#Crowdfunding #science and more
I just sent an email to my colleagues and thought, it’s publishable. See below.
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dear colleagues,
I just stumbled upon an recently launched online initiative that supports crowdfunding research projects: something like Kickstarter for science projects. There is an enormous growth in crowdfunding platforms, Kickstarter.com being one of the major ones. Just last week, a watch called Pebble was crowdfunded more than 1M in less than a day. You can still chip in to get one of the first ones available (in September). Another, and science crowdfunding platform is RocketHub.
This is just to highlight that there are more options to get research funded. I think it will take a while before this gets more mainstream in science, but it is an interesting idea anyway, especially if we think of participatory science projects. Just as a backer of the phone, you could opt for one or more research questions to be addressed in the research. Or provide other possibilities to engage and attract an audience for your research.
In line with the above, a platform called Science Exchange hit the web recently. Science Exchange helps researchers hire the expertise, equipment, and labor of other scientists from around the world. Think of Science Exchange as a curated Yellow Pages for the scientific community, a carefully vetted eBay-like system through which scientists can pay one another to perform the exact area of research in which they excel.
Peerage of Science is a peer-review system where reviewers are rewarded with online reputation points for doing good reviews, which they can use to have their own papers reviewed. I think the first domains where the service is used are biological domains. It is a web service for automatically controlled, standardized, rigorous, fully anonymous scientific peer review. It is supposed to bring benefits to all stakeholders: authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers. Good explanation here.
Some more from my bookmarks:
DIYbio.org is an organization dedicated to making biology an accessible pursuit for citizen scientists, amateur biologists and biological engineers who value openness and safety. This will require mechanisms for amateurs to increase their knowledge and skills, access to a community of experts, the development of a code of ethics, responsible oversight, and leadership on issues that are unique to doing biology outside of traditional professional settings.
Sciencescape builds a new way for you to explore, follow, share and interact with published papers throughout history, and as they happen - in real time. Connect discoveries to the teams, fields and places where they were produced, and navigate the rich human context of scientific research.
The Public Laboratory: Using inexpensive DIY techniques, we seek to change how people see the world in environmental, social, and political terms. We are activists, educators, technologists, and community organizers interested in new ways to promote action, intervention, and awareness through a participatory research model.
