Last Updated: February 15, 2026
The following Terms of Use are entered into by and between you and Nanotechnology Industries America Association aisbl, Avenue Tervueren 143, 1150 Brussels, Belgium. Registered organisation/VAT number: BE0810.218.531 ("NIA," "our," "us," or "we").
The following terms and conditions, together with any documents they expressly incorporate by reference (collectively, the "Terms"), govern your access to and use of our websites www.niaglobal.com (collectively, the "Site") and our related services, including our Member Services, (together with the Site, the "Services")
Please read the Terms carefully before you start to use the Services. By using the Services or by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms when this option is made available to you, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, incorporated herein by reference. If you do not want to agree to these Terms including the agreements incorporated by reference herein, you must not access or use the Services.
By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with NIA and meet all of the foregoing eligibility requirements. If you do not meet all of these requirements, you must not access or use the Services.
Modification of Terms
We reserve the right to change or modify these Terms at any time and in our sole discretion. If we make changes to these Terms, we will provide notice of such changes, such as by updating the "Last Updated" date at the beginning of these Terms. By continuing to use the Services at any point after such update, you confirm your acceptance of the revised Terms, and all of the terms incorporated therein by reference. You should review these Terms frequently to ensure that you understand the terms and conditions that apply when you access or use the Services. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you may not access or use the Services.
Privacy Policy
Please refer to our Privacy Policy for information about how we collect, use and share your personal information.
Data Protection and GDPR Compliance
If you are located in the European Economic Area ("EEA") or the United Kingdom ("UK"), the processing of your personal data is subject to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 ("GDPR") and the UK GDPR.
NIA acts as a data controller with respect to personal data collected through the Services, except where otherwise specified.
Our Privacy Policy describes:
Categories of personal data processed
Lawful bases for processing
Data retention practices
International data transfers
Your rights under applicable data protection laws
Nothing in these Terms limits any rights you may have under applicable data protection law.
Use of the Services, Account Set Up, and Security
Eligible Users. The Services are not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. By creating an Account, you represent and warrant that you have all requisite capacity, power, and authority to enter into, and perform your obligations under these Terms.
Account Registration. In order to use certain features of the Services, including our Career Center, you will need to register for an account ("Account"). By registering for an Account, you (a "Registered User") agree to provide accurate, current, and complete Account information, and to maintain and promptly update your Account information as necessary.
Member Directory and Profile Visibility. Where the Services include a member directory, laboratory directory, committee listings, or similar features, certain profile information may be visible to other members or, where applicable, to the public.
By submitting profile information for publication, you acknowledge and agree that:
You have authority to provide such information;
You understand the visibility scope;
Where required under applicable law, publication is based on your explicit consent.
You may request modification, restriction, or removal of personal data at any time by contacting us. We will honor such requests in accordance with applicable data protection law.
Career Center and Employment Listings. NIA may provide a Career Center allowing employers to post positions and candidates to submit applications. Employers and applicants are independently responsible for personal data they submit.
Unless otherwise specified, NIA acts as an independent data controller with respect to account administration and platform management, and employers act as independent data controllers with respect to candidate evaluation and hiring decisions.
Personal data submitted in connection with job postings or applications will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and retained only as long as necessary for platform administration and legal compliance.
Account Security. You are responsible for the security of your Account. You accept all risks of unauthorized access to your Account and the information you provide. You agree to immediately notify us if you discover or otherwise suspect any breaches of security related to your Account or the Services, including unauthorized use of your password.
Additional Information. We may require you to provide additional information and documents at the request of any competent authority or in order to help us comply with applicable law, regulation, or policy.
Fees and Payments; Refunds
Fees. We will charge fees based on the products selected. You are responsible for all taxes. Further terms and conditions relating to the products may apply.
