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Editor:  Christopher Dyer Branch: Feedback-Wiki Type: Help Information Intention: Not for Publication Read/Write Permissions: Open Access

Authors : 31.08.2010 - Christopher Dyer  -  Sci-Mate

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Sounds nice, but how many people are currently active here? is it in fact just one person saying "we"?

Right now, a lot of people are visiting the site (well over 3000 in September 2009). Most people are just looking, but this creates a tremendous opportunitiy for anyone wanting to get their message infront of a lot of researchers. We are now looking for a the first big 'outing' for the software- perhaps a Virtual Conference.

Which research fields are the others from, and what is the founder's research background?

A bit over half are from the Biological sciences, and half are scattered across the broad expanse of research. My background is post-doctural cancer researcher - please see my brief CV here, or by clicking my name at the top of Articles that I have contributed to.

Would I have to attract colleagues myself in order to not only test but actually work with the tool on my current research issues?

It very much depends upon what you put onto the site and how interesting it is to other users. If you put something really interesting onto the site, then the chances of someone engaging with it are good. I've personally used the site to obtain work, and have co-authored a conference report. I'm in touch with the owners of Tropical and Tikal, who have had requests from researchers as far away as New Zealand for their software Item listed on Sci-Mate without having to do anything. Nevertheless, at this stage of the project, we would love to find a motivated group to really explore the potential of the site - such a group would be offered a higher mutual share in ownership of the site, as founding members.

Is it a waste of time? Can I afford to risk a waste of time?

If you think that promoting your research in front of a global community is a waste of time, then yes it is a waste of time. If you need to ask this question, then you should definitely invest some time exploring ways to actually save time. The simplest way to do this, for example, would be to direct any general question you receive about your reseach to information on the site via a link. This way, you need only answer the question once, AND your answer will reach more people than you ever thought possible! Open discussions, in the forum or in Articles, can help you clarify your explanations, and even bring in additional valuable information from other perspectives.

Similarly, if you receive a lot of requests for materials or services from other researchers or industry (or would like to), you can save a massive amount of time by listing them on Sci-Mate.

At any time, if you think this is a waste of time, you can withdraw your input, and still benefit from anything you choose to leave on the site.

What if the tool works fine, how reliable is my access to it? Can I export it to a platform used by my research community?

Whatever you put on the site is yours, you can do whatever you want with it. As for specific software functionality to export content to other platforms, we'll develop whatever the community decides is needed in the Feedback section of the site.

Is there an ssh connection? or what happens to the data I upload, and who has access to them without me knowing about it?

We take security very seriously and work hard to prevent anyone getting un-authorised access to your data. So far no one's broken in, and we hope the genius who does might be the sort that works with us not against us.

Are any costs involved - now or later - any other liabilities?

If you are a researcher involved in basic research, then no, no and no. One day we hope that basic research activities will also create commercial opportunities that we may develop income from. If we ever are fortunate enough to make money, this would be distributed to members.

Is the founder himself working with the tool, if yes, in which field of research?

I have worked extensively with the tool, and find it easy to use and a very effective communication devise. If it weren't my site I'd go bizerk publishing everything that I have ever typed into a computer and listing every single plasmid, antibody and cell line I've ever made. However, the site is not for me or anyone user to dominate - perhaps when others have listed more items, or written more Articles I will increase my humble contributions.