Just a few years ago Ijad Madisch of Germany was doing medical research at Harvard, armed with a PhD in virology. Now Madisch oversees a small but growing social network for scientists called ResearchGate, based in Berlin, Germany and backed by several U.S venture capital firms. His goals are audacious, even for Silicon Valley. “I want ResearchGate to win the Nobel Prize,” he says during a visit last week to San Francisco. (See my video interview with Madisch, above.)
Madisch doesn’t know which category the Nobel Prize would be for. But he figures if he can dramatically increase collaboration among scientists and speed up scientific breakthroughs as a result, that would be worth some kind of big prize. Oh, and Madisch, who’s 31, also wants to give the arcane system of scientific publishing a kick in the pants. He doesn’t believe scientists should have to pay to get their research published.
ResearchGate, which Madisch cofounded in May 2008, counts 1.8 million scientists from 193 countries as members. It has already chronicled several success stories of scientists who met via the social network and achieved some research breakthroughs. Orazio Romeo, an Italian microbiologist, connected with Emanuel Nnadi, a researcher in Nigeria, who sent yeast samples for Romeo to study. The collaboration resulted in the discovery of a new pathogenic yeast that can cause disease in humans and a paper published in the journal Medical Mycology. Other collaborations have advanced research in cancer treatment and a biodiesel catalyst.
Madisch doesn’t expect to change the work patterns or communication methods of older scientists, some of whom have been skeptical. “My professor three years ago said to me, ‘Scientists are not social. You won’t be successful with a social network for scientists.’” says Madisch. “I said to him, this is exactly what I want to change. I want to get scientists to start thinking more collaboratively [and to think] I’m doing something for the world.”
One thing Madisch wants to change is the kind of data that scientists share. So far there has been no forum for publishing failed scientific experiments. The result: Scientists around the world may well be repeating each other’s mistakes, without knowing it. Madisch is pushing to change this, encouraging scientists to publish raw data and failed experiments.
He’s also hoping that scientists will want to ditch the traditional scientific publishing system –one in which he says authors must pay journals like Nature to get their work published, and then such journals charge high subscription fees. That may be a very tough nut to crack, given the prestige that comes with getting a paper published in a journal like Nature or Science. (For a slightly more skeptical take on ResearchGate, read my colleague Alex Knapp's post here.)
ResearchGate has 80 employees, mostly in Berlin, including data scientists from places like Google and Amazon. The company has raised funds from three well known Silicon Valley venture capital firms: Benchmark Capital, Accel Capital and Founders Fund. Madisch has chosen not to disclose the amount of money raised because he wants to focus on what ResearchGate can help accomplish more than anything else. Matt Cohler of Benchmark, who was an early Facebook employee, and Luke Nosek of Founders Fund, one of the cofounders of PayPal, both sit on ResearchGate’s board.
The site’s initial focus is to build membership rather than focus on revenue. ResearchGate is signing up 4,500 new members a day. Madisch figures there are between 7 and 10 million scientists around the world, plus perhaps several million lab technicians who could share what they’ve learned. Revenues will likely come, he says, from charging for listing positions on its job board, perhaps a biotech products marketplace, and scientific conferences.
Madisch certainly thinks big. “I just imagine we are increasing the efficiency of science on a global scale. And people are not making the same mistakes that other people have made, and people finalizing experiments faster,” he says. “If you think about how this could affect the whole world, I think this will change science dramatically.”
Also read:
The Startup That Is X-Raying The Doctor's Bills
Why The Supreme Court Decision On Health Reform Doesn't Really Matter
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