Is Crowdfunding Suitable for Financing German Public Research Organization (PRO) Projects?

Abstract

So far, public research organizations (PROs) and universities in Germany are not benefiting from the manifold opportunities of crowdsourcing platforms and crowdfunding in particular. Crowdfunding may not only provide complementary financial resources for scientific projects, but it can also enhance the spectrum of science communication and facilitate the knowledge and technology transfer process. Consequently, scientists can use crowdfunding activities to stimulate the transfer of their knowledge to business and/or society to stimulate innovation. Nevertheless, it is a challenging task to apply the full spectrum of crowdsourcing instruments in PROs and universities. The crowdfunding literature rarely covers the untapped potential and challenges associated with crowdfunding for scientific institutions. In this conceptual paper, we provide approaches how PROs and universities can successfully acquire alternative financing, in particular from crowdfunding, and use it strategically. The aim is to provide solutions to pitfalls that may prevent researchers from exploiting crowdfunding in their “funding journey.” We introduce a model called “scientific cooperative crowdfunding” as a field for further research to explore how PROs and universities can use crowdfunding in a more comprehensive way during different stages of the knowledge and technology transfer process.