General terms and conditions

Definitions

Amiconi Consulting SA, on behalf of the BLACKSWAN Foundation, serves as the Professional Congress Organizer (PCO) for the RE(ACT) – Rare Disease Research Congress.

The PCO, hereafter referred to as RE(ACT) Congress Secretariat, oversees the Conference Secretariat and is responsible for registration services, abstract management, sponsoring, and exhibition management.

Congress Secretariat and Registration:

E: congress@react-congress.org
T: +41 91 921 38 12

These General Terms and Conditions are valid for each attendee registered for the International Congress on Research of Rare and Orphan Diseases (hereafter referred to as “RE(ACT) Congress”).
Any person, delegate, allied professional, student, media representative, speaker, or exhibitor may be considered an attendee.

Conference Registration

Only fully completed registrations will be accepted. The registration fee is based on the date of receipt of registration and payment in full in accordance with the deadlines mentioned above. Should a deadline be missed, the fee for the next applicable deadline will be charged automatically. Registration will be confirmed only upon receipt of full payment.

The organizers reserve the right to change the prices at any time to offer special rates for a limited duration, but changes will not affect registrations, which the organizers have already confirmed. Registrations made under a special rate are available to public institutions only and cannot be applied to private companies.

The registration fee for delegates, allied healthcare professionals, and students includes entry to all official conference sessions, the exhibition and poster area(s), and the Opening Ceremony. The conference bag also contains the official conference material and lunch/coffee breaks.

To register for the conference, attendees must be at least 18 years old. Attendees may be asked to present an official identity card stating their age.
Should the maximum attendee capacity be reached, the organizers reserve the right to refuse new registrations.

MSc./PhD Students, research students, Students, and Patient organization representative

MSc./PhD students must provide a confirmation signed by the head of the department at the time of registration, either by e-mail or with a hard copy of the registration form. Students must provide a copy of their Student ID or a confirmation signed by the head of the department at the time of registration, either by e-mail or with a hard copy of the registration form. Patient organization representatives have to provide a confirmation signed by the head of the organization at the moment of your registration by e-mail or together with a hard copy of the registration form.

If proof cannot be presented, the regular participant registration fees apply. Confirmations submitted later cannot be considered.

ERDERA and IRDiRC members

To benefit from this special rate, you must be a member of ERDERA or IRDiRC. Our conference secretariat will verify your membership. Only attendees from academia/government can benefit from the special rate.

Methods of Payment

Payment is required at the time of registration. It should be processed in Euro (EUR) using a credit card (Visa, Mastercard/Eurocard, American Express) via Stripe.

Letter of Confirmation/Payment Receipt

A confirmation/payment receipt will be sent by email once the RE(ACT) Congress Secretariat has received the fully completed registration form and the corresponding payment. Attendees must present this confirmation/payment receipt at the registration counter as proof of their registration and payment.

Visa Requirements

It is the sole responsibility of attendees to handle their visa requirements. Attendees who require an entry visa must allow sufficient time for the application procedure. Attendees should contact the nearest embassy or consulate to determine the appropriate time for their visa applications.

The organizers will not directly contact embassies and consulates on behalf of visa applicants.

The registration fee minus a handling fee of Euro 75 will be refunded after the conference if the visa was applied for in time and an official proof from the embassy confirming that a visa could not be granted is forwarded to the RE(ACT) Congress Secretariat no later than 30 days after the last day of the congress.

Certificate of Attendance

A certificate of attendance for regular delegates, Allied Healthcare Professionals, and students/post-docs will be available electronically by request after the congress.

Registration Cancellation Policy

Notification of cancellation shall be made in writing and sent to the RE(ACT) Congress Secretariat by e-mail or fax. The notification shall include all relevant information regarding the bank account to which any refund may be remitted.

If the written cancellation notice is received before the early registration deadline, a handling fee of Euro 50 will be charged.
For cancellations received 30 days before the beginning of the congress, 50% of the paid registration fee will be refunded. No refunds will be made for cancellations received after this date.

No refunds would be made for cancellations if the registration fee was paid for an edition that has been postponed due to “force majeure” (e.g., earthquake, pandemic situation)

Refund requests will be processed only after the conference. They shall be made in writing and sent to the RE(ACT) Congress Secretariat by e-mail no later than 30 days after the conference. No refund request will be processed after this date.
Credit will not be given for unattended events or early termination of attendance.

Modification of the Conference Program

The conference organizers reserve the right to modify the program, which is published for reference only.

