Governance, Liability, Confidentiality & Sign-off Authority Agreement (v1.0)

Entity: NanoTRIZ Innovation Institute (Australia | Global Operations)
ABN: 60 349 600 938
Headquarters: Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Contact: founder@nanotriz.com
Website: www.nanotriz.com
Version: v1.0
Effective date: 10.02.2026

Status: Active policy and agreement for all Principal Investigators (Final Sign-off Authority)

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0) Acceptance, incorporation, and binding effect

This document is an agreement (“Agreement”) between NanoTRIZ Innovation Institute (“NanoTRIZ”, “the Institute”, “we”, “us”) and the appointed Principal Investigator (“PI”, “you”).

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By accepting a PI appointment (including by clickwrap acceptance as described in Section 17), you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to comply with this Agreement. If you do not agree, you must not act as a PI or exercise PI authority within NanoTRIZ.

This Agreement is designed to create an audit-ready governance standard for scientific integrity, ethical AI use, publication readiness, confidentiality, controlled public communications, and project governance accountability.

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Single-page structure and deep links. This Agreement is published at https://www.nanotriz.com/principal-investigator-agreement and includes specific anchored sections referenced in the PI application form:

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• Appointment Terms (Section 3): ...#appointment-terms

• Compensation Model (Section 3.4): ...#compensation-model

• IP Policy (Section 10): ...#ip-policy

 

1) Purpose and role intent (PI is leadership, not a title)

The Principal Investigator (PI) role is the highest point of scientific responsibility within the NanoTRIZ structure. A PI is a quality guarantor and a final decision gate for defined categories of research outputs and public claims.

NanoTRIZ operates a distributed, project-driven research model. The PI role exists to ensure that research produced within NanoTRIZ is:

• scientifically defensible and methodologically sound,

• ethically produced (including ethical and transparent AI use),

• properly documented and reproducible at an appropriate level, and

• safe to release externally (publication, presentation, or public communication) only after due diligence.

Institutional context: NanoTRIZ is an independent Australian-registered entity and is not a TEQSA-registered higher education provider. NanoTRIZ awards no degrees. PI authority applies to NanoTRIZ projects and internal governance, not to accredited academic awards.

 

2) Definitions

For this Agreement:

“Appointment” means your PI appointment within NanoTRIZ as a leadership role with Final Sign-off Authority.
“Final Sign-off Authority” means the authority to approve or block defined outputs and releases under Section 5 and Section 6.
“Project” means any NanoTRIZ research, engineering, publication, tool, dataset, workflow, collaboration, or structured output pathway conducted under NanoTRIZ programs.
“Contributors” means Fellows, Scholars, Builders, advisors, contractors, or any individuals producing artifacts under a NanoTRIZ Project.
“Research Artifacts” means documented work products such as evidence maps, annotated bibliographies, drafts, protocols, analysis notebooks, code repositories, datasets, experiment logs, figures, revision histories, reproducibility notes, and sign-off checklists.
“Institute Resources” includes NanoTRIZ repositories, internal tooling (including the AI Cabinet), private datasets, internal documentation, credentials, compute resources, proprietary methodologies, roadmaps, and internal architecture.
“Confidential Information” means any non-public information relating to NanoTRIZ, its Projects, Contributors, technology, data, roadmaps, business strategies, internal discussions, or partner information.
“Public Release” means any external distribution or disclosure, including preprints, journal submissions, conference abstracts, slides, posters, public talks, demos to third parties, press statements, marketing claims, website claims, social media posts, or investor discussions that contain research or performance claims.
“External Party” means any non-NanoTRIZ individual or organisation including universities, companies, investors, media, contractors, or partners.
“Sensitive Data” includes personal data, data related to minors, confidential partner data, proprietary datasets, health/genetic data, or any information that requires heightened access controls.
“Background IP” means IP owned by you prior to appointment.
“Project IP” means IP created within NanoTRIZ Projects or using Institute Resources (handled under Institute IP policies and project-specific documents where applicable).

