Crowdfunding for science
Thanks to Kickstarter and Indiegogo, crowdfunding has become a trend for the whole world, and the scope of collective financing is constantly expanding. Now, representatives of academic science have decided to bypass the complex system of obtaining grants for their research and turn directly to knowledge lovers. Below is a selection of sites that help scientists find funding for their projects. Microryza
website opened this year. Its creators are sure that scientific research is what allows society to develop, and you can not limit scientists to grants, which take a huge amount of time to get. The following figures are given on their page: 12 weeks on average is spent on preparing a project description, and 80% of all applications will be rejected after a lengthy study process. The reason lies in the situation of the world economy and politics, which does not allow financing long-term research projects with a high risk factor. Therefore, a similar site was created on which researchers not only receive funds for scientific work, but are not forced to give intellectual property into the hands of investors, but providing access to it to caring people.
Danny Luan, the creator of the site, says that he knows almost all the scientists who created the projects at Microryza. He also emphasizes that this is not just another kickstarter clone, but a base of scientific ideas, so it is not so much the result that matters, as the education of society (social learning) and the observed research process itself. So, there are no accustomed to crowdfunding awards at Microryza, although the problem with the rewards is not only that. If for the world of scientists the absence of a result is also a result, then for a public who is ill for a project this thesis is difficult to understand. “Research may not go as originally planned, and we cannot promise awards such as“ we will name a new kind of butterfly in your honor that we find, ”Luan emphasizes. In fact, scientists at Microryza are conducting real-time experiments, such as researchon the ways in which spammers receive email addresses of users and the principles of their selection. Having realized this, the author of the project expects to find a way to protect everyone from spam.
The second site allowing mere mortals to become part of the history of science is PetriDish.org. Site founder Matt Salzberg says the site’s mission is to bring scientific knowledge to people because there’s a gap between the world of scientists and society. Some discoveries can be learned only from specialized magazines and websites, while PetriDish.org opens up the world of science to ordinary people, in which they can directly participate and then say “if it weren’t for me, it would not have been open”. Such a system allows people to appreciate the importance of science and expand their knowledge of the world. PetriDish.org projects provide an opportunity to finance a field study of a rare butterfly species in Peru, a study of previously unknown ants in Madagascar, and an attempt to discover the first exoluna. Unlike Microryza, there are rewards on this site for backers. These are mainly invitations to scientific lectures, photographs and souvenirs from field research sites.
The next site is iAMscientist. It is interesting that among its founders there is a Russian scientist - Boris Shakhnovich, professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, who emigrated to the United States in 1990. The site’s goal is the same: remove science from the status of esoteric knowledge and tell ordinary people about it. As in many cases, iAMscientist projects do not collect large sums, but give scientists the opportunity to find supporters around the world, including from the scientific community to exchange experiences. One of the most successful projects is the study of the behavior and habitat of the tuberous tortoise to preserve this species, which collected more than 5 thousand dollars. As awards, the author offered a letter of appreciation on the faculty letterhead, access to the research results and an excursion to his laboratory.
There are no such highly specialized platforms in Russia, and there are no scientific projects to be found on large crowdfunding sites either. The popularization of scientific knowledge in our country is very slow, scientists are afraid to share their ideas and do not trust journalists. Only a few recent projects, such as PostScience, Theories and Practices, and the Polytechnic Museum, are trying to move the situation. At the same time, the same problems remain as in world practice: the possible lack of a clear result, the long-term nature of the research project and the inability to give backers something in return. Although, perhaps, this would help solve the problem of obtaining scientific grants, humiliating salaries and a total brain drain.
website opened this year. Its creators are sure that scientific research is what allows society to develop, and you can not limit scientists to grants, which take a huge amount of time to get. The following figures are given on their page: 12 weeks on average is spent on preparing a project description, and 80% of all applications will be rejected after a lengthy study process. The reason lies in the situation of the world economy and politics, which does not allow financing long-term research projects with a high risk factor. Therefore, a similar site was created on which researchers not only receive funds for scientific work, but are not forced to give intellectual property into the hands of investors, but providing access to it to caring people.
Danny Luan, the creator of the site, says that he knows almost all the scientists who created the projects at Microryza. He also emphasizes that this is not just another kickstarter clone, but a base of scientific ideas, so it is not so much the result that matters, as the education of society (social learning) and the observed research process itself. So, there are no accustomed to crowdfunding awards at Microryza, although the problem with the rewards is not only that. If for the world of scientists the absence of a result is also a result, then for a public who is ill for a project this thesis is difficult to understand. “Research may not go as originally planned, and we cannot promise awards such as“ we will name a new kind of butterfly in your honor that we find, ”Luan emphasizes. In fact, scientists at Microryza are conducting real-time experiments, such as researchon the ways in which spammers receive email addresses of users and the principles of their selection. Having realized this, the author of the project expects to find a way to protect everyone from spam.
The second site allowing mere mortals to become part of the history of science is PetriDish.org. Site founder Matt Salzberg says the site’s mission is to bring scientific knowledge to people because there’s a gap between the world of scientists and society. Some discoveries can be learned only from specialized magazines and websites, while PetriDish.org opens up the world of science to ordinary people, in which they can directly participate and then say “if it weren’t for me, it would not have been open”. Such a system allows people to appreciate the importance of science and expand their knowledge of the world. PetriDish.org projects provide an opportunity to finance a field study of a rare butterfly species in Peru, a study of previously unknown ants in Madagascar, and an attempt to discover the first exoluna. Unlike Microryza, there are rewards on this site for backers. These are mainly invitations to scientific lectures, photographs and souvenirs from field research sites.
The next site is iAMscientist. It is interesting that among its founders there is a Russian scientist - Boris Shakhnovich, professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, who emigrated to the United States in 1990. The site’s goal is the same: remove science from the status of esoteric knowledge and tell ordinary people about it. As in many cases, iAMscientist projects do not collect large sums, but give scientists the opportunity to find supporters around the world, including from the scientific community to exchange experiences. One of the most successful projects is the study of the behavior and habitat of the tuberous tortoise to preserve this species, which collected more than 5 thousand dollars. As awards, the author offered a letter of appreciation on the faculty letterhead, access to the research results and an excursion to his laboratory.
There are no such highly specialized platforms in Russia, and there are no scientific projects to be found on large crowdfunding sites either. The popularization of scientific knowledge in our country is very slow, scientists are afraid to share their ideas and do not trust journalists. Only a few recent projects, such as PostScience, Theories and Practices, and the Polytechnic Museum, are trying to move the situation. At the same time, the same problems remain as in world practice: the possible lack of a clear result, the long-term nature of the research project and the inability to give backers something in return. Although, perhaps, this would help solve the problem of obtaining scientific grants, humiliating salaries and a total brain drain.