NanoString EACR and Illumina WTA GeoMx Grant

The European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) & NanoString, in collaboration with Illumina, will award the two most impactful proposals in cancer research with the ability to discover spatial biomarkers using the latest Digital Spatial Profiling chemistry.  The NanoString GeoMx® Whole Transcriptome Atlas (WTA), for use with the GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) blends high-plex and spatial analysis in a single experiment. 

The GeoMx® Whole Transcriptome Atlas (WTA) is designed for comprehensive profiling of spatial biology. The WTA assays profile the RNA expression of over 18,000 genes in human or of over 21,000 genes in mouse, with spatial resolution, in any region of interest, from a single tissue section, using the GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler. The read out is performed with the Illumina NextSeq™ 2000 or NovaSeq™ 6000 Sequencing System, located at NanoString’s premises.

The grant is exclusive to EACR members – Learn more about how to become an EACR member.

Spatially resolve the transcriptome:

• Explore any target and any pathway in biological regions of interest.
• Leverage the comprehensive, unbiased RNA content for human or mouse to discover and profile spatially resolved, novel biomarkers.
• The grant includes all the consumables needed for the WTA experiment as well as the service, including the data analysis, provided by expert NanoString scientists to help you quickly gain the most insight from your data.
• Utilizing the Illumina NextSeq™ 2000 or NovaSeq™ 6000 Sequencing System and associated reagent kit for the NGS readout will allow you to unveil critical markers of cancer biology and drive your project to the next level.

Win one of two free WTA projects with NGS readout on Illumina’s new NextSeq™ 2000 or NovaSeq™ 6000 Sequencing System, for either Human or Mouse.

Program Details:

• Two grant winners will provide 4 samples each to NanoString, with up to 23 areas of illumination (AOI), and 12 regions of interest (ROI) per sample to be mutually agreed upon between NanoString and the winner, to be used with the GeoMx WTA (Human or Mouse).
• The Spatial Biology Grant is open for submission of project for Human and Mouse GeoMx WTA analysis, however the winning projects are not limited to one per species (there may be two winners in the Human Category, two winners in the Mouse Category or one winner in each category).
• The winners provide samples to NanoString, NanoString provides the DSP reagent, Illumina will provide to NanoString the reagent kit for the NGS readout. NanoString will perform the DSP WTA TAP (WTA Technology Access Program) Services.
• NanoString will provide a data analysis service to analyze the data output from the experiment in the form of a report that includes raw data and detailed analysis with figures and commentary.
• The Spatial Biology Grant is to be open for submissions from May 23rd until July 4th 2022. Submission must be received by 23:59 BST on July 4th  2022.

*See terms and conditions below

Learn more about the grant sponsors

Terms and Conditions for Grant Competition Applicants

Please read the following terms carefully. By submitting you agree to these terms for yourself and on behalf of your Institution/Company. “You” and “your” shall refer to you personally or your Institution/Company, as applicable. If you do not agree to these terms then do not submit and do not participate in this program.

Eligibility Requirements:

• You must be actively enrolled or employed at a research institution in a capacity in which they perform life science research and have the ability to ship samples within 3 months of award notification.
• You must be an EACR member.
• The grant winner must be able to provide 4 samples to NanoString, with up to 23 areas of illumination (AOI), and 12 regions of interest (ROI) per sample to be mutually agreed upon, to be used with the GeoMx® Whole Transcriptome Atlas and Illumina NGS appropriate reagents for use with the Illumina NextSeq™ 2000 Sequencing System.
• No purchase is necessary to participate and to be selected as a winner. 
• Employees and board directors of EACR, Illumina and NanoString and their immediate family members, and/or persons living in the same household as such persons, are NOT eligible to participate in this grant program.
• Government employees and Health Care Professionals (HCPs) are NOT eligible to participate. For purposes of this program, HCPs is defined as any individual (with a clinical or non-clinical role; whether a government official, or employee or representative of a government agency or other public or private sector organisation; including but not limited to, physicians, nurses, technicians, laboratory scientists, researchers, research co-ordinators or procurement professionals) that in the course of their professional activities may directly or indirectly purchase, lease, recommend, administer, use, supply, procure or determine the purchase or lease of, or who may prescribe medical technologies or related services.
• Also NOT eligible are (1) nationals and entities of any country subject to U.S., UK or EU embargos; (2) any persons (including businesses, research institutions, government and private organizations, individuals, and other types of legal persons) on the U.S., UK or EU  governments’ Denied Persons Lists, Specially Designated Nationals lists, Entity Lists, Unverified Lists or any other similar lists maintained by the U.S. or UK government, the EU or any other government to whose laws Sponsors, their subsidiaries or affiliated companies, the Program or such person is subject, and all individuals employed thereby or otherwise associated therewith; and (3) any persons for whom it would be illegal to participate in or win the Program, or with or to whom it would be illegal for Illumina or Nanostring to interact or grant any award as contemplated herein. Any application from an ineligible national or entity shall be invalid and disregarded.
• Participation in this program is subject to all applicable laws and regulations and this program is void where prohibited or otherwise restricted by law.

