IN THESE times of austerity, raising funds for scientific research is becoming quite a challenge. The regular channels – public agencies, universities, and private sector sponsors – are all having to trim their spending, and meanwhile the shortage of commercial employment is leading a number of scientists to seek out research projects rather than face unemployment. In other words, more people chasing fewer resources.
One modern solution to this dilemma could be what’s known as crowdsourcing, or crowdfunding. This new phenomenon attempts to engage the general public in scientific research, inviting them to make financial contributions to projects that interest them. The amounts involved can be very small – a few dollars, pounds, or euros – and consequently are known as ‘micropledges’. Donations are solicited on the basis that people generally like helping people, and want to support things that they think are worthwhile.
The question is: is goodwill going to be enough to fund real science? I became aware of the concept of crowdfunding recently, when an online matchmaking service called FundaGeek (http://fundageek.com) wrote to me about one of its current projects. This particular plea for funding has everything: a photogenic endangered species in an exotic location, and an equally photogenic female researcher. It’s not surprising that FundaGeek chose Meaghan Harris’s clouded leopard project as its poster child.
The other projects on the FundaGeek site include a rather odd-looking beer cooler, which is surely a commercial product, a project to create software to improve the layout of air conditioning ducts, and a scheme to raise funds to buy a professional ice hockey team. There are a couple of other science projects in there, but clearly this particular site is not exclusively in the pursuit of knowledge.
As of this is morning, Harris had secured pledges for a little over a third of the $3500 she needs to visit Borneo and help local scientists in their conservation work, with several weeks still to go. This puts her just about at the top of the success list, and I hope she raises the rest of her funds successfully.
But is crowdfunding going to change the nature of science? I doubt it. A worthwhile experiment, certainly, and one I will continue to watch with interest, but certainly no substitute for the conventional use of centralised funds directed towards the simple pursuit of knowledge.
By the way, don’t make the mistake I did when I first saw the site, and think it has anything to do with the continually unravelling fiscal crisis in the southeastern corner of the eurozone. FundaGreek.com has a much bigger challenge ahead of it.
I hope you find the LabHomepage website, and this weekly newsletter, useful. Comments and feedback are always welcome: thesecretlabproject@gmail.com
best wishes
Russ Swan, editor, LabHomepage.com
This week’s top stories: 09 March 2012
1. Confocal scope has evolved for live cell imaging
SINCE launching its C2 entry-level confocal microscope last year, Nikon reports increasing demand from users for a live-cell imaging version. This it has now provided, in the form of the C2 plus…
http://labhomepage.com/1086/microscope/confocal-scope-has-evolved-for-live-cell-imaging
2. LC detector delivers thirty times the range and sensitivity
THE LATEST diode array detector for liquid chromatography from Agilent delivers 30 times more sensitivity and 30 times more range in linear UV than previous detectors…
3. Fastcam delivers high-quality slo-mo
PHOTRON’s new Fastcam SA7 has been designed around the needs of high speed imaging applications such as automobile safety testing, and can record high-resolution video frames at up to 3500 frames per…
http://labhomepage.com/991/imaging/fastcam-delivers-high-quality-slo-mo
4. High-throughput amplicon resequencing by custom assay
FAST, simple, and inexpensive preparation of up to 480 amplicons per sample is the claim made by Fluidigm for its Access Array Target-Specific Primers, when used with its Access Array…
http://labhomepage.com/1015/nucleic-acid/high-throughput-amplicon-resequencing-by-custom-assay
5. 2012 webinar programme covers material characterisation
MALVERN has announced its programme of web-based training seminars, covering a wide range of material characterisation issues, appropriate for beginners and experienced,…
6. Viewing cabinet looks like USS Enterprise prop
IT’S NOT exactly a case of life imitating art, but this laboratory viewing cabinet looks just like the thing Mr Spock spent many hours peering into. A couple of weeks ago we made a light-hearted…
http://labhomepage.com/1107/imaging/viewing-cabinet-looks-like-uss-enterprise-prop
7. Centrifuge tubes for one-handed operation
THE HUMBLE centrifuge tube has to be strong enough to withstand the high g-forces it is subject to, while remaining resistant to the chemicals it holds and being able to be…
http://labhomepage.com/1099/labware/centrifuge-tubes-for-one-handed-operation
8. Transilluminator for safe blue light imaging of fluorescent DNA gels
SYNGENE’s latest gel transilluminator is equipped with two banks of LEDs to provide excitation at the mid-blue wavelength of 470nm, making it suitable for use with the latest non-toxic…
9. Elisa screens meat samples for colistin
COLISTIN, or polymyxin E, is a cationic lipopeptide antibiotic which is effective against most Gram-negative bacilli, but its use is restricted in the EU and Japan and therefore…
http://labhomepage.com/1063/food-safety/elisa-screens-meat-samples-for-colistin
10. Night flight from orbit: incredible video from the ISS
HANDS up those of you who wanted to be an astronaut, or who still do. Yep, me too. While we wait for our respective national space agencies to finally identify us as the people they really need…
http://labhomepage.com/1046/imaging/night-flight-from-orbit-incredible-video-from-the-iss
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