Payments. Payment processing services for NIA, including the processing and storing of payment details for donations, are provided by third parties (each, a "Payment Processor") and are subject to the Payment Processor's terms and conditions ("Payment Processing Terms"). By agreeing to these terms and continuing to use the Services, you agree to be bound by the applicable Payment Processing Terms, as the same may be modified by a Payment Processor from time to time. As a condition of NIA enabling payment processing services, you agree to provide accurate and complete information about you, and you authorize NIA to share with a Payment Processor this information and transaction information related to your use of the payment processing services provided by a Payment Processor.
Refunds or Exchanges. We do not accept refunds or exchanges.
Limited License
You are hereby granted a limited, revocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable, nonassignable, non-sublicensable, "as-is" license to access and use the Services and related content for your own personal, non-commercial use; provided, however, that such license is subject to the Terms and does not include any right to (i) sell, resell, or use commercially the Services, (ii) distribute, publicly perform, or publicly display any content, (iii) modify or otherwise make any derivative uses of the Services, or any portion thereof, (iv) use any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering or extraction methods, (v) download (other than page caching) any portion of the Services, except as expressly permitted by us, and (vi) use the Services other than for their intended purposes. This license is subject to your compliance with these Terms.
Acceptable Use
NIA may contain message boards, chat rooms, profiles, forums, bulletin boards, and other interactive features (collectively, "Interactive Services") that allow users to post, submit, publish, display, or transmit to other users or other persons content or materials (collectively, "User Content").
All User Content and your use of any Interactive Services must comply with the following Content Standards:
User Content MUST in their entirety comply with all applicable federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations, and these Terms.
User Contributions must NOT:
contain any material that is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory, or otherwise objectionable;
promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age;
infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual property or other rights of any other person, or otherwise violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others, or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations;
promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote, or assist any unlawful act, or otherwise be likely to deceive others;
impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organization, or give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by us or any other person or entity, if this is not the case;
involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes, and other sales promotions, barter, or advertising.
Any User Content you provide will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You grant NIA a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use User Content solely for the purposes of operating, maintaining, and improving the Services.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent User Content contains personal data, NIA's use of such personal data will be limited to the purposes described in our Privacy Policy and subject to applicable data protection law, including the GDPR and UK GDPR. Nothing in these Terms restricts your statutory rights, including the right to request erasure or restriction of processing where required by law.
You are solely responsible for any User Content you provide. You represent and warrant that you have, or have obtained, all rights, licenses, consents, permissions, power and/or authority necessary to grant the rights granted herein for any User Content that you submit, post, or display on or through the Services. You also represent that the User Information you provide is truthful and accurate to the best of your knowledge. We take no responsibility for the User Content posted or listed via the Services, and we are not responsible or liable to any third party for the content or accuracy of any User Content, although we reserve the right to remove any User Content that is in violation of these Terms.
We have the right to:
Remove or refuse to post any User Content for any or no reason in our sole discretion.
Take any action with respect to any User Content that we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion, including if we believe that such User Content violates the Terms, including the Content Standards, infringes any intellectual property right or other right of any person or entity, threatens the personal safety of users of the Services or the public, or could create liability for the Company.
Disclose your identity or other information about you to any third party who claims that material posted by you violates their rights, including their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy, if we determine in our reasonable discretion that such disclosure is necessary or prudent.
Take appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Services.
Terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Services for any or no reason, including without limitation, any violation of these Terms.
Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to cooperate fully with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or other information of anyone posting any materials on or through the Services. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS THE COMPANY AND ITS LICENSEES, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY ANY OF THE FOREGOING PARTIES DURING, OR TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF, INVESTIGATIONS BY SUCH PARTIES OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
However, we do not undertake to review User Content and cannot ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. Accordingly, we assume no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications, or content provided by any user or third party. We have no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities described in this section.