Criteria for selection of winners

Two winners will be selected by a panel of judges that includes EACR Board members, as well as representation from NanoString. The winner’s announcement will be carried via emails to all submitters, posts in social media shared by NanoString and Illumina, and in the EACR bulletin. The results of the winning projects will be presented at a large webinar supported by EACR  upon agreement with the winner. The criteria used for selection of the winners will be:

• Complete experimental design
• Hypothesis formed based on valid data
• Clarity on scientific question and appropriate scientific approach
• Compatibility with GeoMx technical capabilities
• Likelihood of successful research outcome
• Low probability of uncertain scientific outcome
• Quality and level of potential scientific discovery
• Likelihood of producing high impact scientific publication based on results
• Innovative approach/novelty of scientific issues
• Availability of samples and appropriateness of samples for the specific research
• Expected turn-around time within required timeframe
• Capability and competence for reporting out results and presenting outcomes at webinars/conferences.

Publication of winning project results and use of applicant data:

All grant submissions are confidential to the individual submitter and will not be published or distributed, provided, however, that NanoString may share them with their own staff and distributors who will not disclose to third party. Illumina will support the grant advertising efforts and will provide the reagent kit for the NGS readout. Illumina will not receive any information on the projects submitted or the submissions themselves. Only where you have consented to marketing communications from Illumina will NanoString provide Illumina with your name and email address as well as your affiliated institution for such marketing purposes.

If you are a grant winner, upon project completion, you agree to participate in at least one of the following activities relating to your specific project, with specific details of the applicable activity to be mutually agreed upon in good faith by NanoString, Illumina and the EACR and you: webinar, case study, blog post, or poster presentation. You agree that NanoString and the EACR shall have the right to publicly announce your name and research title and use anonymized data from your project in application notes including in marketing materials and seminars- no public display of data will happen without your prior consent.

If you are a grant winner you may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility, release of liability, a publicity release, and other appropriate legal documentation reasonably requested by Nanostring and you agree to sign such documentation if requested.

By submitting a grant application, you agree that NanoString may use your name, abstract title, for marketing purposes. 

You agree that NanoString may process the personal data you provide as part of your application, including sharing such data with NanoString’s partners, collaborators and other third parties who are obligated to keep the data confidential, and in accordance with NanoString’s privacy policies available at nanostring.com/privacy.

Where you have consented to email marketing from Illumina, NanoString will provide Illumina with your name, email addresses and affiliated institution which Illumina may use to contact you for purposes of marketing of its products and services in accordance with the Illumina privacy policy here. NanoString will not share with Illumina any information on your submissions or the submission itself, or data, samples or results associated with your submission. All submissions, samples and data must be sent directly to NanoString. Illumina will not be involved in the selection process for the grant winner and will be only providing the necessary sequencing reagent kit to NanoString for it to perform the sequencing activity upon award of the grant, subject to an agreement between Illumina and NanoString.

Please find the EACR privacy notice here.

Winning applicant – Sample Criteria and use of samples:

If you are a grant winner:

• You agree to have your project run at Nanostring where the reagents will be shipped.
• Samples must be sent to Nanostring within 3 months of award date and you agree that for any samples you provide to Nanostring, you shall:
  • obtain all necessary prior informed consents, approvals, and/or waivers sufficient for: (i) the use of such samples for the competition; (ii) the transfer of such samples to Nanostring; and (iii) Nanostring’s use of such samples in accordance with the competition;
  • label, package, and transport the samples to Nanostring at the address advised in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. You will be responsible for the costs and expenses of obtaining and shipping the samples to Nanostring.
  • provide Nanostring with such de-identified information corresponding to each sample that is reasonably necessary for Nanostring to analyze the sequence data and generate the results (“Sample Information”) provided such sharing of Sample Information with Nanostring is permitted by any applicable authorizations or consents. All Sample Information provided to Nanostring shall be de­identified and anonymized, and devoid of personally identifiable information.
• The samples will run through NanoString’s GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiling Technology Access Program inclusive of the Illumina NGS readout. An assay report, including raw data and processed results, will be provided to the winner.

General Terms:

• You represent and warrant that you are not a government employee or a Health Care Professional (HCP). Employees of government institutions and HCPs are not eligible to participate in this program. Health Care Professional is defined as anyone any individual (with a clinical or non-clinical role; whether a government official, or employee or representative of a government agency or other public or private sector organisation; including but not limited to, physicians, nurses, technicians, laboratory scientists, researchers, research co-ordinators or procurement professionals) that in the course of their professional activities may directly or indirectly purchase, lease, recommend, administer, use, supply, procure or determine the purchase or lease of, or who may prescribe medical technologies or related services.
• You agree to obtain all authorizations and permissions from your Institution/Company that are required to allow you to make this submission and, if selected, receive the reagents.
• You acknowledge and agree that any submission made hereunder, and the receipt of sequencing and bioinformatics services, is not being made in exchange for any promise of business to Illumina or Nanostring.
• You represent and warrant that you have no obligation to any third party which may conflict with these terms.
• Once submitted, your materials and information cannot be returned.
• You are responsible for all of your own costs, and the costs of any of your employees and agents incurred or that may be incurred in connection with this program, including, without limitation, any tax liability and any costs associated with entering into and participating in this program.
• Awards may not be transferred or assigned; no substitutions or cash equivalents are allowed. All taxes on the awards and reporting thereof, and any other costs, fees and expenses relating to the awards, or the research project, are your responsibility or the responsibility of your institution or company.
• If, for any reason, the grant program may not run as planned for any causes beyond the reasonable control of NanoString, then NanoString reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the grant program.
• These terms and conditions and any action related to this grant program will be governed by the laws of the State of Washington without regard to or application of its conflict of law provisions or your state or country of residence.  All claims, legal proceedings or litigation arising in connection with these terms and conditions and this grant program will be brought solely in the federal or state courts located in Seattle, Washington

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

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