Microryza Seeks To Give Researchers A Boost They Can’t Get Elsewhere

Microryza is a research-oriented crowdfunding platform.  Created in 2012, the founders were motivated to do something when one of them was dismissed out of hand (H/T STEM Daily) as an undergraduate when she sought a small grant for research on hospital infections.  The site has 100 projects, of which 30 have been funded to date.  It forgoes the incentives many crowdfunding sites have for their projects, and encourages project researchers to share as much information as they can with their donors.

I don’t necessarily agree that the Microryza projects are as ‘fringe’ as Fast Company implies.  There are a fair amount of applied research projects, which don’t necessarily fit well with the traditional research agencies.  Citizen science projects have a home on Microryza, and they certainly don’t fit the mold of traditional funding agencies.  That doesn’t make these projects fringe.

One project funded via Microryza that could be considered fringe may be familiar to some readers.  Dr. Bishaka Sen at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has used Microryza to fund research on gun control policy.  Such research could not receive federal funding (though the President has relaxed such restrictions) by law, so alternative sources are necessary.

While the company does check to make sure the proposed project is a research project, and confirms the capability and identity of the project proposers, the projects are not peer reviewed, even in an unconventional sense.  Donors should always (regardless of the project) take care to check out those to whom they may fund.