Listen ⚡️ DeSci Ep. #1 | Using Web3 Tech to Reward Good Science—with Chris Hill & Philipp Koellinger of DeSci Labs
“If we can actually make [the peer review process] completely transparent and open, we can also create a sense of accountability. And that is incredibly important for science.” - Philipp Koellinger
Listen to thIS Episode Here:
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
The system for publishing scientific research is broken. Academic success is measured by citations rather than scientific quality. And publishing companies have a monopoly on the knowledge scientists produce. Can we use blockchain technology to promote the verifiability of scientific findings? And make science accessible to everyone?
Dr. Christopher Hill is an interdisciplinary scientist with a background in neuroeconomics and machine learning. Phillip Koellinger is Professor of Social Science Genetics in the Department of Economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Together, Chris and Philipp are Cofounders of DeSci Labs, an initiative that aims to make science more replicable, accessible, transparent and fair by way of Web3 technologies.
On this episode of Boost VC, Chris and Philipp join us to explain what inspired their interest in decentralized science and explore what differentiates success for science versus individual scientists. They walk us through the goals of the open science movement and weigh in on how DeSci tech provides new ways of funding research and makes scientific knowledge available to everyone.
Listen in for insight around the grassroots movement known as metascience and learn how DeSci is working to improve the quality of the scientific record and reward scientists for the value they create.
Topics Covered
What inspired Chris & Philipp’s interest in decentralized science
Bureaucracy and broken publishing system in academia
Passionate about open science, reproducibility
Improve durability and quality of scientific record
Uplift material conditions of early-career scientists
The goals of the open science movement
Make research more transparent, accessible to everyone
Better markers of scientific quality than impact factor
Improve and promote verifiability and reproducibility
What differentiates success for science vs. success for scientists
Scientific success = verifiable new knowledge
Success for scientist = prestige
How Chris & Philipp define decentralized science
Tech stack for true open access to research
Makes science more transparent and reproducible
Allows scientists to recapture value they create
The problem with measuring value by impact factor (IF)
Metric derived exclusively from citation rates
Publishers have monopoly on scientific knowledge
How DeSci technologies can benefit scientific research
Accelerate pace of knowledge progress and accessibility
Provide new ways of funding research
Business models that reward scientists for contributions
Potential for rapid experimentation at scale
Create accountability in peer review process
The interdisciplinary grassroots movement of metascience
Check work of other scientists through replications
Conduct basic hygiene of scientific ecosystem
The transition from scientific manuscripts to research objects
Store artifacts of journey, including peer review feedback
Permanent knowledge graphs to secure scientific record
Connect with Chris Hill & Philipp Koellinger
DeSci Labs https://www.desci.com/
DeSci Labs on Twitter https://twitter.com/descilabs
DeSci Foundation https://descifoundation.org/
DeSci Foundation on Twitter https://twitter.com/DeSciFoundation
Resources
David Deutsch https://www.daviddeutsch.org.uk/
‘Raise Standards for Pre-Clinical Cancer Research’ in Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/483531a
‘Why Most Published Research Findings Are False’ in PLOS Medicine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1182327/
Gitcoin https://gitcoin.co/
Adam Draper
Managing Director at @BoostVC // Seed investor in @Coinbase, @Amplitude_HQ, @Benchling, Wave Mobile Money // Board Member of @Skybound I like comic books. #Bitcoin