust Challenge will award as many as ten Finalists up to $45,000 each and the opportunity to win one of four $200,000 prizes for promising strategies that increase research participation and the adoption of medical care by building trust and improving engagement with historically underserved communities.
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