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3) Appointment, term, status, and non-employment

 

3.1 Appointment and term

Your PI appointment begins on [Start Date] and continues until [End Date] (or renewable term, if specified), unless suspended or terminated under Section 14.

 

3.2 Non-employment

Unless the Institute explicitly issues a separate written employment or consulting agreement, your PI appointment:

• does not create employment,

• does not create wages, salary, or benefits, and

• does not create authority to bind the Institute legally.

 

3.3 Revocation and resignation

The Institute may revoke or suspend PI authority for governance reasons, integrity risk, security concerns, conflict-of-interest breaches, or material non-compliance (Section 14).
You may resign with 14 days’ notice, unless urgent risk requires faster transition.

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3.4 Merit-Based Compensation & Revenue Model (non-salaried; variable; not guaranteed)

While this Appointment is non-salaried (Section 3.2), NanoTRIZ operates a merit-based / revenue-share model. Subject to funding body rules, project schedules, and any separate written agreements, PIs may be eligible to generate income through Institute-approved channels such as:

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1. Commercial Contracts
   Where a PI secures or leads a commercial R&D contract administered through the NanoTRIZ entity, the PI may be entitled to a negotiated percentage of net project revenue, as defined in the relevant project schedule or services agreement.

2. Grant Consultancy / Investigator Time
   Where permitted by the relevant funding rules, a PI may budget consultancy fees or investigator time into grant applications administered by NanoTRIZ, subject to Institute approval and compliance checks.

3. Fellowship / Supervision Stipends (if applicable)
   Where NanoTRIZ operates fee-paying fellowship programs, a PI supervising those programs may be eligible for a supervision stipend derived from program fees, subject to the Institute’s current disbursement policy.

 

No guaranteed minimum. You acknowledge that all compensation under this model is variable, performance-dependent, and not guaranteed. If any payment occurs, it may require a separate written agreement for tax/compliance and scope clarity.

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4) PI mandate: what you are responsible for

As PI, you agree to act as the scientific integrity gatekeeper for your designated division/team. You will:

• enforce research integrity and ethical AI standards,

• maintain documentation quality gates,

• ensure major claims are defensible and properly referenced,

• prevent premature or misleading Public Release,

• ensure authorship recognition aligns with documented contributions,

• manage conflicts-of-interest appropriately, and

• maintain an audit trail of sign-off decisions.

You agree to exercise PI authority in good faith, professionally, and with fairness.

 

5) Scope of PI authority (Final Sign-off Authority)

 

5.1 PI final approvals (your sign-off is required)

Subject to Section 5.2, the PI has final sign-off authority over:

• Scientific methodology and validity gates: whether methods, assumptions, and analyses meet research-grade standards appropriate to the Project.

• Submission readiness: whether a manuscript/preprint is internally “ready to submit” from a scientific integrity perspective.

• Public Release of research claims: whether research results, performance claims, benchmarks, or conclusions may be released publicly under NanoTRIZ channels.

• Integrity compliance: confirmation that reasonable checks were performed for plagiarism, fabricated data, falsified citations, and improper image manipulation.

• Authorship and contribution verification: whether an individual’s authorship claim matches documented contributions and policies.

• Reproducibility readiness: whether data provenance, analysis traceability, and documentation are sufficient for the stated level of claim.

• External collaboration boundaries: approval of external collaboration activity within NanoTRIZ policy boundaries, subject to Section 5.2 for any legal commitments.

 

5.2 Reserved powers (PI cannot approve alone)

The PI is not authorised to bind NanoTRIZ legally or approve the following without written approval from the Institute Director (or explicitly delegated authority):

• signing contracts (NDAs, licensing, commercial terms, equity/option agreements, employment/consulting contracts),

• transferring, licensing, or assigning Institute IP (unless delegated in writing),

• public statements about funding, institutional endorsements, partnerships, or government claims,

• sharing partner-provided confidential datasets or third-party restricted data,

• any public press/media statement on behalf of NanoTRIZ,

• any supervision structure involving minors without the Institute’s safeguarding process.