Film, Photo, and Video Recordings

The RE(ACT) Congress Secretariat works together to create a comprehensive overview of the conference interactions and events that may be of promotional interest to the society. Accordingly, please be advised that you may be filmed or photographed at any time (in the session rooms, poster area, etc.), and any presentations you deliver (Best Poster session, etc.) may be recorded.

Photos will be taken during the RE(ACT) Congress. Most of the participants will probably be captured on these media. The photographs will be used for any of RE(ACT) Congress’s and BLACKSWAN Foundation’s non-commercial purposes, including – but not limited to – communicating about the event, promoting future events, informing about BLACKSWAN Foundation and RE(ACT) Congress and their activities, for fundraising purposes, and to raise awareness around the rare disease cause.
BLACKSWAN Foundation and RE(ACT) Congress undertake to use these materials in such a way as not to cause embarrassment or discomfort to the attendee(s) portrayed.
In registering for the RE(ACT) Congress, you accept: to appear in these materials; to waive all copyright, and to waive all right to payment or other compensation; to waive all right to consultation or notice with respect to the use of these materials for a duration of 10 years as from the date of the event.
Should you have any questions concerning our photography policy, please get in touch with us.

Data Protection, Processing of Credit Card Details, and Sharing of Contact Details

The acquisition, handling (including saving data, changes, transmission, blocking, and erasure), and use of all personal registration data are carried out in accordance with applicable data protection regulations. The RE(ACT) Congress Secretariat will collect and store all data.

When you register, you will be asked to complete the online form providing your name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number. The above-collected information is required to process and finalize your bookings (including sending a booking confirmation e-mail to you). If you choose to pay for your bookings with a credit card, your credit card details (card type and number, CVC, expiration date, and cardholder name) will also be collected.

All data will be saved and processed.

To protect the personal data we receive, we have implemented appropriate business systems and procedures. For example, your credit card information is transmitted to us via a secure server protocol that encrypts all your personal and credit card details. The encryption method used is the industry standard “Transport Layer Security (TLS)” technology. Our TLS certificate has been issued by utn.usertrust.com.

Furthermore, we have implemented and use security procedures and technical and physical controls to access and use personal information. Only authorized employees may access personal information to perform their duties in connection with our services. Firewalls protect our server and network against unauthorized access, and we have intrusion detection systems that monitor and detect unauthorized (attempts to) access to or misuse of our servers.

Your credit card details will be retained by the RE(ACT) Congress Secretariat for three months after the conference ends.

The Conference Organizer periodically shares attendees’ contact details with third parties that may use them to contact attendees about activities at the conference or other communications that may be of interest. Therefore, selected data may be shared with third parties unless the attendee explicitly indicates otherwise. Your contact details will only be forwarded if:

• Your explicit consent is given.
• A third party has proven to the conference organizers that you have violated the rights of this third party and has thus demanded the disclosure of your data, or
• The conference organizers are obliged to disclose your data, for example, in response to a court order or an official order.

Cancellation of the Conference

In the event that the conference cannot be held or is postponed due to events beyond the control of the conference organizers (force majeure) or due to events that are not attributable to wrongful intent or gross negligence on the part of the conference organizers, the conference organizers shall not be held liable by attendees for any damages, costs, or losses incurred, such as transportation costs, accommodation costs, financial losses, etc. Under these circumstances, the conference organizers reserve the right to either retain the entire registration fee and use it for a future conference (physical or online meeting) or to reimburse (if the congress is ultimately canceled and not postponed) the attendee after deducting costs already incurred for the organization of the conference and which could not be recovered from third parties.

Liability

According to statutory provisions, the conference organizers shall be held liable in the framework of a duty of care as a respectable businessman. The liability of the conference organizers – for whatever legal reason – shall be limited to intent and gross negligence. The liability of commissioned service providers shall remain unaffected by the same. Attendees shall take part in the conference at their own risk. Oral agreements are not binding unless the conference organizers have confirmed them in writing.

Fulfillment and Jurisdiction

This contract is subject to the law of Lausanne, Switzerland. The terms of this contract shall be fulfilled in Lausanne, Switzerland. In the event of any legal claims arising from either party, Lausanne, Switzerland, shall be the sole court of jurisdiction.

Salvatori Clause

Should any clause in these Terms and Conditions be found to be ineffective or impracticable, the validity of the remaining Terms and Conditions shall not be impaired. The parties undertake to cooperate to replace the ineffective or impracticable clause with an effective or feasible clause, thereby rendering the ineffective or impracticable clause null and void.

Disclaimer

ERDERA has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement N°101156595. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or any other granting authority, who cannot be held responsible for them.

Last modified in February 2026.