Crowdfunding scientific research: a case study based on user research

Over the years, funding scientific projects have been the responsibility of traditional research funding institutions. Many projects were not getting funded due to the difficulties of accessing government funds. Crowdfunding has provided an alternative means of providing financial solutions to projects which ordinarily are not of interest to government funding agencies and other major funders of research. A crowdfunding platform is an internet-based matchmaker where the citizens (the funders) are matched with the researchers who are seeking funds to finance their projects. This paper investigates the users of a nascent crowdfunding channel for Social Sciences and Humanities. The users are the Social Sciences and Humanities researchers who seek financial support on scientific projects and the funders who are motivated to invest in a project. The goal of this research was to find out about the user needs and preferences to help in the decision-making about this nascent crowdfunding channel. We utilized the mixed method of research design to collect both qualitative and quantitative data about the users and their needs. This included codesigning work and a Europe-wide questionnaire. The outcome of this work was formalized in a set of practical recommendations for the new crowdfunding channel.