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Topic
Micro-prizes as a novel method for funding scientific research.

One of the main goals of the Open Science Initiative is to test out a novel method for funding academic research - with micro-prizes. With prize-based funding, our organization would publish specific objectives to be achieved as conditions to receiving the prize funding. Prizes would be open for competition from all researchers in the scientific community. The individual or group that achieves the objectives submits their results to the Open Science Initiative and receives the prize.

Prize-based funding has been very successful in the private sector for stimulating innovation (i.e. X-Prize). However this type of funding mechanism has not been applied in the academic research community. Funding in academic research continues to be dominated by a handful of grant-based agencies (i.e. NIH, NSF). Our aim is to implement academic prizes to encourage a new type of innovation in the scientific community.

What do you think? Novel? Unfeasible? Click a descriptor or two below and/or post a comment and let us know.
By Armen Arevian | July 28, 2009 18:46
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



References  
THIS TOPIC HAS 1 REFERENCE
Grant System Leads Cancer Researchers to Play It Safe
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/health/research/28cancer.html
"A major impediment in the fight against cancer is that most research grants go to projects unlikely to break much ground."
Posted by Armen Arevian over 2 years ago


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Getting Started: All About Prizes by Armen Arevian
Getting Started: About Open Science Initiative by Armen Arevian
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CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISCUSSION
Matthew Keener, MD said over 2 years ago
I'm wondering what the community will settle upon as a "floor" for prizes. The time it takes just thinking of a $20 prize might likely come up with an answer/alternate to that question, but I would like to think that there are small questions worth answering and asking that would incentivize the work.
    
Armen Arevian, MD, PhD said over 2 years ago
yeah i think that's a good point. in the end, i think it will be a supply and demand type of thing where if its only worth $20 to solve than it probably isnt worth creating the prize. but it all depends on the situation and i think things should be free to evolve as they happen. I was thinking that most prizes would target a timeline of 1 to 6 months of expected effort. It takes at least a couple weeks usually to do just about anything in science. So i was thinking the prizes would probably mostly be around $1000-5000.

One thing i was thinking about though is making a way to create 'pro bono' prizes. in a way, this is just like creating a topic that is a question or solicitation for help but formalizes it a little. People can try and solve the prize just cause they want to help out, in a similar way that open source technologies are developed by volunteers. Would be an easy thing to implement to test out to see if it would work...

In fact, i'd like to implement pro bono prizes for use WITHIN the open science initiative as a way to help develop additional features if people want to contribute.
Matthew Keener, MD said over 2 years ago
Good idea Armen. Brings me to the question about commenting on a comment. If I am replying to your comment here, I recall discussing that I can't comment on a comment. What do you think is best way to send you this very comment?