We are excited and proud to announce the launch of the OPERAS Crowdfunding Initiative – a special Christmas surprise for the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) community!

The OPERAS Channel on the wemakeit platform

To promote the use of crowdfunding in its community, the OPERAS Research Infrastructure is launching a dedicated channel on the crowdfunding platform wemakeit.com: the OPERAS Channel. 

We invite researchers from all Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines to run their crowdfunding campaign with the OPERAS channel, get tips from the wemakeit experts to boost their campaign and benefit from the support of the OPERAS community.

Whether you are an early career researcher in a university or other research institution, an independent researcher, or an established scholar looking to start a new line of research, the wemakeit platform is for you. No matter if you need funds to publish critical editions, to organise scientific exhibitions, to launch surveys and studies with local or global impact, the OPERAS channel is the way to go!

The first researchers that will launch their project campaign in early 2022 will, as a bonus, receive extra support by an external communication agency, funded by the French Ministry for Education, Research and Innovation!

You can find the conditions for participation and more information in the FAQ on the OPERAS channel web page. If you have further questions, please send us an email at operas@wemakeit.com.

Introduction workshop on 13 January

Are you curious about what crowdfunding can do for you and for the Social Sciences and Humanities? Just one hint: it is not just about money. 

If you consider starting a project campaign with us, but do not know where to start, we offer a 1-hour introduction workshop on Thursday, 13 January 2022 at 17:00 CET.

The science crowdfunding experts from wemakeit will provide you with tips and tools to understand what crowdfunding is, how it can be applied to science, and how to launch your own campaign on the OPERAS channel of wemakeit to collect financial support from the crowd, but also communicate your research in the most exciting format. The presentation will be followed by 30 minutes of Q&A – we want to make sure you have all the information you need to get started with your project.

Register here for free:

You will be sent a Zoom-Link a few days prior to the event.

Why a collaboration of OPERAS and wemakeit?

OPERAS is the Research Infrastructure supporting open scholarly communication in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in the European Research Area. The aim of OPERAS is to make Open Science a reality for research in the SSH and achieve a scholarly communication system where knowledge produced in the SSH benefits researchers, academics, students and more generally the whole society across Europe and worldwide, without barriers.

OPERAS is creating a portfolio of different scholarly communication services at European level, addressing the specific needs of the research community. One of these services is the discovery platform GoTriple, developed by us, the TRIPLE project (2019–2023). It is through the TRIPLE project that OPERAS and wemakeit collaborate.

In addition to its core discovery function, the GoTriple platform integrates a range of other innovative services and tools, including a crowdfunding platform. Both platforms, GoTriple and the OPERAS channel from wemakeit, are interconnected to provide an ideal environment for SSH researchers and their projects.

wemakeit was founded in Switzerland in 2012 and is now one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in Europe, with a total of over 66 million Euro of backings, more than 5,500 successful projects and almost 500,000 community members.

wemakeit collaborates with a range of different partners, among them media partners, foundations, organisations and companies. OPERAS is one of them, and the OPERAS channel is one of currently 13 active channels and initiatives of wemakeit that back and support projects.

Are you in?

Excited to crowdfund your research project and be supported by the OPERAS community? We can’t wait to learn more about your project idea!

All necessary information and the conditions of participation are available here: https://wemakeit.com/pages/operas. You can also contact us by email at operas@wemakeit.com.

You can find general information on starting a project on the wemakeit platform here: https://wemakeit.com/pages/start-a-project and guidelines here: https://wemakeit.com/pages/guidelines.

Further resources on crowdfunding (i.e. links to articles, papers, presentations) are here: https://project.gotriple.eu/crowdfunding-resources.

The first TRIPLE International Conference takes place as a virtual event from 22 to 24 November 2021.

We would like to bring together members from the Open Science and social sciences and humanities (SSH) communities (researchers, university and library staff) as well as other TRIPLE stakeholders such as publishers, science journalists, SMEs, public authorities and policy makers. We aim to create a productive space for discussing the impact, benefits and challenges of discovery services for the social sciences and humanities in the European research ecosystem.

