These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern access to and use of the online learning platform operated by The Protein Diversification Academy (“PDA”, “we”, “us” or “our”).
Please read these Terms carefully before using the Learning Platform.
By creating an account, enrolling in a course, accessing restricted course content or using other features of the Learning Platform that require acceptance of these Terms, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms.
If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not create an account, enrol in a course or access restricted course content.
1. About PDA
The Protein Diversification Academy (“PDA”) is a non-profit association registered in Denmark under CVR number 44375435, with its registered office at:
C/O HaystackAgro Food Park 138200 Aarhus N
Denmark
Email: pdlp@proteinacademy.org
PDA operates an online learning platform providing educational courses and learning resources relating to protein diversification and related topics (the “Learning Platform”).
PDA operates on a non-profit basis. Any income generated through course fees is used to support PDA’s non-profit mission, including the development and delivery of courses, educational activities and related learning resources.
Courses available through the Learning Platform may be offered free of charge, subject to enrolment or course fee, or made available through a scholarship or other financial support arrangement, depending on the applicable course and programme. The specific terms applicable to a particular course, including any applicable fee, scholarship arrangements, payment requirements, enrolment procedure, refund policy and other course-specific conditions, will be communicated on the relevant course page or during the applicable registration or enrolment process.
2. Acceptance of the Terms
These Terms apply to all users who create an account, enrol in a course or access restricted areas of the Learning Platform.
Where the registration or enrolment process includes an acceptance checkbox, you must actively confirm your acceptance of these Terms before completing the relevant registration or enrolment.
PDA may retain a record of your acceptance of these Terms, including the applicable version and date of acceptance.
If you use the Learning Platform without creating an account or enrolling in a course, provisions of these Terms that are applicable to such use will nevertheless apply to you.
3. Eligibility and Age Requirement
The Learning Platform and its courses are intended for individuals who are 18 years of age or older. In Denmark, where PDA is registered, the age of majority is 18. By creating an account or enrolling in a course, you confirm that you have reached the age of 18 and that you meet the applicable eligibility requirements.
PDA does not currently operate a separate age-verification system. Users are responsible for ensuring that they meet the applicable age requirement before registering or enrolling. If PDA decides to make the Learning Platform available to minors in the future, PDA may introduce additional age-verification and parental or guardian-consent requirements.
PDA reserves the right to refuse, suspend or terminate access where eligibility requirements have not been satisfied.
4. User Accounts
Certain features of the Learning Platform require the creation of a personal user account.
You agree to provide accurate, complete and up-to-date information and to update your information where necessary.
Your account is personal to you.
You must:
- keep your login credentials confidential;
- not share your account with another person;
- not allow another person to access courses through your account; and
- notify PDA promptly if you become aware of unauthorised access to your account.
You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials.
PDA may suspend or terminate an account where there are reasonable grounds to believe that these Terms have been breached, the account has been misused or its continued use presents a security or operational risk.
5. Courses and Enrolment
PDA may make educational courses available free of charge, subject to an enrolment or course fee, or through a scholarship or other financial support arrangement. Each course may have its own description, learning objectives, structure, duration, assessment requirements and completion criteria.
The relevant course page and/or enrolment process will provide the applicable course-specific information, which may include the course fee, payment methods, registration and enrolment procedures, available places, scholarship arrangements, refund or cancellation conditions, and any applicable deadlines. Where places are limited, enrolment may be subject to availability and may, where expressly stated for the relevant course, be allocated on a first-paid, first-served basis or according to other stated selection criteria.
Where a course is offered through a scholarship or other selection-based arrangement, the relevant course page or application process will explain the applicable eligibility and selection criteria and, where applicable, the procedure for requesting a review or clarification of a selection decision. Where applicable, specific course requirements will be communicated to learners before or during enrolment.
Enrolment gives the learner a personal and non-transferable right to access the relevant course, subject to these Terms and any applicable course-specific requirements.
Course access may not be transferred, sold or provided to another person. PDA does not guarantee that any particular course will remain available indefinitely.
Where a course is subject to a fee, payment of the applicable fee does not guarantee admission where the course is subject to eligibility requirements, selection criteria or limited places, unless expressly stated otherwise on the relevant course page.
6. Course Content
Course materials and information provided through the Learning Platform are intended for general educational and informational purposes. PDA makes reasonable efforts to ensure that course content is accurate and appropriate for its intended purpose. However, PDA does not warrant that all content will always be complete, accurate, current or free from errors. Course materials may be updated, amended, replaced or removed from time to time.
