// RESEARCHERS

Creating a study

All studies begin in draft mode. While in draft, everything is editable. The study is not visible on the marketplace until you publish it.

Draft mode

To create a study, navigate to "Post a Study" from the navigation bar. The study creation form includes the following sections:

Study basics

  • —Title
  • —Category (Microbiome, Nutrition, Sleep, Wearables, Longevity, Quantified-self)
  • —Study type (Observational, Interventional, Survey-only, Self-experiment)
  • —Description
  • —Duration in weeks
  • —Region (or "Remote / Global")
  • —Task summary (one-line description of what participants do, max 80 characters)

Bounty

  • —Reward per participant (USD)
  • —Number of participant slots
  • —Total bounty pool (auto-calculated)

Eligibility

  • —Inclusion criteria
  • —Exclusion criteria
  • —Age range (minimum and maximum)
  • —Optional eligibility quiz (up to 10 yes/no screening questions)

Weekly milestones

Based on the study duration, the form generates week sections. For each week, you define milestones:

  • —Milestone title (e.g., "Complete baseline survey")
  • —Type: participant reports or you confirm
  • —Optional description

You should define 3–8 milestones total depending on study length.

Dropout prevention (optional)

  • —Toggle to require a participant deposit
  • —Deposit amount defaults to 1/5th of the reward, editable
  • —Participants are informed that deposits improve completion but may slow recruitment

Compliance threshold

  • —Default: 80%
  • —Participants must verify this percentage of milestones to be eligible for payout

Approval status

  • —Informational field: Ethics approved, IRB pending, Self-governed, or Not required

BIOME Verified (optional)

  • —Checkbox to apply for the BIOME Verified badge
  • —Review by BIOME's science team at additional cost

Draft studies are saved but not visible on the marketplace. You can return to edit them at any time from your experimenter dashboard.