Crowd funding provides new source of research revenue
JAN 19, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025824
Nature : As traditional funding sources, such as universities and research funding agencies, face budget cuts, some scientists are turning to “crowd funding,” raising money for research directly from the public. A number of websites, such as Kickstarter and FundaGeek , have already launched. The basic procedure is that researchers submit their project idea and its estimated cost. If accepted, the proposal is placed online and donors have a set amount of time to make a donation. Some sites provide services free of charge, while others take a cut of the money raised. Although questions have come up concerning the lack of a formal review process and the fact that some projects will be more popular than others and will therefore attract more funding, many scientists have said they welcome the opportunity to experiment.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
