Frugal Science
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As a society, we find ourselves surrounded by planetary-scale challenges ranging from lack of equitable health to environmental degradation to loss of biodiversity. Frugal science is the art of solving such problems with emergent simplicity, cost-effectiveness and scale.
Science Lead: Manu Prakash
The Projects
Browse the participating projects
Toward a Universal, Frugal, and Antibiotic-Free Sugar Selection System for Molecular Cloning
The access to educational resources for hands on biotech in the classroom, globally, is heavily constrained...
AI analysis of soil pH with a smartphone camera
This project aims to democratize access to soil analysis by developing a machine-learning model to predict...
Developing a low-cost, rapid diagnostic for urogenital Schistosomiasis infection
We are developing a frugal diagnostic for urogenital schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease that...
Dermatology AI Assistant to Empower Primary Care Providers in Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan
An AI-assisted dermatology tool for refugees, utilizing imaging and symptom questionnaires to improve diagnostic...
Working towards a low-cost ostomy bag that doesn't leak
Ostomy bags are a daily medical necessity for 15 million people globally. However, these bags often delaminate...
Developing low cost vacuum pump to make electron microscope accessible to kids in classrooms
This project, part of a larger project at PrakashLab, aims to make scanning electron microscopy (SEM) accessible...
110%
funded
$5,000
goal
1
lab notes
Antibiotic(Tetracycline) detection in poultry product and educational awareness program
The overuse of antibiotics in agriculture, particularly in poultry farming, is a major contributor to the...
Development of Low Cost Tent Heaters for Unhoused Populations
For years, makeshift heating solutions for homeless individuals have involved burning unsafe materials like...
Frugal DIY Mask Aligner Kit for High Resolution Photolithography
Multilayer Photolithography is a common technique that uses light to make 2.5D-3D structures. It is especially...
A Frugal Monitor for Invasive Crayfish integrating Underwater Imaging and Machine Learning Classification
Aquatic invasive species, such as red swamp crayfish in Japan and Europe, have significant impacts on biodiversity...
More About This Challenge
The sciency details
Challenge Aims
Everyone has the capacity to do science—to apply the scientific method to problems and questions that arise in their world. Frugal science is the growing movement that seeks to provide accessible tools and a community of practitioners to achieve that vision.
Imagine looking at a kid’s toy in just the right way - realizing that it could crack open a major problem that has plagued us for centuries. Welcome to the approach we call “Frugal Science,” a problem solving paradigm combining rigor and creative play.
Everyone has the capacity to do science — to apply the scientific method to problems and questions that arise in their world. Frugal science is the growing movement that seeks to provide accessible tools and a community of practitioners to achieve that vision. Frugal science tools can also help to encourage innovation by providing individuals and organizations with the resources they need to develop and test new ideas and theories. This can lead to new discoveries and advancements in scientific knowledge. We want to support the development of new tools and the novel questions being asked with these tools.
The call will support both development of new frugal science tools or new utility or applications of already existing tools. We deeply care about “scale” from the onset of development process. Bold ideas that can rapidly scale and bring a community-oriented approach to deployment are highly encouraged.
ROLLING SUBMISSIONS: The goal of this small, fast grant program is to get these projects off the ground quickly. If selected, the grant (up to $10,000 with the average Science Engine grant being $4,000) towards an ongoing Experiment project. Project leads are encouraged to try to raise additional support from the crowdfunding process, as granted amounts may only cover part of the project funds. The sooner you fill out a project application the better (use the "start a project" link below). In addition to funding, we hope to stay engaged with the projects as mentors and supporters, helping to make the experiments a success.
[Cover Image Credit: Atelier Colpizen (@Colpizen)]
Project Eligilibity
Projects must meet Experiment project guidelines and funding discretion rests with the Science Lead.
Challenge Grants
Experiment is an online community for making science go faster. Create a research project, get funding, and share your discovery with the world.
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