American Research Institutions Face Funding Crisis: Laboratories Turn to Crowdfunding, Can DeSci Open Up a New Future?

The American scientific community is facing an unprecedented funding crisis. Research institutions are turning to crowdfunding platforms to raise funds, and DeSci may open up a new future for scientific funding. (Background: DeSci: The intersection of AI, Crypto, and Life Sciences) (Context: From the perspective of scientists: Is DeSci really the future revolution of academic research?) The American scientific community is facing an unprecedented funding crisis. According to foreign media reports (Chronicle) and (Science), significant policy adjustments to federal research funding by the Trump administration have led to substantial cuts or freezes in allocations for institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD). Specifically, the NIH has required multi-year projects to be consolidated into single grants and has mandated additional evaluations for already approved projects, resulting in many research institutions facing tight funding issues. For example, the funding rate for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has plummeted from 10% to 4%. This move has made an already competitive research funding environment even more severe, with many university laboratories in the U.S. nearing closure due to funding shortages, severely threatening the progress of scientific research. Arizona University Laboratory Turns to Crowdfunding The laboratory of Joyce A. Schroeder, a professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona, is one of the research institutions feeling the pressure from this crisis. Schroeder's research team focuses on the immune mechanisms of breast cancer cells, particularly the role of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in cancer metastasis and immune evasion, and is developing a therapy that is expected to enter clinical trials. Although the laboratory has not yet lost its existing funding, the uncertainty of future funding is causing anxiety for Schroeder. To address the funding dilemma, Schroeder's doctoral student, Danielle DiFranco, proposed an unconventional fundraising method: raising funds through the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. DiFranco was inspired by her mother, as her family has a history of breast cancer, and she believed that friends and relatives might be willing to support the relevant research. DiFranco created a crowdfunding page on GoFundMe that detailed the laboratory's research projects and funding predicament, calling for public support. The page mentioned: In the past, Schroeder's laboratory had excelled in obtaining national-level funding, but in recent years, due to changes in NIH funding priorities, applying for funds has become unusually difficult. Currently, the laboratory relies solely on small internal funding to maintain operations, and any amount of donation could help them continue the development of breast cancer therapies. This attempt has yielded significant results. As of the time of writing, the crowdfunding page has raised $8,826, exceeding half of its $15,000 goal. Although this funding cannot compare to the million-dollar grants from the NIH, it is enough to cover the laboratory's material needs for several months. Schroeder also stated that this public donation provides valuable breathing room for the laboratory, allowing the research to continue. The Rise of Research Crowdfunding The case of Schroeder's laboratory is not an isolated incident; research crowdfunding is gradually becoming an emergency solution under funding shortages. For example, a bird research team at Mississippi State University had its $210,000 funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) terminated and turned to GoFundMe to raise $37,000 to support the continuation of its ornithology project. This trend reflects the universality of the funding crisis in scientific research and demonstrates the public's enthusiasm for participating in scientific research. However, while crowdfunding provides emergency funds for laboratories and enhances public engagement, it also faces numerous challenges. First, crowdfunding may force researchers to become 'marketers', simplifying the value of their research into slogans that attract donations, potentially deviating from the standards of academic peer review. Second, projects with 'mass appeal' (such as cancer research) are more likely to secure funding, while theoretical or niche research struggles to benefit, potentially exacerbating the imbalance in research fields. Additionally, crowdfunding funds may also be viewed as taxable personal income and need to be transferred through university foundations for regulated management, increasing administrative costs. Experts warn that long-term reliance on crowdfunding may undermine the role of the national funding system in supporting marginalized but important research and may introduce biases based on differences in applicants' backgrounds (such as race and gender). Will Decentralized Science (DeSci) Be the Future Model? As the limitations of traditional funding models are exposed, many experts believe that decentralized science (DeSci) may become an emerging force in scientific funding. DeSci utilizes blockchain technology, decentralized networks, and open-source principles to break down the barriers of centralized scientific systems and promote a transparent, open, and collaborative scientific ecosystem. Through blockchain, research data, funding flows, and ownership of results can achieve transparent and tamper-proof records; decentralized storage also makes data publicly accessible, reducing reliance on institutions. Moreover, DeSci provides funding for research projects through crowdfunding, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), or tokenization, allowing the public to directly invest in scientific projects and helping to encourage public participation, potentially resulting in larger fundraising scales than national funding, and niche research will also find investors willing to provide funds. In summary, for scientific funding, DeSci's advantages lie in its transparency, fairness, and efficiency. Researchers can bypass traditional funding agencies and directly gain support from the global community, and public participation can further enhance the societal impact of scientific research. Although it may be difficult to replace the stability and professionalism of the national funding system in the short term, as cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continue to move toward mainstream finance, the potential of DeSci may not have been fully unleashed yet. Related Reports A New Chapter for DeSci! Quantum Biology DAO Launches $QBIO Token, BIO Protocol Issues DeSci for the First Time DeSci Track Surges, Detailed Explanation of Decentralized Science Potential Backed by Binance and CZ CZ and Vitalik Call to Action! Biological Science Meme Coins Surge by Thousands of Times, Hot Money Flows into the DeSci Decentralized Science Track "American Research Institutions Face Funding Crisis: Laboratories Turn to Crowdfunding, Can DeSci Open Up a New Future?" This article was first published by BlockTempo (the most influential blockchain news media).