Accept verified additional institutional emails for HESRT access

Remove the primary-email requirement. Ask applicants to provide a verified institutional email if it is not the primary address shared by Hugging Face. Keep manual review and existing access decisions.

README.md

@@ -30,16 +30,16 @@ configs:
   data_files:
   - split: examples
     path: releases/2026-09-17/visual_preview.parquet
-extra_gated_prompt: 'Access requests are reviewed manually. Before applying, add and verify an email address issued by your institution in your Hugging Face account, and make it your primary email.
+extra_gated_prompt: 'Access requests are reviewed manually. Use an email address issued by your institution that has been added and verified in your Hugging Face account. It may be your primary email or an additional email; you do not need to change your primary email.
 
 
-  Provide your full name, official institution and department, institutional email, and intended research use below. The submitted institutional email must match your primary Hugging Face email.
+  Hugging Face automatically shares your primary email with the maintainers. If that is already your institutional address, you may use it for this request. If your institutional address is an additional email, enter it in the additional institutional email field below; this is required in that case.
 
 
-  Personal email addresses, including Gmail/Googlemail, Hotmail/Outlook.com, Yahoo, iCloud, QQ, 163/126 and Proton Mail, will not be approved. An institution-controlled custom domain hosted by Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 is acceptable; the institution and affiliation must still be verified.
+  A personal primary email, such as Gmail, does not by itself disqualify your request. The institutional contact address used for review must be issued by your institution. Personal providers such as Gmail, Hotmail/Outlook.com, Yahoo, iCloud, QQ, 163/126 and Proton Mail cannot serve as that institutional contact address. Institution-controlled domains hosted through Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 are acceptable.
 
 
-  Submitting the form does not grant access. Approval follows review of your institutional contact information and intended use. Each user must apply through their own account. Original source-specific data-use terms and attribution requirements remain applicable.'
+  Provide your full name, official institution and department, and intended research use. Each user must apply through their own account and wait for manual approval. Original source-specific data-use terms and attribution requirements remain applicable.'
 extra_gated_fields:
   Applicant full name: text
   Institution and department (full official names): text
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ extra_gated_fields:
     - Hospital or healthcare organization
     - Company
     - Other institution
-  Institutional email (must match your primary Hugging Face email; no personal email domains):
+  Additional institutional email (required if your institutional email is not your primary Hugging Face email):
     type: text
-    optional: false
+    optional: true
   Primary purpose:
     type: select
     options:
@@ -68,11 +68,11 @@ extra_gated_fields:
     - No commercial involvement
     - Commercial or industry-related work
     - Unsure (explain in the research purpose)
-  I confirm that my institutional email is verified and is my primary Hugging Face email: checkbox
+  I confirm that this institutional email is added and verified in my HF account (primary or additional): checkbox
   I confirm that my identity, institutional affiliation and intended use are accurate: checkbox
   I acknowledge the original source-specific data-use terms and attribution requirements: checkbox
 extra_gated_heading: Request access to HESRT
-extra_gated_description: Manual review. A verified institutional email matching your primary Hugging Face email is required.
+extra_gated_description: Manual review. Use a verified institutional email added to your Hugging Face account, as a primary or additional email. No primary-email change is required.
 extra_gated_button_content: Submit access request
 ---
 
@@ -98,15 +98,16 @@ These nine examples span human cortex, mouse brain, spinal cord, pancreas, Visiu
 
 ## Access requirements
 
-HESRT files require **manual access approval and a verified institutional email**. Before applying:
+HESRT files require **manual access approval and a verified institutional email registered in your Hugging Face account**. The institutional email may be your **primary or an additional email**. **You do not need to change your primary email.**
 
-1. Add and verify the email address issued by your university, research institute, hospital or company in your Hugging Face account, then make it your **primary email**.
-2. Complete the access form with your full name, official institution and department, institutional email, research purpose and commercial involvement. The institutional email in the form must match your primary Hugging Face email.
-3. Wait for manual review before downloading files. Each person must apply using their own account.
+1. Add and verify the email address issued by your university, research institute, hospital or company in your existing Hugging Face account. It may remain an additional email.
+2. Hugging Face automatically shares your primary email with the maintainers. If your primary email is already your institutional address, you may use it and leave the additional-email field blank. Otherwise, **enter your verified institutional address in the additional institutional email field**. A personal primary email such as Gmail may remain unchanged.
+3. Complete the form with your full name, official institution and department, research purpose and commercial involvement. Confirm that the institutional email used for the request has been added and verified in the same Hugging Face account.
+4. Wait for manual review before downloading files. Each person must apply using their own account.
 
-**Personal email addresses such as Gmail are not accepted.** The same applies to Googlemail, Hotmail/Outlook.com, Yahoo, iCloud, QQ, 163/126 and Proton Mail addresses. Official institutional domains hosted through Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 are eligible; an unfamiliar or personal custom domain is not automatically an institutional address. Institutional domains are not limited to `.edu`.
+**The institutional contact address must be issued by your institution.** Gmail/Googlemail, Hotmail/Outlook.com, Yahoo, iCloud, QQ, 163/126 and Proton Mail addresses cannot serve as the institutional contact, but a personal address may remain your Hugging Face primary email. Official institutional domains hosted through Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 are eligible; an unfamiliar or personal custom domain is not automatically institutional. Institutional domains are not limited to `.edu`.
 
-Requests using personal email addresses, mismatched emails or unverifiable affiliations will not be approved. This access policy does not replace the original source-specific data-use terms.
+Requests without a verified institutional address registered in the same Hugging Face account, or with unverifiable affiliations, will not be approved. This access policy does not replace the original source-specific data-use terms.
 
 Once access is approved, sign in locally with `hf auth login`. The examples below use your saved Hugging Face credentials.