
Matchmaker, find me a grant - hoffmannesque
http://www.nature.com/news/matchmaker-matchmaker-find-me-a-grant-1.21191
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linschn
> At present, Instrumentl covers non-human biology (including zoology, botany
> and marine science), ecology, evolution, agriculture, soil science, Earth
> science, palaeontology and environmental science.

No computer science yet :/ Finding grants and applying truly is a time sink.

Leo Szilard predicted it years ago:

> “but then why not do something about the retardation of scientific
> progress?”

> “That I would very much like to do,” Mark Gable said, “but how do I go about
> it?”

> “Well,” I said, “I think that shouldn’t be very difficult. As a matter of
> fact, I think it would be quite easy. You could set up a foundation, with an
> annual endowment of thirty million dollars. Research workers in need of
> funds could apply for grants, if they could mail out a convincing case. Have
> ten committees, each committee, each composed of twelve scientists,
> appointed to pass on these applications. Take the most active scientists out
> of the laboratory and make them members of these committees. And the very
> best men in the field should be appointed as chairman at salaries of fifty
> thousand dollars each. Also have about twenty prizes of one hundred thousand
> dollars each for the best scientific papers of the year. This is just about
> all you would have to do.

~~~
mafribe
Where did Szilard write this? If you had a reference, I'd be grateful.

Research funding was easier a century ago:
[https://dirnagl.com/2014/01/14/otto-warburgs-research-
grant/](https://dirnagl.com/2014/01/14/otto-warburgs-research-grant/)

~~~
linschn
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1099497.The_Voice_of_the...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1099497.The_Voice_of_the_Dolphins_and_Other_Stories)

:)

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tyre
We went through YC with Instrumentl and they are a phenomenal team.

Also, a great example of solving a real, impactful problem. Why someone would
invest in the thirteenth food delivery app over something to help science do
science is beyond me.

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protomyth
Any know of a site like this that is targeted at non-profits?

~~~
abraren
Instrumentl is used pretty heavily by nonprofits, however nonprofits working
in the fields of science education and environment (at the moment). What
fields are you working in?

~~~
protomyth
Education these days (specifically Tribal Community College and Vocation)

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ommunist
It is not said there on their website. Is it for the US-only researchers?

~~~
abraren
We're not restricted by the researcher's location or their citizenship (many
of our users are international) but we're focused on aggregating funders based
in the US.

~~~
ommunist
So you do not list opportunities presented in Horison 2020 and other EU
research frameworks, right?

~~~
abraren
We do list some, but I wouldn't call us comprehensive yet :)