PDA courses are aligned with the EIT Food Competency Framework and have been awarded the EIT Label for non-degree education and training. Certificates awarded upon successful completion of applicable courses carry the EIT Food label.
Completion of a PDA course does not, unless expressly stated otherwise, constitute a regulated professional qualification, academic degree, licence or other formal qualification. The EIT Food label and any certificates issued in connection with a course do not, unless expressly stated otherwise, constitute an academic degree, regulated professional qualification, professional licence or other qualification regulated by law.
Nothing provided through the Learning Platform constitutes legal, medical, financial or other professional advice. You are responsible for determining how information obtained through the Learning Platform should be applied to your own circumstances.
7. Course Completion and Assessment
Where a course contains quizzes, assessments, assignments or other completion requirements, learners must satisfy the requirements specified for that course.
PDA has the right to determine whether the applicable completion requirements have been successfully met.
PDA may refuse to issue a certificate where the relevant completion requirements have not been satisfied.
PDA may correct administrative or technical errors in course completion records or certificates where reasonably necessary.
8. Certificates
Depending on the applicable course and programme requirements, a learner may receive two separate EIT Food-labelled certificates, which serve different purposes and are issued through different processes.
The reason a learner may receive two certificates is that the PDA Certificate of Completion can be issued by PDA following successful completion of the course, while the separate EIT Food/Fraunhofer certificate is subject to an additional reporting, verification and certification process and may therefore be issued at a later date.
8.1 PDA Certificate of Completion
PDA may issue a Certificate of Completion to a learner who successfully completes the relevant course and satisfies all applicable completion requirements.
The PDA Certificate of Completion confirms completion of the relevant PDA course.
The PDA Certificate of Completion is issued directly by PDA and does not currently use a blockchain-based certification system.
The PDA Certificate of Completion carries the EIT Food label where the relevant course has been awarded the EIT Label.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, it does not constitute a regulated professional or academic qualification.
8.2 EIT Labelled Certificate
Eligible learners may also receive a separate EIT Food-labelled certificate issued directly by EIT Food and the Fraunhofer Institute following PDA’s submission of the relevant participant information and completion of the applicable reporting, verification and certification process.
This certificate is separate from the PDA Certificate of Completion and is issued by EIT Food and the Fraunhofer Institute rather than by PDA.
The EIT Food/Fraunhofer certificate is issued through a blockchain-based certification system or another technology selected by the relevant issuing organisations and may take longer to be issued than the PDA Certificate of Completion.
Its issuance is subject to the requirements, verification procedures and decisions of the relevant issuing organisations.
PDA does not guarantee that an EIT Food/Fraunhofer certificate will be issued where the applicable eligibility, completion, verification or reporting requirements have not been satisfied.
9. EIT Food Reporting and Certification
In connection with EIT Labelled certification, reporting, monitoring and KPI-tracking requirements, PDA may be required to collect and share certain learner information with EIT Food Education, EIT Food, the Fraunhofer Institute and/or other relevant programme partners.
Depending on the applicable programme requirements, this information may include:
- learner name;
- email address;
- gender;
- country of origin;
- country of residence; and
- course completion date.
The information collected for reporting, monitoring and KPI-tracking purposes may be more extensive than the information displayed on the certificates.
The processing and sharing of personal data is governed by PDA’s Privacy Policy.
10. Intellectual Property
All intellectual property rights in the Learning Platform and its content belong to PDA or its licensors, unless expressly stated otherwise.
This includes, without limitation:
- course texts;
- presentations;
- videos;
- images;
- graphics;
- documents;
- assessments;
- exercises;
- learning resources;
- logos;
- trademarks; and
- other educational materials.
Your access to or enrolment in a course does not transfer ownership of any intellectual property rights to you.
Subject to these Terms, PDA grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable right to access and use the relevant course materials solely for your personal, non-commercial learning purposes.
11. Downloading and Use of Course Materials
Where the Learning Platform provides a download function, you may download the relevant materials solely for your own personal learning purposes.
You must not, without PDA’s prior written permission:
- share course materials with another person;
- distribute or publish course materials;
- upload course materials to another website, platform, database or file-sharing service;
- make course materials publicly available;
- provide access to course materials to persons who are not enrolled in the relevant course;
- use course materials to provide training, consultancy or educational services to third parties;
- commercially exploit course materials;
- reproduce substantial portions of course materials for purposes other than personal learning;
- remove copyright, attribution or other proprietary notices; or
- create or distribute derivative materials based substantially on PDA course content for external use.
Course access and course materials are strictly personal to the enrolled learner.
