FastPrep 20th Anniversary Contests - Official Rules & Terms and Conditions
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE AN ENTRANT'S SCORE OR LIKELIHOOD OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.
These Official Rules apply to three separate skill-based contests sponsored by MP Biomedicals, LLC: the Sample Prep Workflow Contest., the November Toughest Sample Story Contest, and the December FastPrep Photo Contest. Each contest has its own entry period, entry instructions, judging criteria, and prizes. The General Official Rules below apply to all three contests; the contest-specific provisions provide the details for each event. If there is a conflict, the contest-specific provisions control for that contest, to the extent permitted by law.
Eligible locations: The 50 United States, Washington, D.C., and Canada excluding Québec. See the complete eligibility requirements below.
On This Page
- General Official Rules
- Show Us Your Sample Prep Workflow
- November - Story Contest
- December - Lights. Camera. FastPrep.
General Official Rules
1. Sponsor
The contests (individually, a "Contest" and collectively, the "Contests") are sponsored by:
MP Biomedicals, LLC
29525 Fountain Parkway
Solon, OH 44139, USA
Email: [email protected]
MP Biomedicals, LLC is referred to in these Official Rules as the "Sponsor."
2. Eligibility
Each Contest is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States, Washington, D.C., and Canada (excluding Québec) who are at least 18 years old and have reached the age of majority in their state, province, or territory of residence when they enter.
Employees, officers, and directors of Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising or promotional agencies, and members of their immediate families or households are ineligible. Entrants must confirm that participation and prize acceptance are permitted under any applicable employer, institution, government agency, or organizational rules. Each Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, prizes are awarded from one combined pool of eligible entrants in the United States and Canada; no prizes are reserved by country or region.
3. No Purchase or Payment Required
No purchase, payment, or entry fee is required to enter or win any Contest. Buying MP Biomedicals products does not improve an entry's score or likelihood of winning. The Contests are independent of the FastPrep 20th Anniversary purchase promotion and the PAG34 booth promotion.
4. Entry Procedures and Limits
Entrants must submit the applicable official Contest entry form, accessible through the FastPrep 20th Anniversary landing page, during that Contest's stated entry period. Entries must include the required contact information, required confirmations, and the applicable story, workflow description, or photograph.
Limit one (1) entry per person per Contest. A person may enter more than one of the three Contests if they separately satisfy the requirements for each one. Entry periods are stated in Eastern Time (ET). Entries received before opening or after closing are ineligible. Sponsor's submission records will determine receipt time, subject to applicable law.
Automated, duplicate, incomplete, fraudulent, plagiarized, or otherwise invalid entries may be disqualified. Sponsor may reasonably verify an entrant's identity, eligibility, and compliance with these Official Rules.
5. Submission Standards and Rights
Entries must be the entrant's own original work or must be submitted with all permissions needed for the use described in these Official Rules. Entrants must not submit confidential, proprietary, unpublished, patient-identifiable, personally sensitive, or other information they are not authorized to disclose. Entries must not infringe a third party's intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or other rights.
Any photograph must be taken or submitted with the permission of the person entitled to authorize its use. Entrants should remove visible patient information, confidential labels, private screens, and other sensitive information before uploading a photograph. Where identifiable people appear, the entrant must have their permission to submit the image.
Entrants retain ownership of their original submissions. By entering, each entrant grants Sponsor a nonexclusive, royalty-free permission to reproduce, store, display to the judging panel, and otherwise use the submission as reasonably necessary to administer and judge the applicable Contest and verify results. Marketing uses beyond Contest administration, including advertising or publication of an entrant's photograph or research story, may require separate permission as described under Section 10.
6. Judging, Ranking, and Ties
All three Contests are skill-based. No random drawing, lottery, or other method of chance will determine winners. Eligible entries will be judged by a three-person panel of qualified MP Biomedicals representatives using the published 100-point rubric for the relevant Contest.
Each judge may award up to 100 points per eligible entry. The three scores are averaged to determine the entry's final score. Prize positions go to the highest-scoring eligible entries in order, subject to eligibility and prize verification. The number of prizes and each Contest's criteria are listed in its specific section.
For a tie affecting a prize position, the entry with the higher average score on the first listed judging criterion ranks higher. If the tie remains, the judges compare the second criterion, then the third, then the fourth. If all criterion scores remain tied, an additional qualified MP Biomedicals representative will score only the tied entries using the same published rubric. The higher-scoring entry from that additional review ranks higher. No tie will be resolved by chance. Judging determinations are final as to application of the published criteria, subject to applicable law.
7. Potential Winners and Verification
Potential winners will be contacted by email at the address supplied on the entry form and must respond within five (5) business days after the initial notification. Sponsor may request reasonable information or documentation to verify identity, eligibility, prize acceptance, and applicable tax-reporting requirements.
