The system for publishing scientific research is broken.
Academic success is measured by citations rather than scientific quality. And publishing companies have a monopoly on the knowledge scientists produce.
Can we use blockchain technology to promote the verifiability of scientific findings? And make science accessible to everyone?
Dr. Christopher Hill is an interdisciplinary scientist with a background in neuroeconomics and machine learning. Phillip Koellinger is Professor of Social Science Genetics in the Department of Economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Together, Chris and Philipp are Cofounders of DeSci Labs, an initiative that aims to make science more replicable, accessible, transparent and fair by way of Web3 technologies.
On this episode of Boost VC, Chris and Philipp join us to explain what inspired their interest in decentralized science and explore what differentiates success for science versus individual scientists.
They walk us through the goals of the open science movement and weigh in on how DeSci tech provides new ways of funding research and makes scientific knowledge available to everyone.
Listen in for insight around the grassroots movement known as metascience and learn how DeSci is working to improve the quality of the scientific record and reward scientists for the value they create.
Topics Covered
What inspired Chris & Philipp’s interest in decentralized science
- Bureaucracy and broken publishing system in academia
- Passionate about open science, reproducibility
- Improve durability and quality of scientific record
- Uplift material conditions of early-career scientists
The goals of the open science movement
- Make research more transparent, accessible to everyone
- Better markers of scientific quality than impact factor
- Improve and promote verifiability and reproducibility
What differentiates success for science vs. success for scientists
- Scientific success = verifiable new knowledge
- Success for scientist = prestige
How Chris & Philipp define decentralized science
- Tech stack for true open access to research
- Makes science more transparent and reproducible
- Allows scientists to recapture value they create
The problem with measuring value by impact factor (IF)
- Metric derived exclusively from citation rates
- Publishers have monopoly on scientific knowledge
How DeSci technologies can benefit scientific research
- Accelerate pace of knowledge progress and accessibility
- Provide new ways of funding research
- Business models that reward scientists for contributions
- Potential for rapid experimentation at scale
- Create accountability in peer review process
The interdisciplinary grassroots movement of metascience
- Check work of other scientists through replications
- Conduct basic hygiene of scientific ecosystem
The transition from scientific manuscripts to research objects
- Store artifacts of journey, including peer review feedback
- Permanent knowledge graphs to secure scientific record
Connect with Chris Hill & Philipp Koellinger
DeSci Labs https://www.desci.com/
DeSci Labs on Twitter https://twitter.com/descilabs
DeSci Foundation https://descifoundation.org/
DeSci Foundation on Twitter https://twitter.com/DeSciFoundation
Resources
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.