SciStarter

SciStarter helps bring together millions of curious and concerned people in the world; the thousands of opportunities to engage in real-world research questions in collaboration with researchers, communities, organizations, and companies; and the resources, products, and services that enable people to pursue and enjoy these activities while learning and accelerating important research. Together, we can help answer questions that cannot be answered alone. When we’re all involved, the science is better. (Learn more about citizen science.)

We aim to:

• Enable and encourage people to learn about, participate in, and contribute to real science through both informal recreational activities and formal research efforts.

• Inspire greater appreciation and promote a better understanding of science and technology.

• Create a shared space where scientists and project leaders can collaborate with people interested in working on or learning about their research projects.

• Satisfy the popular urge to tinker, build, and explore by making it simple and fun for everyone from all walks of life to turn their curiosities and concerns into real impact.

SciStarter is a globally acclaimed, online citizen science hub where thousands of projects, searchable by location, topic, age level, etc., have been registered by individual project leaders or imported through partnerships with federal governments, NGOs, and universities. As a research affiliate of North Carolina State University

(NCSU) and Arizona State University (ASU), and a popular citizen science portal, SciStarter hosts an active community of more than 150,000 registered SciStarter members and millions of additional site visitors. Hundreds of citizen science projects use SciStarter’s National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported APIs to help volunteers earn credit for their participation in their SciStarter dashboard, across all kinds of projects and platforms. These features enable SciStarter’s partners (libraries, schools, museums, Girl Scouts and more) to catalyze customized engagement pathways and track and support the progress of their communities through SciStarter. SciStarter also supports researchers in managing projects, including best practices for engaging participant partners.