Intellectual Property Rights
You acknowledge and agree that the Services may contain content or features ("Service Content") that are protected by copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights and laws. The NIA name and logos are trademarks and service marks of NIA (collectively the "NIA Trademarks"). Other NIA, NIA affiliates, and its service provider content, names and logos used and displayed via the Services may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners who may or may not endorse or be affiliated with or connected to NIA. Nothing in these Terms or the Services should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any of NIA Trademarks or other NIA and its service provider content, names and logos used and displayed via the Services, without our prior written permission in each instance. All goodwill generated from the use of NIA Trademarks or other NIA or its service provider content will inure to the exclusive benefit of NIA or the applicable rights holder.
Copyright Complaints
We respect the intellectual property of others and ask that our users do the same. We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement and terminate accounts of repeat infringers according to the process set out in applicable law. If you believe that your work has been copied or used on the Services in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please send the following information to our Copyright Agent at info@niaglobal.com.
Your address, telephone number, and email address.
A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed.
A description of where the alleged infringing material is located on the Services.
A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by you, the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest.
A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
For clarity, only copyright infringement notices should go to our Copyright Agent. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the requirements of the section, your notice may not be valid.
NIA may at its discretion, suspend or terminate the access of and take other action against users, subscribers, registrants, and account holders who infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others.
External Sites
The Services may include hyperlinks to other websites or resources (collectively, the "External Sites"), which are provided solely as a convenience to our Services visitors. We have no control over any External Sites. You acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the availability of any External Sites, and that we do not endorse any advertising, products, or other materials on or made available from or through any External Sites. Furthermore, you acknowledge and agree that we are not liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred as a result of the availability or unavailability of the External Sites, or as a result of any reliance placed by you upon the completeness, accuracy or existence of any advertising, products or other materials on, or made available from, any External Sites.
Prohibited Uses
You may not attempt or cause to attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion or feature of the Services, or any other systems or networks connected to the Services, by hacking, password "cracking," or any other illegitimate means. You may not breach or cause to breach the security or authentication measures on the Services, or any other systems or networks connected to the Services, or otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the Services. You will not falsify your identity or impersonate another person, engage in conduct that limits the use and enjoyment of the Services, or any part thereof, by other users in any way, in each case as determined by us in our sole and absolute discretion.
In addition, you agree not to and will not assist another to:
reverse engineer, disassemble, alter, decompile, duplicate, create derivative works from, make copies of, extract information from, distribute, license, lease, sell, resell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast or otherwise exploit the Services, in whole or in part, except as expressly permitted by us;
upload, post or store any materials that directly or indirectly contain viruses, corrupted files or any other similar harmful mechanism;
link to, mirror, or frame any portion of the Services without our prior express written permission;
scrape, index, survey, or data mine any portion of the Services or unduly burden or hinder the operation of the Services; or
remove any notice of the proprietary rights of our licensors and us from any portion of the Services or printed version thereof.
All activities, behaviors, and content restrictions described in this section shall collectively be referred to as "Prohibited Uses."
Termination
You Terminate. You may terminate these Terms for convenience at any time by cancelling your Account and discontinuing your access to and use of the Services. If you use the Services after cancelling your Account, you will be deemed to have agreed to the Services.
We Terminate. You agree that we, in our sole discretion, and for any or no reason, may terminate these Terms and suspend and/or terminate your Account(s) on the Services without prior notice. You agree that any suspension or termination of your access to the Services may be without prior notice, and that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for any such suspension or termination.
Other Remedies Available. If we terminate these Terms or suspend or terminate your access to or use of the Services due to your breach of these Terms or any suspected fraudulent, abusive, or illegal activity (including, without limitation, if you engage in any of the Prohibited Uses), then termination of these Terms will be in addition to any other remedies we may have at law or in equity.
Effect of Termination. Upon any termination or expiration of these Terms, whether by you or us, you may no longer have access to information that you have posted on the Services or that is related to your Account, and you acknowledge that we will have no obligation to maintain any such information in our databases or to forward any such information to you or to any third party. All Terms provided herein survive termination unless expressly provided otherwise.
Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including membership administration, account management, regulatory compliance, dispute resolution, enforcement of agreements, and legitimate organizational purposes, unless a longer retention period is required by law.