Sharing login credentials, course links, downloaded materials or other means of accessing restricted course content with a person who is not enrolled in the relevant course is prohibited.
These restrictions apply whether course materials are accessed online, downloaded or obtained through another person.
12. Acceptable Use
You must use the Learning Platform lawfully, responsibly and in accordance with these Terms.
You must not:
- use the Learning Platform for unlawful, fraudulent or abusive purposes;
- attempt to gain unauthorised access to another user’s account;
- share or misuse account credentials;
- circumvent access controls or technical security measures;
- interfere with the security, operation or availability of the Learning Platform;
- introduce viruses, malware or other harmful code;
- scrape, crawl or systematically extract content from the Learning Platform without PDA’s prior written permission;
- impersonate another person or organisation;
- infringe the intellectual property or other rights of PDA or third parties;
- upload unlawful, harmful or infringing content;
- use the Learning Platform to distribute spam or malicious communications; or
- otherwise use the Learning Platform in a way that could reasonably harm PDA, its partners, other learners or the Learning Platform.
13. User-Generated Content
Where the Learning Platform allows users to submit comments, assignments, feedback or other materials (“User Content”), the user remains responsible for the content submitted.
You must ensure that you have the necessary rights to submit User Content and that such content does not infringe the rights of any third party or violate applicable law.
Where necessary to operate and administer the Learning Platform, you grant PDA a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to store, reproduce and display your User Content for those purposes.
PDA may remove or restrict access to User Content where it reasonably believes that the content violates these Terms, applicable law or the rights of another person.
PDA does not assume responsibility for User Content submitted by other users.
14. Changes to Courses
PDA may make reasonable changes to courses and the Learning Platform, including changes to:
- course content;
- learning materials;
- assessments;
- course structure;
- instructors or contributors;
- technical functionality; and
- course availability.
PDA may suspend, withdraw or discontinue a course where reasonably necessary for technical, operational, legal, educational or organisational reasons.
Where reasonably practicable, PDA will provide learners with appropriate notice of significant changes affecting their course access.
15. Technical Requirements
Access to the Learning Platform requires a suitable device, internet connection and compatible browser or software.
You are responsible for ensuring that your device, internet connection, browser and software are suitable for accessing the Learning Platform.
PDA is not responsible for problems caused by your own equipment, internet connection, software, browser or technical environment.
16. Availability and Maintenance
PDA aims to maintain the availability and proper functioning of the Learning Platform but does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access.
The Learning Platform may occasionally be unavailable because of:
- scheduled maintenance;
- technical failures;
- security incidents;
- updates;
- infrastructure problems;
- third-party service failures; or
- circumstances outside PDA’s reasonable control.
PDA will take reasonable steps to restore access where practicable.
17. Force Majeure
PDA will not be responsible for delays, interruptions or failures in providing the Learning Platform to the extent caused by circumstances beyond PDA’s reasonable control.
Such circumstances may include natural disasters, war, terrorism, epidemics or pandemics, government measures, labour disputes, major infrastructure failures, cyber incidents, internet or telecommunications failures and failures of relevant third-party service providers.
18. Donations
PDA may accept voluntary financial donations through the Learning Platform.
Donations are separate from any course or enrolment fees. A donation is a voluntary contribution to support PDA and is not a payment required to access a course unless expressly stated otherwise.
Where a course is subject to an enrolment or course fee, the applicable fee, payment method and payment terms will be specified on the relevant course page or during the enrolment process.
Course fees and donations are treated separately and are subject to the applicable terms set out for the relevant payment.
No recurring donation commitment will be created unless PDA expressly introduces recurring donations and provides the applicable terms before payment.
Donations may be processed using third-party payment service providers, including Stripe. When making a donation, you may also be subject to the applicable terms and conditions of the relevant payment service provider.
You are responsible for ensuring that the information provided when making a donation is accurate.
19. Donation Refunds
Where a course is subject to an enrolment or course fee, the applicable refund and cancellation terms will be provided on the relevant course page and/or during the enrolment process before payment is made.
Unless otherwise stated for the relevant course, any refund rights will be subject to applicable law and the course-specific refund and cancellation policy.
Donations are voluntary contributions and are generally non-refundable.
However, PDA may consider a refund where a donation was made incorrectly, including in cases of:
- accidental duplicate payment;
- incorrect amount entered; or
- another demonstrable payment error.
Refund requests should be submitted to pdlp@proteinacademy.org as soon as reasonably possible and should include sufficient information to identify the relevant transaction.
Where PDA approves a refund, it will normally be made to the same payment method used for the original donation. PDA’s decision regarding a discretionary refund does not affect any rights that cannot lawfully be excluded under applicable law.
