About Us
What is SciFlies?
- SciFlies is a new model for funding scientific research that allows the general public to get involved in scientific research by making small donations resulting in financing research for projects just waiting to prove new ideas that work, but just lack the funding to get started. SciFlies is a qualified nonprofit and all donations are tax-deductible.
What does SciFlies do?
- SciFlies gets people excited about scientific research with its grassroots approach of showing a variety of projects waiting for funding and giving the average person a means to finance the research through a small, online donation.
- SciFlies creates a world in which people can directly accelerate science and technology research, discovery and innovation
How can I participate?
- As a member of the general public, you can participate by looking through researcher profiles, videos and project information and contribute online to your favorite projects. All donations made to SciFlies are tax-deductible.
How does SciFlies work?
- SciFlies allows donors to connect with scientists working in their fields of interest. A person can view the research opportunities, choose their favorite and send a donation. When enough donors sign on, the research begins. Donors will stay updated on the progress and final results.
Where does my donation go?
- Each project is given a number so that contributions are assigned to the desired project. Funds go into the SciFlies account and are held there until the research project’s total funding requirement is met. Once a project receives full funding, SciFlies sends the money directly to the Foundation account specified by the participating university/non profit/for profit research organization and research is completed.
Why doesn’t my donation go directly and immediately to the researcher?
- SciFlies simply holds the donation until the project has raised all the funds needed, as you can’t start research with only partial funding. Also, this ensures a project has the funding needed to complete the research, so your money is used to its full potential. Once full funding is achieved, SciFlies will send the full amount to the institution conducting the research. Keep in mind too that projects up for funding are small and specific enough that it won’t take long to reach the funding goal, and you’ll be notified when it does. You’ll also receive periodic updates on how the research is going
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Who benefits from SciFlies and how?
- Researchers:
o Micro investments will make hundreds of research projects possible – projects that would otherwise have to wait for funding or not be funded at all.
o Research projects that are limited in time and scope and for which small dollars are required will be made possible through SciFlies funding
o Researchers will gain more visibility, connect with a wider audience of donors and enhance public knowledge of their work
o Funds from SciFlies donors can speed the progress of investigation and lead to faster scientific breakthroughs
- Institutions:
o Raise the national status of participating institution or company to a higher level
o Elevate the reputation of the university/institution or business for embracing innovative funding models.
o Enhanced exploratory research and development leads to greater discovery, more publications and an increase in intellectual property and patent production.
- Donors
o Now the general public has an easy and cost-effective way to advance scientific research that personally appeals to them
o By learning about and funding a scientist and his/her work, people can be more engaged with ground-breaking research
o The projects up for funding are small and specific enough so that the donors know when the fundraising goal has been achieved and receive a report on the outcome of the project they helped fund.
o With SciFlies, people can get connected to and build their own personal portfolio of scientific research projects.
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Board of Directors
Michelle Bauer, Founder and Chief Strategist of Common Language, a boutique
strategic communications practice in St. Petersburg, Florida, spent most of the 1990s
in academia, teaching and earning a Masters in English and working on a Ph.D. at
the University of South Florida in Tampa. In 1998, she returned to public relations
and spent six years helping grow nonprofit organizations.
Ellen Berman,Chief Executive Officer, CECA Solutions.She is the Founder of
CECA and its President throughout that organization’s life and led the organization in
hundreds of major energy policy debates, building coalitions of industry, government
and consumer organizations. Complementing a 30 plus year history in developing
public policy in the consumer’s interest, Ms Berman brings strong relationships with
the energy sector’s major players.
Larry Biddle, Founder and Principal of PlanningWorks , has provided strategy,
communications and development guidance to nonprofits and political organizations
for more than 35 years. As a leading national fundraiser, he has raised more than
$350 million for nonprofit organizations and $31 million for political candidates. He
served as deputy national finance director for Howard Dean's presidential campaign,
where he worked extensively in the areas of Internet giving, direct mail and
telemarketing. He has a degree in organizational management from the University of
Delaware and is an E-Commerce Fellow at the Wharton School of Business at the
University of Pennsylvania.
Brent Britton,�Shareholder and chair of the Emerging Business and Technology
Practice Group at GrayRobinson, P.A. He specializes in intellectual property,
licensing, technology transactions, corporate law, and general legal compliance.
Brent's multi-disciplined experience enables him to serve his clients in areas relating
to software, digital media, telecommunications, nanotechnology, materials science,
security systems, mechanical devices, medical devices, and business methods.
DavidFries, Head of the Ecosystems Technology Group at USF Marine Sciences
and an original member of the Center for Ocean Technology at USF, is the original
author of USF’s MEMS Program and Principal Scientist-on multiple sensor
technology projects. He is co-founder of Intelligent MicroPatterning LLC, and Voda
LLC, in St Petersburg. David has 23 patents issued and 14 pending. He has licensed
13 technologies and authored over 60 publications in oceanography, analytical
chemistry, medical technology, biotechnology, engineering, micro-technology,
electronics and robotics.
Susan Tyler Hitchcock, professional writer for more than 30 years, has contributed
to newspapers, magazines, and essay anthologies as well as writing her own books
such as Frankenstein: A Cultural History (W. W. Norton, 2007), Mad Mary Lamb:
Lunacy and Murder in Literary London (W. W. Norton, 2006), Geography of Religion:
Where God Lives, Where Pilgrims Walk (National Geographic Society, 2005). She
has worked in publishing for much of her career, beginning as an editorial assistant at
Harper & Row in 1973. She is currently a book editor for the National Geographic
Society.
