This is how we do it:
Our process
○ Vetting & Approval
Researchers submit their projects to be reviewed and approved by our team. Approved projects set their crowdfunding goal and can start fundraising as a part of an overarching Fund.
○ Public Support
Anyone can support scientific research on our platform by contributing directly to a campaign or simply to a Fund.
○ Direct Payout
At the end of each fundraising cycle, we will distribute each fund to its featured studies with specific guidelines on spending, which allows the research labs to bypass large institutional fees.
○ Impact & Transparency
Our transparent and direct fundraising method allows the general public to impact promising and underfunded scientific research with full knowledge of exactly where and how their money was spent.
What are WeSci’s Funds?
Our “Funds” are overarching categories which allow you to support scientific research by way of one-time or monthly contributions.
The purpose of our Funds is to democratize scientific funding, and allow anyone - with or without scientific knowledge - to support an important cause and play a direct impactful role in the advancement of science!
Each of our Funds will be raising money for an important scientific category that deserves attention. Such as: Children’s health research, Mental health research, or Women in STEM (currently fundraising!). The money raised for these categories will then get distributed as additional funding toward pre-vetted, competitive and relevant scientific projects.
One can also think of our Funds as mini-foundations with full transparency, where:
◦ Contributors know exactly how their money has impacted scientific progress.
◦ Researchers know exactly how much funding they are receiving, without being subject to heavy institutional overhead fees at the end of their campaign.
Some facts about funding in the US
There are 5 categories of research that consistently receive around 50% of the National Institute of Health’s funding budget annually, while 20+ other important research areas receive a small fraction of the remaining half.
These underfunded areas include, but are not limited to: Children’s Health research, Women’s Health research & Heart Disease.
Our platform creates an alternative route of funding for scientists undertaking important research projects in these categories.
See NIH spending trend data
See our analysis of NIH spending trends here
Support vetted research projects, and know exactly how your money has made an impact in underfunded areas of research!