International Issues
We operate the Services from the United States of America. If you choose to access the Services from outside the United States of America, you are responsible for complying with applicable local laws.
Rights of EEA and UK Users
If you are located in the EEA or the UK, you may have the following rights under applicable data protection law:
Right of access
Right to rectification
Right to erasure
Right to restrict processing
Right to object to processing
Right to data portability
Right to withdraw consent at any time (where processing is based on consent)
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. Requests may be submitted using the contact details provided below.
Disclaimers
The Services and all content contained therein are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied. We make no warranty that the Services and the content contained therein: (a) will meet your requirements; (b) will be available on an uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free basis; or (c) will be accurate, reliable, complete, legal, or safe. We disclaim all other warranties or conditions, express or implied, including, without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement as to the Services or any content contained therein. We do not represent or warrant that content on the Services is accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free. We will not be liable for any loss of any kind from any action taken or taken in reliance on material or information, contained on the Services, while we attempt to make your access to and use of the Services and content safe, we cannot and do not represent or warrant that the Services or content on our Services or our servers are free of viruses or other harmful components. We cannot guarantee the security of any data that you disclose online.
Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event will we be liable to you or any third party for any lost profit or any indirect, consequential, exemplary, incidental, special, or punitive damages arising from these Terms, the Site, any content, or for any damages related to loss of revenue, loss of profits, loss of business or anticipated savings, loss of use, loss of goodwill, or loss of data, where caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract, or otherwise, even if foreseeable and even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability to the extent such exclusion or limitation is not permitted under applicable consumer protection or data protection law, including under the GDPR or UK GDPR.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, in no event shall our maximum aggregate liability arising out of or in any way related to these Terms, your access to and use of the Site or any of the content (including your own content) exceed the greater of (a) $100 or (b) the amount paid to us by you for the Site that is the subject of the claim. The exclusions and limitations set forth in this section will not apply to any claim, damages or other liabilities arising out of or related to fraud, gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
Indemnification
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless NIA from and against all actual or alleged third-party claims, damages, awards, judgments, losses, liabilities, obligations, penalties, interest, fees, expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys' fees and expenses) and costs (including, without limitation, court costs, costs of settlement, and costs of or associated with pursuing indemnification and insurance), of every kind and nature whatsoever arising out of or related to these Terms or your use of the Services, whether known or unknown, foreseen or unforeseen, matured or unmatured, or suspected or unsuspected, in law or equity, whether in tort, contract or otherwise (collectively, "Claims"), including, but not limited to, damages to property or personal injury, that are caused by, arise out of or are related to (a) your use or misuse of the Services or User Content; (b) any feedback you provide; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation of the rights of any third party, including another user; (e) any breach or non-performance of any covenant or agreement made by you; (f) your User Content; or (g) any off-chain benefits (including the furnishing, or any failure to furnish, or any acts or omissions of or attributable to you or any third party in respect of the same). You agree to promptly notify NIA of any third-party Claims and cooperate with NIA in defending such Claims. You further agree that NIA shall have control of the defense or settlement of any third-party Claims. This indemnity is in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other indemnities set forth in a separate written agreement between you and NIA.
Dispute Resolution – For US Visitors Only
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE CERTAIN DISPUTES AND CLAIMS WITH THE NIA AND LIMITS THE MANNER IN WHICH YOU CAN SEEK RELIEF FROM US.
