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 circumvent the complex system of receiving grants for their research and turn directly to lovers of knowledge. Below is a selection of sites that help scientists find funding for their projects.
This year opened the site Microryza . Its creators are confident that scientific research is what allows society to develop, and scientists cannot be limited to grants, for which a huge amount of time is spent on obtaining. The following figures are given on their page: on average, 12 weeks are spent on preparing a project description, and 80% of all applications will be rejected after a lengthy study procedure. The reason lies in the position of the world economy and politics, which does not allow to finance long-term research projects with a high risk factor. Therefore, a similar site was created, where researchers not only receive funds for scientific work, but are not forced to give intellectual property to investors, but by giving access to caring people.
Denny Luan, the creator of the site, says that he knows almost all the scientists who created the projects on Microryza. He also emphasizes that this is not just another clone of the kickstarter, but a base of scientific ideas, therefore the result is not so much the result as social education and the observed research process itself. So, there are no awards on Microryza that are usual for crowdfunding, although the problem with the revolutions is not only that. If for the world of scientists the lack of a result is also a result, then for a public who is ill with a project this thesis is difficult to understand. “The study may not go as planned as originally planned, and we cannot promise awards like“ we will name in your honor a new species of butterfly that we will find, ”emphasizes Luan. In fact, at Microryza, scientists conduct experiments in real time, for example, research on the ways in which spammers receive email addresses of users and the principles of their selection. Having understood this, the author of the project hopes to find a way to protect everyone from spam.
')
The second site that allows mere mortals to become part of the history of science is PetriDish.org . The founder of the site, Matt Salzberg, says that the site’s mission is to bring scientific knowledge to people, because there is a gulf between the world of scientists and society. Some discoveries can only be learned from specialized journals and websites, while PetriDish.org opens the world of science to ordinary people, in which they can directly participate and then say "if it were not for me, it would not be 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 fund a field study of a rare butterfly species in Peru, a study of previously unknown ant scientists in Madagascar, and an attempt to discover the first exolar. Unlike Microryza, there are awards for backers on this site. These are mainly invitations to scientific lectures, photographs and souvenirs from field research sites. Before placing projects on the site, the moderators carefully study the authors, study their publications and the institutions in which they work, so as not to become a source of dissemination of false scientific initiatives.
The next site is iAMscientist . Interestingly, among its founders is a Russian scientist - Boris Shakhnovich, a professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, who emigrated to the United States in 1990. The site’s task is the same: to 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 they give scientists the opportunity to find supporters all over the world, including from the scientific community for the exchange of experience. One of the most successful projects is the study of the behavior and habitat of a lumpy tortoise to save this species, which collected more than 5 thousand dollars. As an award, the author offered a thank-you letter on the letterhead of the faculty, access to the results of the study and a tour of his laboratory. On the website you can see the degrees of all project creators and get acquainted with their publications, which increases the level of trust.
In Russia, there are no such narrowly specialized platforms, and on large crowdfunding sites, too, so far not to find research projects. Popularization of scientific knowledge is very slow, scientists are afraid to share their ideas and do not trust journalists. Only a few recent projects, such as PostScience, Theory and Practice and the Polytechnic Museum, are trying to get things moving. At the same time, the same problems remain as in world practice: a possible lack of a clear result, a long-term scientific project and the impossibility of giving backers something in return. Although, maybe this would help solve the problem of obtaining scientific grants, degrading salaries and total brain drain.
This year opened the site Microryza . Its creators are confident that scientific research is what allows society to develop, and scientists cannot be limited to grants, for which a huge amount of time is spent on obtaining. The following figures are given on their page: on average, 12 weeks are spent on preparing a project description, and 80% of all applications will be rejected after a lengthy study procedure. The reason lies in the position of the world economy and politics, which does not allow to finance long-term research projects with a high risk factor. Therefore, a similar site was created, where researchers not only receive funds for scientific work, but are not forced to give intellectual property to investors, but by giving access to caring people.
Denny Luan, the creator of the site, says that he knows almost all the scientists who created the projects on Microryza. He also emphasizes that this is not just another clone of the kickstarter, but a base of scientific ideas, therefore the result is not so much the result as social education and the observed research process itself. So, there are no awards on Microryza that are usual for crowdfunding, although the problem with the revolutions is not only that. If for the world of scientists the lack of a result is also a result, then for a public who is ill with a project this thesis is difficult to understand. “The study may not go as planned as originally planned, and we cannot promise awards like“ we will name in your honor a new species of butterfly that we will find, ”emphasizes Luan. In fact, at Microryza, scientists conduct experiments in real time, for example, research on the ways in which spammers receive email addresses of users and the principles of their selection. Having understood this, the author of the project hopes to find a way to protect everyone from spam.
')
The second site that allows mere mortals to become part of the history of science is PetriDish.org . The founder of the site, Matt Salzberg, says that the site’s mission is to bring scientific knowledge to people, because there is a gulf between the world of scientists and society. Some discoveries can only be learned from specialized journals and websites, while PetriDish.org opens the world of science to ordinary people, in which they can directly participate and then say "if it were not for me, it would not be 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 fund a field study of a rare butterfly species in Peru, a study of previously unknown ant scientists in Madagascar, and an attempt to discover the first exolar. Unlike Microryza, there are awards for backers on this site. These are mainly invitations to scientific lectures, photographs and souvenirs from field research sites. Before placing projects on the site, the moderators carefully study the authors, study their publications and the institutions in which they work, so as not to become a source of dissemination of false scientific initiatives.
The next site is iAMscientist . Interestingly, among its founders is a Russian scientist - Boris Shakhnovich, a professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, who emigrated to the United States in 1990. The site’s task is the same: to 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 they give scientists the opportunity to find supporters all over the world, including from the scientific community for the exchange of experience. One of the most successful projects is the study of the behavior and habitat of a lumpy tortoise to save this species, which collected more than 5 thousand dollars. As an award, the author offered a thank-you letter on the letterhead of the faculty, access to the results of the study and a tour of his laboratory. On the website you can see the degrees of all project creators and get acquainted with their publications, which increases the level of trust.
In Russia, there are no such narrowly specialized platforms, and on large crowdfunding sites, too, so far not to find research projects. Popularization of scientific knowledge is very slow, scientists are afraid to share their ideas and do not trust journalists. Only a few recent projects, such as PostScience, Theory and Practice and the Polytechnic Museum, are trying to get things moving. At the same time, the same problems remain as in world practice: a possible lack of a clear result, a long-term scientific project and the impossibility of giving backers something in return. Although, maybe this would help solve the problem of obtaining scientific grants, degrading salaries and total brain drain.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/157577/
All Articles