Topics include…

• the TRIPLE project within OPERAS, the European Research Infrastructure for the development of open scholarly communication in the social sciences and humanities
• the concept of “openness” in the social sciences and humanities (SSH)
• the nascent GoTriple platform, the innovative multilingual and multicultural discovery solution for the SSH
• creating an SSH vocabulary
• crowdfunding in science
• business models for Open Science
• the role of SSH in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)

Check out the programme on the TRIPLE Conference page. The three-day discussions will take place in two time slots in the afternoons. All session times are Central European Time (CET). Registration opens within the next few weeks.

The TRIPLE Crowdfunding Survey is aimed at the general public, and anybody above 18 years of age is invited to complete it. We are interested in people’s attitudes towards the funding of science in general and about crowdfunding in particular. Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people who each contribute a relatively small amount, typically via the internet.

Well-known crowdfunding platforms include kickstarter, Indiegogo or gofundme. The TRIPLE projects plans to develop a crowdfunding platform specifically to support research in the social sciences and humanities (SSH). By taking part in this survey, you help us take decisions as to how this tool will be shaped.

The questionnaire contains 15 questions, and it should take no longer than approximately 10  minutes to complete. It is available in eight languages:

• English: https://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766456&lang=en
• French: https://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766456&lang=fr
• German: https://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766456&lang=de
• Greek: https://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766456&lang=el
• Italian: https://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766456&lang=it
• Polish: https://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766456&lang=pl
• Portuguese: https://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766456&lang=pt
• Spanish: https://surveys.ekt.gr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=766456&lang=es

Thank you for taking part!

For specific questions regarding the methodology of the survey, please contact Dr. Stefano De Paoli, Abertay University (s.depaoli@abertay.ac.uk).
 

The crowdfunding platform is one of the innovative services we plan to integrate with the discovery platform GOTRIPLE. The crowdfunding tool will help researchers finance their projects, thanks to the support of non-academic actors. Projects funded by this service can be considered as “pre-projects” before applying for national or European grants, or as “smaller projects” that do not necessarily need to apply for larger grants but still have a deep impact on societies.

We are now looking for a company who is interested in developing implementing such a crowdfunding tool. The successful applicant will respond within the framework of the TRIPLE project and will work mainly with Huma-Num (CNRS) but also with some of the other TRIPLE project European partners. The main tasks will include:

• Provide a European crowdfunding platform for SSH research projects from a technical point of view, connected via API to the GOTRIPLE platform and some of its innovative services
• Support researchers when submitting first projects
• Subcontract payments and tax credit management at the European level

The Call for Tender is open until 17 May 2021. The task will be launched in June 2021.

Download the Call for Tender document (in French and English) with further information on the task and all relevant application details here: TRIPLE Crowdfunding Platform_Call for Tender.pdf

Link to the platform to submit your tender (only available in French): CNRS – PUMA: Platforme des Marchés adaptés

TRIPLE has issued a Call for Tender for a feasibility study on the future scientific crowdfunding service which will be part of the innovative multilingual and multicultural discovery solution for the social sciences and humanities (SSH) that the TRIPLE project is currently developing. The purpose of the study is to shed light on the financial, legal and market feasibility of this scientific crowdfunding service. It is divided into 2 calls:

Call 1: “Market analysis for the implementation of a scientific crowdfunding service for the H2020 TRIPLE project”

The market analysis should focus rather on community than on institutional crowdfunding. The analysis must determine whether it is preferable to develop a new platform or to build on an existing one. In both cases, the market analysis should consider the contractual terms and conditions between the service provider and OPERAS AISBL.

Call 2: “Regulatory issues (financial and legal) concerning the implementation of a scientific crowdfunding service, in particular between French and European laws”

The financial and legal feasibility study should focus on regulatory issues, especially between national and European laws, in the context of crowdfunding (https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/180308-proposal-crowdfunding_en).

Applicants have the possibility to respond to only one or to both calls. Deadline for the submission of bids is 8 July 2020.

You can find more information (in French) here: Fiche de consultation MAPA and here: https://puma.cnrs.fr/app.php/consultation/2185?orgAcronyme=t5y