 

5.3 Delegation rules

You may delegate review tasks to qualified reviewers, but:

• you retain responsibility for final sign-off decisions,

• delegations must be documented (who reviewed what and when), and

• the PI remains accountable for audit trail completeness.

 

6) Scientific accountability standard (what PI is affirming when signing off)

When you provide PI sign-off, you are not providing a legal warranty of truth. However, you confirm that you have conducted reasonable scientific due diligence consistent with the Project’s maturity and risk level, including that:

• core claims and conclusions are not knowingly false or misleading,

• citations and sources appear credible and relevant (and are not fabricated),

• data, plots, and images are not knowingly manipulated deceptively,

• any AI involvement is consistent with NanoTRIZ standards and disclosure rules, and

• the output meets NanoTRIZ integrity thresholds for the intended release level (internal, preprint, journal submission, public claim).

Where a claim depends on assumptions, limitations, or unresolved uncertainties, you agree these must be disclosed appropriately in the draft or release.

 

7) Research integrity and ethical AI enforcement

 

7.1 Strict prohibitions

The following are prohibited within NanoTRIZ Projects:

• fabrication of data/results,

• falsification or selective reporting presented as complete truth,

• plagiarism,

• fake citations or misrepresented sources,

• misrepresentation of affiliation, credentials, or authorship,

• listing AI tools as authors.

 

7.2 AI use rules

AI tools may be used ethically to support productivity, but:

• AI tools cannot be authors,

• AI use must not conceal plagiarism, fabricated citations, or fabricated data,

• AI assistance must be disclosed when required by NanoTRIZ policy or target venue rules.

 

7.3 Handling allegations and corrective actions

If scientific misconduct is suspected:

• the PI must pause Public Release and escalate promptly to the Institute Director,

• corrective actions may include retraction, revision, removal of individuals, or revocation of roles,

• NanoTRIZ reserves the right to publish corrections where required to preserve integrity.

 

8) Confidentiality and data protection (PI grade)

 

8.1 Confidential Information obligations

You must keep all Confidential Information strictly confidential and use it only for NanoTRIZ purposes.

 

8.2 No unauthorised disclosure

You must not share, publish, open-source, distribute, or disclose Institute code/data/docs/architecture without prior written permission from the Institute Director (or delegated authority).

 

8.3 Security requirements

You agree to:

• use strong authentication (including 2FA where available),

• keep credentials private,

• avoid sharing sensitive materials outside approved systems,

• report any security incident or suspected breach promptly.

 

8.4 Sensitive Data and minors

If you have access to Sensitive Data or any data relating to minors:

• you must follow the Institute’s safeguarding and data-handling rules,

• you must not export, redistribute, or store such data in unapproved systems,

• you must promptly report any policy breach or risk.

 

8.5 Post-termination confidentiality

Confidentiality obligations survive the end of your appointment.

 

9) Conflict of interest (COI) and outside commitments

You must disclose any actual or potential COI that could bias sign-off decisions or create IP conflicts, including:

• employer/university affiliations,

• funding ties,

• equity interests in overlapping ventures,

• supervision or personal relationships that could bias authorship decisions.

Where a conflict exists, NanoTRIZ may require recusal from specific decisions and may reassign sign-off authority for that Project.

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10) IP stewardship, clean-break framework, and invention disclosure

 

10.1 Stewardship duties

As PI, you are responsible for ensuring contributors under your supervision follow NanoTRIZ policies on:

• authorship,

• documentation,

• disclosure of inventions,

• controlled release of potentially patentable materials.

 

10.2 Clean-break framework (scope and limits)

NanoTRIZ’s intent is to keep NanoTRIZ Project work governed by NanoTRIZ policies when performed within NanoTRIZ Projects and using Institute Resources. However, you acknowledge that your primary employer/university may have separate IP/COI policies that can apply depending on your circumstances.

Accordingly, you agree that:

• you will comply with your own institutional IP/COI obligations,

• you will disclose relevant constraints to NanoTRIZ where they may affect Project scope, authorship, or IP, and

• where needed, NanoTRIZ may require written clearance or may re-scope work to reduce conflict risk.

