Read this section if you want to join Crowdfight.
When you sign up you will be able to choose your involvement in each of these tasks, and you can also choose to only contribute to research linked to certain challenges (covid-19, other diseases, etc.). Depending on your participation level you will unlock different roles, from scientific advisor to coordinator or core team member.
We accept requests from scientists who need help with specific tasks or are looking for long term collaborators. We will send you those that fall near your field of expertise. You can then help the requester (if you are qualified and available), recommend a colleague who can help the requester (if you know one), or help find a suitable expert.
You will be able to choose the frequency. A typical situation is to receive one email per week, advise on one request per month (this takes a few minutes), and interact directly with a requester once every few months (this usually takes a couple of hours).
No, you’re not liable. You will advise the requester in good will, with no responsibility (unless you explicitly reach a different agreement with the requester).
Certainly, and more than just a certificate! One of our priorities is to credit every contribution. We will keep a faithful record of all your activity, and we will provide different flexible ways to credit you for it. These include personal certificates, reports of successful requests, letters of reference, and more; we will be happy to provide certification of your participation in any format you need.
Yes, you can fill in the form and sign up. Some tasks may require volunteers with non-scientific skills.
No. You can contribute as much or as little as you want.
You can ask us directly at contact@crowdfightcovid19.org
Read this section if you want to make a request. Important: If your request is related to covid-19, go here. You will have priority and can ask for a much wider set of services. This FAQ is only for non-covid requests.
We will locate an expert in any field you need, and will put you in contact with them, so that they can help you via videoconference, e-mail or any other means.
The main rule is that you must be looking for an expert with a concrete skill or resource that you don’t have. Then, we have two main types:
These take only a few hours from the expert, and benefit you greatly. For example:
These are long-term collaborations, which usually involve co-authorship with the expert.
Any scientist in the biomedical sciences who has received a token from us. Scientists at any career stage can make a request, but they must be affiliated to an active research lab within a professional scientific institution.
We are distributing tokens to members who contribute actively to Crowdfight. To do so, you can sign up here
No. You can tell us about it if you think it helps, but there is no need. Just tell us the specific need you have, and we’ll look for the right expert for it.
Possibly. Write us to contact@crowdfight.org, and we’ll figure it out.
Not for us. Just let us know if you send us any confidential information. Most of the interaction will be directly with the expert, and at that point you should discuss any confidentiality issues.
No, and that’s not for us to say. The research is 100% yours.
Any kind whatsoever. We are particularly focused on fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations, so you can request the help from an expert in any discipline.
No.
No. This service is only for scientists doing professional work.
For brief collaborations (those that only require a couple of hours from the expert), it’s usually enough to mention the expert in the acknowledgments of eventual papers. For long-term collaborations, the usual rules of scientific collaborations apply (with co-authorship when appropriate).
We will appreciate to be mentioned in the acknowledgments of eventual papers. For example, you can use the sentence “The authors acknowledge the help of name_of_expert, contacted through Crowdfight (https://crowdfight.org)”.
Only if you want. We usually document every request publicly, but we only disclose the requester’s institution. In some cases we give publicity to papers and other results of our requests, but we will always ask for your permission beforehand.
That’s great, and we love when it happens! Just make sure to agree the terms of the collaboration with the expert. And please, keep us updated!
Make the request anyway, and explain your doubts. We will tell you whether we can handle it or not.
You should get our first answer within hours, including a feasibility estimate. For brief interactions, we aim to get you in touch with the expert within a week. For long-term collaborations, we may be a bit slower (~2 weeks).
Recommending an expert is optional. Besides finding the experts and contacting them, our mission is to provide the right incentives by documenting the whole process so that the experts get credit for helping you. For reason, it makes sense to contact certain experts through our platform even if you could do it directly.
Crowdfight is a non-profit, run by volunteer scientists and engineers. We started to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are doing this because we believe that it will benefit science and will make scientists’ lives easier. While most of the team members are scientists, Crowdfight is independent of our institutions.
You can reach us at contact@crowdfight.org
Read this if you have received an email from us inviting you to act as expert.
To dedicate a bit of time (usually less than an hour, although it depends on the case) to help a scientist. In most cases, this means exchanging some emails to answer questions or holding a videoconference. Other examples include shipping a reagent (at no cost for you), reviewing a document or piece of code, sharing a document, etc.
First, to help science and the community. We carefully select requests that greatly help the requester while minimizing the effort from you. Second, there are some direct benefits:
If the collaboration with the requester becomes long-term, co-authorship may be a good idea (and in our experience requesters are more than happy to offer it). This is to be discussed between you and the requester; we can facilitate this discussion if you want, but we have no say in the matter. On our side, Crowdfight will never demand any retribution or credit (although we do appreciate being mentioned in acknowledgments).
No. We are a non-profit, funded through grants and donations; our service is free.
One of our scientific advisors (most of whom are active scientists) studied the request and recommended you as a suitable expert. Then, the coordinator (also a scientist) reviewed and approved the recommendation and contacted you. We only contact one carefully selected expert for each request.
As soon as you accept we will put you in contact with the requester via email, and from that point, you will discuss directly how to proceed. While we need a quick response to accept or decline our invitation, the actual interaction with the requester is usually not urgent (otherwise, we’ll specify it in the invitation email).
The preferred option is that you accept the invitation anyway. You will then discuss directly with the requester, and will figure out if you can help. If you can’t, we will contact an alternative expert (and will still be very grateful for your effort). Alternatively, you can respond to the invitation email and let the coordinator know about your doubts.
Certainly, and more than just a certificate! One of our priorities is to credit every contribution. We will keep a faithful record of all your activity, and we will provide different flexible ways to credit you for it. These include personal certificates, reports of successful requests, letters of reference, and more; we will be happy to provide certification of your participation in any format you need.
Please, don’t hesitate to ask! You can simply respond the email you received, or you can reach us at contact@crowdfight.org
