A wholly new way to fund life science research, complementing more traditional funding, is to be launched this week. FutSci is the first crowdfunding platform run by scientists and dedicated to funding research, innovation and technology in life sciences.
FutSci (futsci.com) is being launched by Dr. Deepika Kassen (a molecular biologist) and Dr. Gayathri Perera (a dermatologist and immunologist), the idea having evolved during years of experience at the sharp end of life science research and funding. It will provide a platform where accredited researchers and scientists can post any project in need of funding, at any stage, and donors worldwide can select the individual projects they wish to support, with donations in multiple currencies starting as low as £1 and no upper limit. All projects will be vetted prior to going live on the platform and all scientists will be affiliated with recognised institutes.
Co-founder Dr. Deepika Kassen says: “There’s a major funding gap for life sciences in the UK. It isn’t just that there’s been no life sciences crowdfunding platform before FutSci; it’s also an absence of grants and funds for research into less well-known diseases and conditions, and a dearth of small-scale grants and funds for early stage projects.
“Particularly, there’s almost no funding for blue-sky thinking (1) and very little support for researchers in the early stages of their careers (2). It’s little wonder the majority of scientists who cannot access funding leave science altogether, as they cannot sustain themselves and or their research (3). Every year in the UK there’s a huge loss of scientific knowledge and expertise: it’s a silent brain-drain.”
Co-founder Dr. Gayathri Perera says: “This is what FutSci is built for. With FutSci, we will engage the public in helping to fund basic research projects, such as pilots that could then go on to receive grants, and research into rare diseases that may have affected them or their friends and family, and we’ll give them a say in choosing the research that’s important to them. FutSci will enable donors to choose the specific projects they wish to fund and to engage directly in dialogue with the scientists and researchers they’re supporting via the platform.
“A donor would feel a strong connection to a researcher who’s investigating a disease so close to the donor’s heart. And scientists would clearly and transparently keep the public informed about what they’re doing and how their donors’ money is being spent.”
Further benefits of FutSci are its engagement with schools and encouragement of young people to develop their interests in science, coupled with a News and Views section to provide up-to-date reviews of current trends in life science research and scientific advancements, providing information on the typical process, costs and people involved.
Dr. Kassen says: “We want to foster public engagement in bioscience and biomedical research and to encourage young people to consider a science career. Scientists can be approached by schools to get a true picture of what it’s like to study for a science degree, what happens in a lab, the different kinds of science available and also what doors can be opened by having a science degree, with an emphasis on promoting and retaining women in science.”
