Terms of Use

Introduction

These Terms of Use govern access to and use of sciencecro.com and all associated pages, intake forms, fixed-scope package descriptions, downloadable materials, analytics features, and related functionality (collectively, the “Site”). The Site operates as an informational, marketing, and intake platform for computational biochemistry consulting and pre-clinical contract research services. By accessing or using the Site, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be legally bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the Site.

1. Identity of the operator

Science CRO (“Science CRO,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the Site and provides computational modeling, protein engineering analysis, simulation studies, structural interpretation, and related scientific consulting services (the “Services”). The Site does not provide clinical care, medical treatment, regulatory certification, or legal advice. For formal notices, inquiries, or support, contact aworkman@sciencecro.com.

2. Eligibility and institutional use

The Site is intended for use by competent adults acting on behalf of themselves or their institutions, including biotechnology companies, research laboratories, venture entities, and academic investigators. By using the Site, you represent that you are legally capable of forming binding agreements in your jurisdiction and, where applicable, authorized to act on behalf of your organization.

3. Informational nature of content

All content on the Site, including scientific commentary, conceptual frameworks, case studies, visualizations, and automated outputs, is provided for informational and marketing purposes. The Site describes methodologies and illustrative workflows but does not constitute regulatory, clinical, legal, or financial advice.

Computational modeling, simulation, and AI-assisted analyses are inherently assumption-dependent and probabilistic. You are solely responsible for independent validation, experimental confirmation, safety review, and regulatory compliance appropriate to your use case.

4. Engagement formation

Submission of an inquiry, intake form, or purchase request does not create a binding engagement. An engagement arises only upon explicit acceptance by Science CRO, which may occur through written confirmation, execution of a statement of work, electronic acceptance of defined scope terms, or equivalent written mechanism.

We reserve discretion to decline proposed work based on capacity, conflicts of interest, feasibility constraints, ethical considerations, export control concerns, or risk assessment. Prospective clients requiring bespoke confidentiality provisions or data-handling constraints must raise such requirements prior to transmitting sensitive information.

5. Purchases, payments, cancellations, and refunds

Payments for Services, including fixed-scope pilot engagements, may be processed via Stripe Checkout or equivalent third-party payment processors. By submitting payment, you authorize the designated processor to charge your selected payment method for the stated fees and applicable taxes.

Unless otherwise specified in a statement of work or written agreement, payments are non-refundable once substantive work has commenced. Work commencement may include scoping analysis, computational resource allocation, model preparation, drafting, literature review, or project planning. Where cancellation occurs prior to commencement, we may, in our discretion, issue a refund subject to reasonable administrative deductions and non-recoverable processing fees. Partial refunds, if granted, will be proportionate to work performed and expenses incurred.

6. Acceptable use and security

You agree to use the Site in compliance with applicable law and not to interfere with its integrity, performance, or security. Unauthorized probing, scanning, reverse engineering, automated scraping that degrades service, credential harvesting, or introduction of malicious code is prohibited.

7. Private intake submissions

The Site facilitates private intake communications only. It does not host public user-generated content. Information transmitted through intake forms, pilot checkout flows, or email communications is treated as non-public but is not subject to attorney-client privilege.

8. User materials and representations

You represent that you possess all rights necessary to submit any text, datasets, molecular structures, sequence information, or related materials (“User Materials”). You grant Science CRO a limited, non-exclusive license to use such materials solely for evaluating inquiries, providing Services, preventing misuse, and maintaining internal records.

You must not submit materials in violation of confidentiality obligations, export control laws, sanctions regimes, or intellectual property restrictions.

9. AI-assisted and computational outputs

The Site may incorporate automated or AI-assisted tools, including self-hosted inference systems, to generate summaries, analyses, or conceptual outputs. Such outputs are probabilistic, model-dependent, and not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

Automated outputs must not be relied upon as definitive scientific conclusions, regulatory determinations, or investment decisions without independent validation. Science CRO disclaims responsibility for downstream consequences arising from reliance on such outputs.

10. Intellectual property and Site license

The Site’s design, branding, documentation, figures, source code, and underlying methodologies are owned by or licensed to Science CRO. You are granted a limited, revocable, non-transferable license to access and use the Site for lawful internal purposes. No ownership rights are transferred.

11. Deliverables and Background IP

Intellectual property allocation for paid engagements is governed primarily by the applicable statement of work. Absent contrary agreement, client-specific deliverables are owned by the client upon full payment, while Science CRO retains ownership of pre-existing methodologies, templates, computational workflows, and generalized know-how (“Background IP”).

Clients receive a non-exclusive license to Background IP solely as embedded within delivered materials. Science CRO may reuse generalized insights provided no confidential client information is disclosed.

12. Anonymous visitor surveys and analytics

The Site may employ cookie-linked anonymous identifiers for session continuity and survey analytics. Survey responses are aggregated for marketing optimization, content refinement, and service positioning. These mechanisms are not used to directly identify individual respondents absent voluntary disclosure.

13. Third-party services

The Site may integrate third-party services including payment processors, analytics providers, CRM systems, and publicly accessible scientific data APIs. Such services operate under their own terms. Science CRO is responsible only for its integration decisions and not for third-party operational conduct.

14. Disclaimers

The Site and Services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Science CRO disclaims all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

15. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Science CRO shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages. Aggregate liability arising from the Site or Services shall not exceed USD $2,000 unless otherwise specified in a written agreement.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Science CRO from claims arising out of your User Materials, misuse of the Site, or violation of these Terms.

17. Suspension and termination

Science CRO may suspend or terminate access where necessary to mitigate legal, security, or operational risk. Provisions concerning intellectual property, disclaimers, and liability limitations survive termination.

18. Modifications

We may update these Terms periodically. Continued use following updates constitutes acceptance of revised Terms.

19. Governing law and venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware. Disputes shall be resolved exclusively in state or federal courts located in Delaware.

20. Contact

Questions regarding these Terms may be directed to aworkman@sciencecro.com.