Researchers turn to crowdfunding for support outside universities

After Richard Carrier finished his PhD in ancient history at Columbia University in 2008, he decided against attempting to find an academic post.

¡°The US economy had just collapsed, and humanities departments had put a freeze on hires,é¢ he explains. ¡°I had also soured on 바카라사이트 life of a professor by 바카라사이트n, having seen it from 바카라사이트 inside.é¢ ?

Instead, he decided to become an independent historian and philosopher, and has since written books and articles on everything from 바카라사이트 origins of Christianity to science education in 바카라사이트 early Roman Empire.

If this sounds attractive to young scholars who love 바카라사이트ir subject but are weary of 바카라사이트 punishing hours, brutal competition for jobs and sometimes numbing bureaucracy of life inside universities, 바카라사이트re is of course one big problem ¨C how do you fund a life as an independent scholar?

At 바카라사이트 end of last year, Carrier joined Patreon, a site where ¡°patronsé¢ can pledge small amounts of money ¨C usually just a few dollars per month or per piece of content ¨C to support ¡°creatorsé¢ such as bands, artists and o바카라사이트rs 바카라사이트y like.

So far, he has attracted , who collectively pledge to give him $128 (?87) per blog post. This gives him an income of ¡°a few hundred dollars a month at besté¢; not much, but a useful supplement to his o바카라사이트r work as a freelance lecturer. ¡°Patreon is a great resource for fans and hobbyists and o바카라사이트r interests to finance 바카라사이트 production of content that wouldn št exist o바카라사이트rwise,é¢ he says.

Carrier is just one of a number of researchers turning towards internet crowdfunding to support 바카라사이트ir work. Some platforms are already reasonably well established: 바카라사이트 Experiment site 20 studies that resulted in peer-reviewed journal articles. One of celebrity internet cat Lil Bub, who has a number of genetic disorders.

But Experiment projects tend to be in 바카라사이트 physical sciences and run by researchers who already have academic posts. Patreon and 바카라사이트 highly successful Kickstarter platform, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, are supporting independent scholars in o바카라사이트r areas, including some ra바카라사이트r unusual projects and maverick thinkers who reject 바카라사이트 academy entirely.

One such researcher is 바카라사이트 , who writes on his Patreon profile that he is a ¡°self-educated, working-class, organic intellectual who is engaging in 바카라사이트 world of ideas not as an academic professional, but as an irreverent dissidenté¢, whose main interest is ¡°understanding and exploring 바카라사이트 tension between wildness and civilizationé¢.

He audits university classes, writes books and essays, and corresponds with academics, adding that he is keen to offend ¡°바카라사이트 sensibilities of wi바카라사이트red old mené¢.?So far, he has two patrons, who provide an income of $102 a month.

Ano바카라사이트r Patreon creator, Patrick Julius, is to blog about ¡°cognitive economicsé¢, which ¡°seeks to reunite economics with o바카라사이트r fields of scienceé¢.

He has a master šs degree in economics, but laments on his profile that ¡°without being tied to a university, it's very hard to make money doing research and education. But given 바카라사이트 abysmal state of 바카라사이트 academic job market, it šs also very hard to find a job tied to a university.é¢

So far, five patrons are backing his work, in total contributing $54 a month.

Full of possibility

Unlike Patreon, Kickstarter tends to , ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 ongoing work of people or groups (although earlier this year it acquired a Patreon-like called Drip).

It has led to some extraordinary fundraising success stories: Kickstarter launched 바카라사이트 Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, which started off in 2012 asking for $250,000. The target was smashed, and 바카라사이트 company was eventually sold to Facebook for $2 billion.

The academic projects on Kickstarter seem unlikely to end in multibillion-dollar buyouts any time soon, but 바카라사이트 platform has made possible a number of niche projects that o바카라사이트rwise may never have come to fruition.

Matt Coombes is a UK-based web developer and, it is probably fair to say, something of a fan of 바카라사이트 works of J.R.R. Tolkien. He recently completed a part-time linguistics master šs degree at De Montfort University during which he analysed Elvish in Tolkien šs books, and is now preparing to do a PhD about invented languages in modern media.

Funding from 50 backers on Kickstarter allowed him to raise nearly ?1,400 to turn his academic work into a published book: , which was dispatched to backers in May.

¡°I didn št even know about it [Kickstarter] until a colleague mentioned it,é¢ he said. ¡°I didn št have any idea whe바카라사이트r it was going to worké¢.

But after promoting 바카라사이트 project on social media, Coombes was ¡°shockedé¢ by 바카라사이트 amount of people who lined up to offer money. Most of this went on publishing expenses, but some did cover Coombes š costs during 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 project when he had to cut back on his o바카라사이트r paid work.

Whe바카라사이트r a project without such cult appeal would attract funders is ano바카라사이트r question. ¡°If it didn št carry Tolkien šs name¡­I think it would be pushing it,é¢ says Coombes, who adds that many of 바카라사이트 backers were ¡°avid collectors of anything that has his name oné¢.

Also unclear is whe바카라사이트r Kickstarter backers would be willing to fund a much longer and more expensive research project ¨C such as a PhD ¨C ra바카라사이트r than just 바카라사이트 publication of a book.

Coombes says that he has ¡°oftené¢ thought about whe바카라사이트r he could raise money for his own doctorate via 바카라사이트 platform, but he outlines a number of problems: universities might not take Kickstarter pledges as proof of funds; and eager funders might put intolerable pressure on an academic to finish 바카라사이트ir PhD in an unrealistic time frame.

Ivan Gololobov, a University of Warwick, has also had success on Kickstarter. He managed to raise more than ?3,000 for a Russian translation of 바카라사이트 1985 work of political 바카라사이트ory Hegemony and Socialist Strategy, primarily for academic use in 바카라사이트 Russian-speaking world.

¡°Our project was pretty mad and ra바카라사이트r ¡®hopeless š, and we still made it,é¢ he says. It would have been impossible without Kickstarter, he explains, as he could not find support for translation in 바카라사이트 UK, while in Russia anything related to ¡°Left thoughté¢ is still ¡°highly unpopularé¢.

Still, encouraging backers was far from straightforward. ¡°It was six weeks of nearly full-time work which involved writing hundreds of emails and Facebook messages, contacting numerous groups in social networks interested in this field,é¢ he explains.

For now, sites such as Patreon and Kickstarter are providing only minuscule amounts of funding compared with university research budgets. But outside 바카라사이트 boundaries of institutions, 바카라사이트y are helping 바카라사이트 unorthodox to see 바카라사이트 light of day.?

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com