Researchers
Live operations
After screening, you commence the study and move into live operations: kit logistics, milestone verification, pseudonymised messaging, and dropout-risk monitoring — all from a single operations view.
Commencing the study
Step 1 — Close screening
Click "Close screening and proceed" to stop accepting new applications. This changes the study status from screening to the pre-launch phase.
Step 2 — Compensation budget check
Biome confirms that the compensation budget on deposit covers your approved cohort: the compensation schedule multiplied by the number of approved research partners. Because the budget was deposited during the pre-launch checklist, this is normally a confirmation — if you approved more people than originally scoped, you top up the difference here.
Step 3 — Send onboarding message
Before commencing, you draft an onboarding message for approved research partners. The message is delivered pseudonymously through Biome from contact@biome.to — you never see recipients' email addresses, and they never see yours. You define:
- Subject line
- Message body
- Enrollment or handoff link (must be HTTPS)
Research partners see this message in their dashboard when they are accepted. A copy is sent to your email.
Step 4 — Commence study
Clicking "Commence study" will:
- Change the study status to Active
- Generate milestones for all enrolled research partners, with due dates calculated from the commencement date
- Trigger dispatch of the first round of sample kits, if your study uses them
- Notify everyone enrolled that the study has begun
- Begin the compliance tracking period
Running the study
Kit logistics and chain of custody
For studies with samples, Biome manages kit dispatch, returns, and lab hand-off. Every kit carries a chain-of-custody record — dispatched, delivered, collected, in transit, received by lab — visible to both you and the research partner. Kits are labeled with Participant IDs, never names.
Milestone tracking
The operations view shows each enrolled research partner's milestone checklist in real time: completed, submitted, pending, overdue. Submissions awaiting your verification appear in a queue (see Compliance & reporting).
Pseudonymised messaging
You can message individuals or the whole cohort through the platform. All messaging is pseudonymous — addressed to pseudonyms and Participant IDs — preserving the privacy wall between your team and research partners while keeping a complete message log with the study record.
Dropout-risk alerts
Biome monitors engagement signals — overdue milestones, unreturned kits, inactivity — and flags research partners who look at risk of dropping out, so you can intervene early with a reminder or a check-in message instead of losing them from the cohort.