20. Third-Party Services and Links
The Learning Platform may contain links to or integrate with third-party websites, platforms and services.
These may include services used for hosting, learning management, payments, certification, communications or other platform functionality.
Third-party services operate under their own terms and conditions and privacy policies.
PDA is not responsible for the content, availability, security or practices of third-party services to the extent they operate independently from PDA.
Where third-party services process personal data in connection with the Learning Platform, further information is provided in PDA’s Privacy Policy.
21. Privacy and Cookies
PDA processes personal data in accordance with its Privacy Policy.
The use of cookies and similar technologies is governed by PDA’s Cookie Policy.
The Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy should be read together with these Terms.
In the event of a conflict concerning the processing of personal data, the Privacy Policy will apply to that processing to the extent required by applicable data protection law.
22. Suspension and Termination
PDA may suspend or terminate your access to the Learning Platform or a particular course where reasonably necessary, including where you:
- materially breach these Terms;
- share your account or course access;
- provide unauthorised access to course materials;
- infringe intellectual property rights;
- misuse the Learning Platform;
- engage in unlawful, fraudulent or abusive conduct;
- create a security or operational risk; or
- otherwise materially interfere with the operation of the Learning Platform.
Where appropriate and reasonably practicable, PDA may provide you with an opportunity to remedy a breach before suspending or terminating access.
You may stop using the Learning Platform at any time and may request deletion of your account in accordance with PDA’s Privacy Policy.
Termination of access does not affect provisions which by their nature are intended to survive termination, including provisions relating to intellectual property, limitations of liability, governing law and dispute resolution.
23. Disclaimer
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Learning Platform and its content are provided on an “As Available” basis.
PDA does not guarantee that:
- the Learning Platform will always be available;
- course content will always be complete, accurate or current;
- the Learning Platform will be free from errors or interruptions;
- a particular course will remain available for any specific period; or
- completion of a course will result in a particular educational, professional, business or other outcome.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability, warranty or statutory right that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law.
24. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, PDA will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss arising from or in connection with your use of the Learning Platform.
PDA will not be responsible for loss or damage caused by circumstances outside PDA’s reasonable control, including failures of third-party services, internet connectivity or the user’s own equipment.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits PDA’s liability where such exclusion or limitation is prohibited by applicable law.
Nothing in these Terms affects any mandatory rights or protections available to users under applicable Danish or European Union law.
25. Complaints
If you have a complaint or concern regarding the Learning Platform, a course, your account or these Terms, please contact PDA at:
Please provide sufficient information for PDA to understand and investigate the matter.
PDA will review complaints within a reasonable period and will seek to resolve legitimate concerns fairly and appropriately.
Nothing in this section limits any mandatory statutory rights or remedies available to you under applicable law.
26. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by the laws of Denmark, without prejudice to any mandatory rights or protections available to users under applicable European Union or other applicable law.
Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts of Denmark, unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise.
Nothing in this section prevents a consumer from relying on mandatory consumer protection rules or bringing proceedings before a court that has jurisdiction under applicable law.
27. Changes to These Terms
PDA may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes to:
- the Learning Platform;
- PDA’s activities;
- applicable law;
- course structures; or
- other relevant circumstances.
The current version will be published on the PDA website together with the applicable “Last updated” date.
Where required by applicable law, PDA will provide additional notice of material changes.
Where continued use of the Learning Platform constitutes acceptance of updated Terms under applicable law, your continued use after the effective date will constitute acceptance of the updated Terms.
28. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, that provision will be interpreted or modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable.
The remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.
29. No Waiver
If PDA does not immediately enforce a right or provision under these Terms, this does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
Any waiver must be expressly communicated by PDA.
30. Entire Agreement
These Terms, together with the PDA Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and any additional terms expressly applicable to a particular course, certification programme or service, constitute the terms governing your use of the Learning Platform.
Where separate course-specific terms, including information concerning fees, scholarships, payment, enrolment, refunds or cancellations, apply to a particular course or programme, those terms will apply in addition to these Terms and will prevail in the event of any inconsistency concerning that specific course or programme.
Where separate terms apply to a particular course or programme, those terms will apply in addition to these Terms.
31. Contact
If you have any questions regarding these Terms or the Learning Platform, please contact:
The Protein Diversification Academy
A non-profit association registered in Denmark
CVR number: 44375435
Address: C/O HaystackAgro Food Park 138200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Denmark
Email: pdlp@proteinacademy.org
Website: https://proteinacademy.org/