Crowdfunding for science and Universities

As a scientist I am well aware of the limited funding for research. Scientists are not the only ones struggling to receive adequate funding. For instance, the cultural sector is experiencing financial troubles ever since the government decreased the funding. Some artists started assembling money online using platforms such as the Dutch cultural and arts oriented platform voordekunst. Now scientists and academics are quietly starting to try out crowdfunding: assembling donations and approaching a large group of donors online. Crowdfunding as distinct donation method can be traced back to the global economic recession in 2007. Crowdfunding developed in 2006 primarily in the arts and creative-based industries; e.g. music, film and video games. One of the first crowdfunding platforms, developed in the Netherlands in 2006, was the music oriented platform Sellaband. Crowdfunding applies to a whole series of non-profit projects.