indie researchers

[gpestana]

The concept of indie researchers seems to be getting popular. I'm stumbling upon grant programs and posts by indie researchers more often - hard to say if it is selective bias or not though.

An indie researcher is someone who invests own resources to answer one or more questions in a scientifically manner. By not being part of any research group/academia, the indie researcher can invest more time into the research itself, instead of the formalities that come with grants from academia and industry - teaching, applying for grants, etc.

The pains of an indie researcher range from lack of facilities/materials (when required) to funding and not being recognised by the research community. Nadia Eghbal [1] also points out validation as a challenge for indie researchers: how to remain sane and focus when there are no other entities (e.g. Standford, NASA), which do not validate the research question/work as valid?

In this thread, let's gather ideas of how to tackle those challenges and possible solutions. I can think of some:

• collaborative networks
• grant programs (like the Helium grant [2] and Scuttlebutt grant system [3])
• more double blind peer reviews
• indie review system (maybe?)
• indie journals

[1] The independent researcher (nadiaeghbal.com)
[2] Helium grant
[3]Scuttlebutt grants

[gpestana]

Grants for indie researchers:

• Helium grant
• Scuttlebutt grants the grant selection process to improve Scuttlebutt tech/community
• Protocol Labs grant program

Lists:

• Micro grants list