These Terms, including all matters of construction, validity, and performance, and all disputes arising out of or connected with the Terms and the Services (each a "Dispute," collectively, the "Disputes"), shall, in all respects, be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of [COUNTY] without regard to any principles of conflict of laws, except that the arbitration clause herein shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. Any Dispute shall be settled by mediation under the Commercial Mediation procedures of the American Arbitration Association (the "AAA"), except that if mediation of a Dispute is not successful within two (2) months of appointment of a mediator, such Dispute shall be settled by individual arbitration under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the AAA. The place of mediation or arbitration shall be the AAA office nearest to Agency's principal place of business in [STATE], [COUNTY] County. The language of the mediation or arbitration shall be English. The arbitrator shall be an expert or an attorney with experience in the field of intellectual property and advertising law. Notwithstanding this arbitration provision, any Dispute not resolved through arbitration that is less than $10,000 USD and qualifies for treatment on a non-jury basis in a small claims court in [STATE] may be resolved in such small claims court on an individual basis at the election of either party. All Disputes shall be mediated, arbitrated, or litigated on an individual basis. You irrevocably waive any right it may otherwise have to proceed on a class or collective basis. Further, you irrevocably waive all right to trial by jury as well as any argument or claim of improper venue or forum non conveniens. The foregoing provisions shall not limit the right of NIA to collect payments due or payable, or prevent either party from commencing any action or proceeding to compel arbitration, obtaining injunctive relief pending the appointment of an arbitrator, or obtaining execution of any award rendered in any such action or proceeding, or in any other manner provided venue for all such proceedings shall be in the state or federal courts within [STATE], [COUNTY] County. The parties shall bear their own expenses, except that parties shall equally share the expenses of any mediator or arbitrator (except for the required non-refundable filing fees which shall be paid solely by the party asserting the Dispute). The prevailing party in any arbitration may seek from the arbitrator an award of the party's reasonable outside attorneys' fees and costs incurred. Judgment on any award rendered by any arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
Dispute Resolution – EU and UK Visitors
Nothing in these Terms deprives individuals located in the EEA or UK of the right to bring claims before the courts of their habitual residence where required under applicable consumer or data protection law.
Mandatory arbitration provisions apply only to users located in the United States, to the extent permitted by law.
General
Entire Agreement. These Terms, any applicable supplemental terms, and our Privacy Policy constitute the entire legal agreement between you and us and will be deemed to be the final and integrated agreement between you and us, and govern your access to and use of the Services, and completely replace any prior or contemporaneous agreements between you and us related to your access to or use of the Services, whether oral or written.
Third-Party Beneficiaries. Except as otherwise provided herein, these Terms are intended solely for the benefit of NIA and you and are not intended to confer third-party beneficiary rights upon any other person or entity.
Independent Contractor. Your relationship to NIA is that of an independent contractor, and neither party is an agent or partner of the other. You represent and warrant that you are eligible to provide Services as an independent contractor in the jurisdiction(s) in which you will access the Services and are solely responsible for your own tax and legal compliance.
Interpretation. The language in these Terms will be interpreted as to its fair meaning, and not strictly for or against any party.
Severability. Should any part of these Terms be held invalid, illegal, void or unenforceable, that portion will be deemed severed from these Terms and will not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions of these Terms.
No Waivers. Our failure or delay to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not constitute or be deemed a waiver of future exercise or enforcement of such right or provision. The waiver of any right or provision of these Terms will be effective only if in writing and signed for and on behalf of us by a duly authorized representative.
Governing Law/Venue for US Visitors. All matters arising out of or relating to these Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of [STATE] and the federal laws of the United States of America applicable therein without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule. Any legal action or proceeding arising under these Terms will be brought exclusively in the State of [STATE], [COUNTY] County, and we and you irrevocably consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue there.
Governing Law/Venue for EU or UK Visitors. If you are located in the EEA or the UK, these Terms are governed by the laws of your country of residence, to the extent required by mandatory consumer protection or data protection laws.
Notices. We may provide you with any notices (including, without limitation those regarding changes to these Terms) by email or postings on the Services. By providing us with your email address, you consent to our using the email address to send you any notices. Notices sent by email will be effective when we send the email, and notices we provide by posting will be effective upon posting. It is your responsibility to keep your email address current.
Assignment. You may not assign any of your rights or obligations under these Terms, whether by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms in our sole discretion to an affiliate or in connection with an acquisition, sale or merger. These Terms shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the applicable parties and their successors and permitted assigns.