Privacy Policy.

1. Information we collect

We may collect information you provide directly to us, information generated through your use of the application portal, and information reasonably required to administer the programme. This may include:

• Name, email address, phone number, age or date of birth where required, city/state, and other contact information.
• Institution, course or programme, year of study, academic background, and other information used to assess eligibility.
• Your CV, written application responses, mathematical interests, project or activity details, links, uploads, and other application materials.
• Email-verification, one-time-password, session, device, security, and technical information used to operate and protect the application portal.
• Selection-related information such as shortlist status, exploration-task submissions, interview scheduling, evaluator notes, and final selection status.
• For selected participants, information needed for residential-camp administration, such as arrival and travel details, accommodation requirements, dietary preferences, accessibility requirements, emergency contacts, and other relevant logistics.
• Communications you send to the VGS or STEMvibe team, including support requests, questions, and feedback.

Some fields may be optional. Where a field is marked optional, you may choose not to provide it unless that information later becomes necessary for participation, safety, or legal requirements.

2. How we use your information

We may use your information to:

• Process applications and verify eligibility.
• Save and retrieve application drafts and maintain secure access to the application portal.
• Evaluate applications, exploration tasks, and interviews, and administer the selection process.
• Communicate deadlines, application status, selection outcomes, programme updates, and participant instructions.
• Organise the residential camp, including accommodation, meals, travel coordination, accessibility, safety, and participant support.
• Prevent duplicate, fraudulent, abusive, or technically harmful use of the website or application portal.
• Improve VGS and the participant experience, including through aggregated or anonymised programme analysis.
• Comply with applicable legal requirements and protect the rights, safety, and security of applicants, participants, STEMvibe Foundation, and others.

3. Information sharing

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share information only where reasonably necessary for programme administration, legal compliance, or where you have given appropriate consent. This may include sharing with:

• Authorised VGS and STEMvibe Foundation team members and evaluators who need the information to review or administer your application.
• Service providers supporting hosting, authentication, database storage, email delivery, file storage, security, communications, or other technical operations.
• Venue, accommodation, travel, safety, or event-service providers for selected participants, limited to information necessary to provide those services.
• Professional advisers, insurers, auditors, regulators, law-enforcement agencies, or other authorities where disclosure is required or reasonably necessary under applicable law.

VGS is supported by sponsors and programme partners. Applicant CVs, detailed application responses, contact information, and other relevant application information will be shared with VGS sponsors and programme partners for purposes including programme support, participant engagement, recruitment, outreach, and related opportunities, subject to applicable law.

4. Data protection and security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These may include authenticated application sessions, access controls, restricted administrative permissions, secure service providers, backups, and security monitoring. No online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, so applicants should also protect access to their email accounts and authentication codes.

5. Cookies and technical data

The VGS website and application portal may use cookies, local storage, session identifiers, and similar technologies that are necessary for authentication, security, continuity of application drafts, and core website functionality. If VGS introduces non-essential analytics, advertising, or tracking technologies, additional notice or consent will be provided where required.

6. Data retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including application and selection administration, camp operations, security, record-keeping, dispute resolution, and legal obligations. Information that is no longer required may be deleted or anonymised. Selected-participant records may be retained for longer where reasonably necessary to document participation, safeguarding, programme outcomes, finance, or legal obligations.

7. Applicants under 18

VGS is primarily intended for first- and second-year undergraduate students, while exceptional high-school applicants may also be considered. Where an applicant is under 18, VGS may require consent or confirmation from a parent or lawful guardian before processing information for later selection stages or confirming residential participation. Guardian approval may also be required for travel, accommodation, emergency, or media-related arrangements.

8. Your rights and choices

Subject to applicable law, you may request access to information about how your personal data is being used, ask us to correct inaccurate information, request deletion where appropriate, withdraw consent for future processing where processing is based on consent, or raise a grievance about our handling of your information. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

You may also contact us to withdraw your VGS application. Where feasible and legally permitted, we will stop further selection-related processing and delete or anonymise information that is no longer required. Some limited records may be retained for security, audit, legal compliance, or selection-integrity purposes.

9. Third-party websites and services

The VGS website may link to third-party websites or rely on third-party services that operate under their own privacy policies. STEMvibe Foundation is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party services outside its reasonable control.

10. Policy updates

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the programme, application process, technology, or applicable law. The current version will be published on the VGS website with an updated effective date. Where a material change directly affects an already-submitted application, we will make reasonable efforts to provide appropriate notice.

11. Contact

For questions, privacy requests, or concerns relating to VGS, contact vgs@stemvibe.org.