Move aside, Kickstarter: Crowd funding isn’t just for video games and nerd paraphernalia anymore. Experiment.com, a relative newcomer to the business, is a website focused on funding scientific experiments using a model similar to Kickstarter’s.
For the unaware, crowd funding is a process by which anyone with a bit of free cash can contribute money directly to a project they want to support. When the collective donation reaches a predetermined goal, it is funded in full.
Already, this is an innovative way of paying for research. It gives some more off-beat projects, which otherwise might not see the light of day, the chance to be viable. Research funding is notoriously hard to get anyhow, no matter the quality or focus of the project, so any alternative method that opens up creativity is a good sign.
Even better: USC has decided to match the funding USC researchers, including students, raise with successful projects on the website. One project has benefited from this arrangement so far: Researchers needed to meet with Iraq-based oil executives about a project to help create marshes there, but couldn’t pay for airfare. They raised $4,000, or $8,000 after USC chips in.
While the focus of experiment.com is primarily smaller projects or larger ones that need to fill in the gaps, the model allows a greater degree of freedom for research that needs quick funding.
Perhaps just as important, it can help put these new ideas on the map. Funding aside, if a project can gather enough attention, it can put the spotlight on a number of issues. More than 6,000 people clicked on the link to the Iraq project’s funding page. The more successful projects will not only work towards a specific goal, but also help highlight an entire issue or range of issues.
We’re glad that USC is recognizing the potential benefits of crowd funding and giving local researchers the support they deserve.