 

10.3 PI contributions

If you materially contribute code, designs, inventions, or other substantive Project work:

• your contribution may be treated as Project IP under applicable Institute policies and project-specific agreements,

• your Background IP remains yours unless you intentionally incorporate it into a Project (in which case appropriate licensing/assignment documentation may be required).

 

10.4 Invention disclosure pathway

If a result appears patentable or commercially sensitive, you agree to:

• flag it promptly to the Institute Director,

• avoid Public Release until a decision is made (patent vs publish vs trade secret),

• document inventorship contributions as required.

Any commercialization, equity, or revenue share requires a separate written agreement.

 

11) Publication, communications, and brand claims

 

11.1 Public claims require PI sign-off

Any Public Release that contains research claims, performance claims, benchmark claims, or scientific conclusions requires PI sign-off.

 

11.2 Affiliation and naming rules

PIs and contributors must use NanoTRIZ affiliation wording consistent with Institute policy. Use of third-party logos, university branding, or implied endorsements is prohibited unless permission exists.

 

11.3 Media/press

Press statements or media engagement on behalf of NanoTRIZ require written approval by the Institute Director.

 

12) Sign-off workflow and audit trail

 

12.1 What “sign-off” means

PI sign-off must be recorded in durable written form, such as:

• the NanoTRIZ platform sign-off record, or

• an email approval with a document ID/version.

 

12.2 Required sign-off checklist (minimum)

For any external submission or Public Release, PI sign-off must confirm the presence (as applicable) of:

• evidence map / citations or literature backbone,

• data provenance / source traceability,

• reproducibility notes (methods, parameters, code version, environment notes where relevant),

• AI disclosure statement (if required),

• COI disclosure statement (if required),

• authorship justification / contribution record.

 

12.3 Record retention

NanoTRIZ may retain sign-off records and governance logs for audit and integrity purposes.

 

13) Access provisioning and acceptable use

 

13.1 Least-privilege access

PI access is granted on a least-privilege basis. Sensitive datasets or partner data may require additional approval.

 

13.2 Prohibited actions

You must not:

• scrape/export confidential datasets outside approved systems,

• share credentials,

• introduce unapproved third-party storage of confidential materials,

• bypass governance controls for Public Release.

 

14) Suspension, termination, and handover

 

14.1 Suspension

NanoTRIZ may suspend PI authority immediately if required to manage integrity, security, legal/compliance, COI breach, or misconduct risk.

 

14.2 Termination

Termination may occur due to material non-compliance, misconduct, repeated governance failures, reputational risk, or resignation.

 

14.3 Handover obligations

Upon exit, you agree to:

• return/delete Confidential Information as requested,

• cooperate with access revocation,

• hand over pending reviews and governance notes to the Institute.

 

15) Disclaimers and boundaries

• The PI is not authorised to bind the Institute legally unless explicitly delegated in writing.

• PI decisions are internal governance decisions, not public warranties.

• NanoTRIZ does not guarantee publication, funding, or commercialization outcomes.

• NanoTRIZ is not a TEQSA-registered higher education provider and awards no degrees.

 

16) Governing law and dispute resolution

This Agreement is governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. Disputes will follow a staged pathway:

• good-faith negotiation, then

• mediation (if agreed), then

• courts of competent jurisdiction in Queensland, Australia (unless otherwise agreed in writing).

 

17) Acceptance (electronic clickwrap, email, or signature)

 

You may accept this Agreement in any of the following ways:

Option A — Clickwrap acceptance (simple; no email phrase required)

By checking the required boxes on the NanoTRIZ PI application / accreditation form and clicking “Submit,” you agree to be legally bound by this Agreement v1.0 (Effective 10.02.2026), including the Appointment Terms, Compensation Model, and IP Policy sections referenced via the deep links.