If a potential winner cannot be reached, fails to respond on time, declines a prize, is ineligible, or fails to comply with these Official Rules, Sponsor may select the next-highest-ranked eligible entry according to the same judging results and tie-breaking procedure. If the Workflow Contest Grand Prize is declined or forfeited, the next-highest-ranked eligible entrant moves into the Grand Prize position and the following ranked entrant becomes the potential Second-Place winner. No alternate winner will be chosen at random.
Only potential winners will necessarily receive individual notifications. Entries not selected for a prize may not receive a separate response.
8. Prize Conditions, Delivery, and Taxes
Each prize is awarded as described in the relevant Contest section. Prizes are not transferable and may not be redeemed for cash. If a prize becomes unavailable for reasons beyond Sponsor's reasonable control, Sponsor may substitute an item of equal or greater approximate value, where permitted by law.
Sponsor will pay standard shipping to an eligible U.S. or Canadian delivery address for physical prizes. Electronic gift cards will be delivered electronically. Sponsor will coordinate fulfillment with confirmed winners and make reasonable efforts to provide prizes promptly after eligibility and acceptance have been confirmed. Winners must provide accurate delivery information; Sponsor is not responsible for delays beyond its reasonable control.
Winners are responsible for applicable federal, state, provincial, territorial, local, or other taxes arising from receiving or using a prize, except where otherwise required by law. A winner is responsible for confirming that their employer or organization allows them to accept, own, and use the prize. Optional accessories, consumables, installation, training, extended warranties, or other items not expressly included in a prize description are excluded.
9. Personal Information and Optional Marketing
Information supplied in connection with the Contests may be processed for Contest administration, judging, entrant communications, eligibility verification, winner confirmation, prize delivery, and required legal or tax compliance, in accordance with the MP Biomedicals Privacy Policy.
Marketing consent is optional. Agreeing to receive MP Biomedicals marketing communications is not required to enter or win. Any promotional communication opt-in must be separate from the required agreement to these Official Rules.
10. Winner Publicity and Additional Submission Uses
Where permitted by applicable law, Sponsor may request permission to identify confirmed winners by name and city, state, province, or territory when announcing Contest results. Other uses of a winner's identity, photograph, likeness, testimonial, scientific workflow, or submission for marketing or advertising will be subject to applicable law and any further consent or authorization required. Entering does not require consent to unrelated promotional use.
11. Contest Administration
Sponsor may disqualify an entry reasonably found to be fraudulent, misleading, unauthorized, automated, or inconsistent with these Official Rules. To the extent permitted by law, Sponsor may suspend, modify, or cancel a Contest if fraud, security incidents, technical failures, natural disasters, government action, or other circumstances beyond Sponsor's reasonable control materially prevent it from operating as intended. Where lawful and practicable, Sponsor may judge eligible entries received before such a termination using the published skill-based criteria. Sponsor will not replace skill-based judging with a drawing.
12. Liability and Mandatory Rights
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Sponsor and its representatives are not responsible for lost, late, corrupted, incomplete, or misdirected entries; interruptions or failures of websites, networks, email, or other technology; or events beyond their reasonable control. By accepting a prize, a winner agrees, to the extent permitted by law, to release Sponsor and its representatives from claims arising from acceptance, possession, or use of the prize, except for rights or claims that cannot legally be waived. Nothing here limits any mandatory right or remedy available under applicable law.
13. Applicable Law, Severability, and Acceptance
Each Contest is subject to applicable federal, state, provincial, territorial, and local laws. Nothing in these Official Rules is intended to override mandatory rights arising under an entrant's jurisdiction of residence. If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain effective to the extent permitted by law.
By submitting an entry, an entrant acknowledges these General Official Rules and the applicable Contest-specific provisions. Questions about a Contest or legally required winner information may be directed to Sponsor at the address or email listed above.
Sample Prep Contest - Show Us Your Sample Prep Workflow
Contest Period: November 1, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. ET through January 22, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Who may enter: Eligible U.S. and Canadian residents, excluding Québec, who meet the General Eligibility requirements. No purchase necessary.
How to Enter
Submit the official Sample Prep Workflow Contest form and answer this question in 250 words or fewer:
"Describe your current sample preparation workflow and how access to a FastPrep-24 5G would improve your research or laboratory workflow."
The response must describe an actual or reasonably anticipated sample preparation workflow and must not contain confidential, proprietary, patient-identifiable, or other unauthorized information. Limit one entry per person for this Contest.
Judging Criteria (100 Points Total)
- Application Relevance & FastPrep Fit - 40 points: How well the described application or workflow matches the FastPrep-24 5G and its intended use.
- Potential Research or Workflow Impact - 30 points: The likely value of the instrument for the entrant's research, sample preparation, efficiency, reproducibility, or laboratory process.
- Current Workflow Context & Need - 20 points: How clearly the entrant explains the current workflow and the practical need for improvement.
- Clarity & Completeness - 10 points: How clearly and completely the entrant explains the workflow and the proposed benefit of the instrument.
The highest-ranked eligible entrant will be the potential Grand Prize winner; the second-highest-ranked eligible entrant will be the potential Second-Place winner. Ties are resolved in the order of the criteria above, then by an additional judge if necessary, as described in the General Official Rules.
