Terms of Use

Last updated 26 August 2026

In short: this site describes our work and lets you contact us about funding it. Our research outputs are openly licensed and free to reuse. The site is informational, not a contract for services, and nothing here is an offer of a security or investment. The nonprofit described in our plans is not yet formed, so nothing you pay us today is a tax-deductible charitable gift.

1. Who we are

Tessera Institute is operated by a Texas S corporation. Where this document says "we", "us", or "the Institute", it means that entity. Where it says "the site", it means tessera-institute.com and its pages.

We intend to establish a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit to carry the research program, and the funding described on this site is sought for that structure. That entity does not exist yet. Until it is formed and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, no payment to us is a tax-deductible charitable contribution, and we will not describe one as such. Any funder will be told in writing which entity is receiving a payment, and under what terms, before any money changes hands.

2. What this site is

The site is informational. It describes our research program, our methods, our budget, and how to reach us about funding. Using it does not create a client, advisory, partnership, employment, or other professional relationship between you and the Institute.

Nothing on this site is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security, and nothing here is investment, legal, tax, or medical advice. Descriptions of planned research are statements of intent, not commitments or guarantees of any result.

3. Contacting us through the site

The funding form sends us what you type into it. By submitting it you confirm that the information is accurate to the best of your knowledge and that you are authorized to send it on behalf of any organization you name.

Please do not send confidential, proprietary, or personal information you would not want us to hold. An inquiry sent through this form is not confidential and does not create any obligation of confidentiality on our part unless we separately agree to one in writing. Sending an inquiry does not obligate either of us to enter into a grant agreement.

How we handle what you send is described in our Privacy Policy.

4. Our research outputs and their licenses

The Institute's purpose is to give its work away. Outputs we publish are released under open licenses, and we do not grant exclusive rights in them to anyone:

CC BY 4.0

Replication reports, datasets, protocols, and written outputs. You may share and adapt these, including commercially, provided you give appropriate credit and indicate whether changes were made.

Apache License 2.0

Software we publish, including the registry, protocol compiler, critic, and check library. The license text distributed with each repository governs that repository.

Where a specific dataset, model, or repository carries its own license file, that file governs and takes precedence over this page. Some third-party inputs we build on carry their own terms, which we identify alongside the output where they apply.

What is not openly licensed

The Tessera Institute name, wordmark, and tile logo are not covered by the licenses above. You may use them for factual reference to the Institute, such as reporting on or citing our work. Please do not use them in a way that suggests we endorse, sponsor, or are affiliated with something we are not.

5. Using the site itself

You agree not to:

• Interfere with the site's operation, security, or availability, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to it or any connected system.
• Use the funding form to send unlawful, misleading, or abusive content, or bulk unsolicited messages.
• Impersonate another person or organization, or misrepresent your affiliation with one.
• Use automated means to access the site in a way that degrades it for others.

Ordinary reading, linking to our pages, quoting them with attribution, and reusing our openly licensed outputs are all expressly welcome.

6. Links to other sites

We link to third-party sites, including code and data repositories and the service that delivers our funding form. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content or their practices. Their own terms and privacy policies apply when you use them.

7. Accuracy and availability

We work to keep this site accurate, but it describes an ongoing program and may become out of date. Budget figures, timelines, hiring plans, and milestones are current plans and may change. We do not promise the site will be available without interruption or free of errors.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the site and its contents are provided "as is", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

8. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Institute and its directors, officers, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the site, or for any loss of data, revenue, or profits, even if we have been advised such damages are possible.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability or exclusions of warranty. Where that is the case, the limitations above apply only to the extent permitted, and nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

9. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the Institute's work develops. When we do, we will change the date at the top of this page. Material changes will be described in the page's revision history in our public repository, so a change is itself part of the record. Continuing to use the site after an update means you accept the revised terms.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute arising from them or from your use of the site will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Texas, and you and the Institute each consent to their jurisdiction. If any provision here is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.