Internet users will finance projects of scientists

Crowdfunding has been growing rapidly for several years not only in the world, but also in Poland. "Internet users are willing to co-finance new projects, so far such projects have been associated primarily with new technologies, publishing games and CDs, and the organization of events. We wanted to connect the world of business and the Internet with research institutions and scientists. Crowdfunding platform turned out to be the best solution" - explained Grzegorz Mączyński, originator of ScienceShip.com and Robert Murzynowski, co-founder of the platform.

That is how the portal ScienceShip.com was conceived - Poland\'s first thematic crowdfunding platform supporting science. According to its creators, the platforms operating so far - such as PolakPotrafi.pl, Wspieram.to or Odpalprojekt.pl - focus on a number of issues, entertainment. "The situation abroad is the same. The only widely known thematic platform dedicated to science is Experiment.com, which operates in the United States. It does not, however, offer solutions that would facilitate direct cooperation between project authors and investors, or the organization of competitions for scientists, which are available on ScienceShip.com" - the founders of the platform explained.

According to Prof. Maciej Banach, a renowned cardiologist and chairman of the Scienceship.com scientific council, for scientists crowdfunding can be on the one hand an alternative to domestic and foreign grants, but it can also complement them. "Researchers can apply for funding from financing institutions and publish their project or a part of it on Scienceship.com. This is not mutually exclusive, and it can help obtain their own contribution to the projects co-financed from public funds or the EU funds" - said Prof. Banach.

According to the professor, this type of bottom-up funding is already successfully used by scientists in the US. "It allows the investors and donors, including small and large businesses or individuals, to support research on innovative diagnostic methods or treatments for a specific disease. There is a known case in which the amount exceeding $ 2.5 million was raised for the search for therapeutic solutions to treat a rare disease" - emphasised Prof. Maciej Banach.

ScienceShip.com will not only allow to obtain financing, but also check the idea on the market, because Internet users will have an opportunity to "vote" for its usefulness in case of commercialization, which is also new. "We already have a database of investors and we will send the first submitted projects to them first" - explained Mączyński.

The authors of ScienceShip.com are counting mainly on scientific and research projects in the field of medicine, biotechnology and bioenvironmental science, but there will also be a place on the platform for projects that fit into other areas: education and popularisation of science, physics and mathematics, chemistry, psychology, sociology, design and art, philosophy and history, computer science, political science and law, economics and engineering.

ScienceShip.com allows to search for funding both in Poland and abroad. The platform\'s legal model has been simplified and reduced to pre-paid sale of product or service offered by the project author, which should make it easier to use.

ScienceShip.com works with PayPal and TPay.com that allow money transfers, including international transfers. The money will be credited directly to project author\'s account.

Those interested can already read the first projects, and scientists - add their projects. The largest and most important ones will be verified by an international scientific council. The creators of the platform are also planning incentives for researchers and investors, for example a competition for the title of the gold patron of science.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

lt/ zan/ mrt/

tr. RL