Prizes and Approximate Retail Values
- Grand Prize - one (1) winner: One FastPrep-24 5G instrument. Approximate retail value (ARV): US$12,850.
- Second-Place Prize - one (1) winner: One Smart Vortenizer. ARV: US$998.
Total number of prizes: Two (2). Total ARV: US$13,848. Standard shipping is included. Consumables, optional accessories, installation, training, extended service agreements, and other unspecified products or services are not included.
Winner Determination: Judging is expected to be completed and potential winners determined on or about January 29, 2027. Both prizes are awarded by score, not by chance.
November Contest — Tell Us Your Most Challenging Sample — and How You Beat It
Contest Period: November 1, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. ET through November 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Who may enter: Eligible U.S. and Canadian residents, excluding Québec, who meet the General Eligibility requirements. No purchase necessary.
How to Enter
Submit the official November Toughest Sample Story Contest form. In 250 words or fewer, describe a particularly challenging sample you have worked with, what made it difficult, and the creative, clever, or unexpected solution that finally worked. Entries should be truthful, original, and based on the entrant's own experience. Do not disclose unauthorized research, patient information, or confidential protocols. Limit one entry per person for this Contest.
Judging Criteria (100 Points Total)
- Ingenuity & Problem-Solving - 35 points: The resourcefulness and effectiveness of the approach used to overcome the sample preparation challenge.
- Creativity - 35 points: The originality or unexpected quality of the solution or insight described.
- Storytelling & Engagement - 20 points: How effectively the entry communicates the experience and draws the reader into the story.
- Clarity - 10 points: How clearly and understandably the entrant explains the challenge and its resolution.
The five (5) highest-scoring eligible entries will be designated potential winners. Ties affecting a prize position will be resolved in the order of the criteria above, then by an additional judge if needed. No random drawing will be used.
Prizes and Approximate Retail Values
Five (5) winners will each receive one Amazon gift card, issued for the winner's country of residence:
- U.S. winners: One US$50 Amazon.com gift card (ARV: US$50 each).
- Canadian winners: One C$50 Amazon.ca gift card (ARV: C$50 each).
There are five gift cards in total, not five per country. No prizes are reserved by country. The gift cards are subject to the applicable issuer's terms and will be delivered electronically. Amazon is not a sponsor or administrator of this Contest.
Winner Determination: Entries will be ranked after the November 30, 2026 closing date. Sponsor will select and contact potential winners following completion of judging and verification in accordance with the General Official Rules.
December Contest - Lights. Camera. FastPrep.
Contest Period: December 1, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. ET through December 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Who may enter: Eligible U.S. and Canadian residents, excluding Québec, who meet the General Eligibility requirements. No purchase necessary.
How to Enter
Submit the official December FastPrep Photo Contest form with one photograph of a FastPrep instrument that you own or are authorized to access and photograph. You do not need to buy an instrument to participate. Include a nickname, anecdote, or short description, in 100 words or fewer, explaining what makes the FastPrep memorable.
Accepted image formats are JPG, JPEG, and PNG, with a maximum upload size of 20 MB. Only one image may be submitted per entry, and only one entry is permitted per person for this Contest. The entrant must have the right to submit the photograph and must not disclose confidential, patient-identifiable, personally sensitive, or otherwise unauthorized material. Photographs containing unauthorized people, protected information, or infringing material may be disqualified.
Judging Criteria (100 Points Total)
- Creativity & Originality - 40 points: The imagination, distinctiveness, and originality of the FastPrep presentation or photograph concept.
- Personality & Story - 30 points: How memorably the submitted nickname, story, or description conveys the instrument's personality and role in the lab.
- FastPrep Connection & Anniversary Spirit - 20 points: How clearly the entry connects to FastPrep and the celebration of its 20th anniversary.
- Clarity - 10 points: How clearly the entry communicates its idea.
Professional photography or photographic technical quality is not a judging criterion. The five (5) highest-scoring eligible entries will be designated potential winners. Ties affecting a prize position are resolved in the order of the criteria above, then by an additional judge if necessary. No random drawing will be used.
Prizes and Approximate Retail Values
Five (5) winners will each receive one eligible 100-pack of Lysing Matrix of their choice, subject to the selection of eligible 100-pack products offered by Sponsor and product availability. Sponsor will coordinate each confirmed winner's selection and pay standard shipping to an eligible U.S. or Canadian address.
The approximate retail value of one 100-pack prize depends on the product selected and is estimated at US$220.11 to US$1,311.67 per prize. The maximum combined approximate retail value of all five prizes is US$6,558.35. No other prize or benefit is provided merely for submitting an entry.
Winner Determination: Entries will be ranked after the December 31, 2026 closing date. Sponsor will select and contact potential winners following completion of judging and verification in accordance with the General Official Rules.
Questions? Contact [email protected]. These rules concern the three skill-based contests only; the January PAG34 booth discount is a separate purchase promotion.