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Option B — Electronic acceptance by email (optional)

Reply to the appointment email with the exact sentence:
“I accept the appointment as Principal Investigator (Final Sign-off Authority) and agree to the PI Governance, Liability, Confidentiality & Sign-off Authority Agreement v1.0 (Effective 10.02.2026) published at https://www.nanotriz.com/principal-investigator-agreement.”

Option C — Wet signature (only if required by your institution)

 

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PI Full Name: ___________________________

 

Signature: ___________________________

 

Date: ___________________________

 

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Appendix A — PI Sign-off Checklist (operational)

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Before approving external submission or Public Release, confirm:

• Claims supported by evidence; limitations stated.

• Sources are real, relevant, and properly cited.

• Reasonable checks for plagiarism/uncredited reuse performed.

• Data provenance is known; figures not misleading; no deceptive edits.

• Methods and analysis reproducible at intended release level.

• AI use complies with rules; disclosure included if required.

• Authorship matches documented contributions.

• COI disclosed or recusal applied where needed.

• Partner/confidential data is not exposed.

• Sign-off recorded with doc ID/version/date.

 

 

Appendix B — COI Disclosure (short form)

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The PI discloses:
Employer/university affiliation(s): ____________________
Funding ties relevant to Projects: ____________________
Equity/financial interests in overlapping ventures: ____________________
Other potential conflicts: ____________________
Recusal required for Projects: ____________________

 

Appendix C — Publication & Communications Rules (condensed)

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• No public research claims without PI sign-off.

• No implied endorsements; no third-party logos without permission.

• Media/press requires Director approval.

• Patent-sensitive results must be flagged before release.

 

Appendix D — Research Leadership & Project Governance Titles (policy notice)

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NanoTRIZ has the legal right to establish internal project-governance titles (PI, Co-PI, Scientific Lead, Project Lead, Senior Scholar, etc.) for members worldwide. These titles are designed to:
(i) establish accountability for research quality and deliverables,
(ii) define review/sign-off authority, and
(iii) support accurate public representation of a person’s role without confusion with university ranks or employment.

 

Lab Mentorship Model (typical):

• PI: sets the big topic and provides periodic high-level oversight (e.g., monthly).

• Project Lead / Scientific Lead: runs weekly execution and enforces methodological rigor.

• Fellows/Students: perform work and build skills under the lead’s guidance.

 

Function-based role definitions (non-university ranks; non-employment):

• Principal Investigator (PI) / Project PI: ultimate scientific responsibility for a defined project stream; final scientific sign-off on major outputs.

• Co-PI: shares PI-level responsibility or leads a major sub-stream; authority defined per project.

• Scientific Lead: manages day-to-day scientific execution; enforces rigor and reproducibility; typically reports to PI for final sign-off unless delegated.

• Project Lead: manages milestones, timelines, task allocation, integration, and delivery readiness; scientific sign-off sits with PI/Scientific Lead unless otherwise defined.

• Senior Scholar (Affiliate): advisory appointment for high-level critique, peer review, and strategic guidance.

 

Nature of appointment (regulatory clarity):

• These are internal project-governance designations; they do not constitute academic tenure, faculty appointment, or accredited supervision.

• Where payment occurs, it is handled under a separate written independent contractor/consultancy agreement.

• NanoTRIZ is not a TEQSA-registered higher education provider; no degrees or accredited supervision are offered by NanoTRIZ.

 

Recommended public listing (CV/LinkedIn examples):

• External Principal Investigator (Project-based), NanoTRIZ Innovation Institute (Australia)

• Project Principal Investigator (Independent Consultant), NanoTRIZ Innovation Institute (Australia)

• Scientific Lead (Project-based), NanoTRIZ Innovation Institute (Australia)

• Senior Scholar (Affiliate), NanoTRIZ Innovation Institute (Australia)

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International Regulatory Note: "NanoTRIZ appointments constitute private research leadership designations under Australian law. Fellows and PIs residing in jurisdictions with strict title protection (e.g., Germany, China) are responsible for ensuring their public use of these titles complies with local regulations (e.g., clarifying 'Project-based' or 'External' status).