Webinar Title:  Crowd Funding and your Research Program      

Program Summary: As Scientists prepare their traditional funding proposals there is the growing alternative opportunity of “Crowdfunding” which they need to consider. Sites such as, Petridish, RocketHub, Fundly, and Walacea are closing the gap for small, time-constricted projects. Research has become increasingly complex, and intellectual divide has arisen between citizens and the projects their tax dollars fund. Projects such as Horizon 2020 and DCent are working hard to bring projects back to the everyday experiences of citizens. Crowdfunding becomes an important vehicle as Didier Schmitt explains to “reconnect science to society.” Research Managers and Administrators have an important role to play in supporting academic colleagues in attracting such funding in a rapidly growing and developing marketplace. However this a potentially complex field and many institutions will not have considered the practical and policy implications of attracting such funding.

Learning Outcomes:

Participants will learn about the development and the differences between the various research oriented crowd funding outlets. Participants will be provided with suggestions, information and a crowdfunding policy template. Participants will be able to take this information back to their respective institutions in order to make informed decisions around whether or not to pursue crowd funding for certain projects and to consider whether they need to develop policies and procedures to cover this new potential source of funding, and where responsibility for this best sits within their institution.

Date: October 29, 2015

Time: 11:00 AM (PST) or 2:00 PM EST