ISSUES/PROBLEMS

OUR GOALS

PROGRESS MADE

THE PERSISTENT ILLUSION THAT SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING IS 'COMPLETE'

Within traditional academic curricula, contemporary scientific understanding is presented as though it were a static body of information - devoid of prior development, and requiring no subsequent refinement.  In other words, scientific information is presented, therein, as though few - if any - questions continue to elude human understanding.

OUTDATED CURRICULA/TEXTBOOKS

The exponential increase in the pace of scientific research over the past half-century has rendered print- textbooks largely obsolete - despite the efforts of numerous textbook publishers to maintain pace by publishing increasingly frequent supplements and updated editions.  Due, however, to the slow pace at which formal academic institutions have adapted to this new environment; an ever-widening gap has developed between the scientific understanding possessed by scientific researchers and that communicated, by them, to their students.

A GENERAL INACCESSIBILITY TO UP-TO-DATE SCIENTIFIC THEORIES AND METHODS

As a consequence of the sluggishness with which print-textbook publishers (and formal academic curricula) have adapted to the pace of current scientific research; many graduating students have discovered that the undergraduate education they have received has little prepared them to contemplate the questions that lie along the cutting edge of scientific research - accounting for the rise in graduate degree requirements for those seeking employment in scientific research and industry.

PRODUCE AN ENTIRELY RESEARCH-BASED, SCIENCE CURRICULUM

We hope to ultimately dispel the false idea that scientific understanding is 'complete', and instill in individuals the awareness that there remains much to discover, much to study, and much to understand by demonstrating the questions that have underlain those experiments and studies which have yielded our contemporary understanding.

PROVIDE DYNAMIC CONTENT

By employing the utility afforded by the internet, we shall maintain the accuracy and relevance of the information contained within our curriculum by drawing and preserving lines of communication with individuals throughout the scientific research community, and updating our curriculum as dictated by the course of their research.

THE HUMAN BRAIN PROJECT LECTURES LAUNCHED

ISSUES/PROBLEMS

OUR GOALS

PROGRESS MADE

THE INTERNET, INFORMATION OVERLOAD, AND THE ABSENCE OF TRUSTWORTHY AND RELIABLE CONTENT FILTERS

Within the past decade, the number of online resources presenting purportedly scientific information has grown exponentially - resulting in an (unfiltered) information overload that has, itself, cultivated a culture of skepticism regarding the accuracy of information acquired through online resources, and the quality/reputability of these resources themselves.

THE ILLUSION THAT SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING IS A 'HOUSE ON A HILL' THAT MUST BE ADMIRED FROM AFAR

Within traditional academic exposition, scientific information is presented as though it is fact, rather than theory - a reality exemplified in the debate regarding whether students should be taught/encouraged to question the theory of evolution.

A LACK OF INTERDISCIPLINARY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RESEARCHERS WITHIN THE ACADEMIC RESEARCH COMMUNITY

As the breadth of scientific understanding has grown, the intellectual circumference of individual research fields and disciplines has shrunk proportionately.  This has led to an underlying fragmentation of academic research that, in the long-run, will translate into unreliable and incomplete research results and understanding.

CREATE AN OPEN FORUM FOR RESEARCH-CENTERED DIALOGUE, DISCUSSION AND DEBATE

We shall inspire individuals to not simply behold contemporary scientific understanding by accepting its underlying theories and assumptions; but to apprehend (and potentially transform) this understanding by challenging them.

PROVIDE A PUBLIC SITE FOR INTER-DISCIPLINARY DIALOGUE BETWEEN RESEARCHERS AND THEIR PEERS

By ignoring the traditional distinctions between scientific disciplines (i.e. biology, physics, chemistry, etc.), and instead, encourage multidisciplinary approaches to scientific questions, and dialogue free from the use of such terms - and the hierarchical connotations that accompany them; we shall provide a public forum for dialogue between peers within the research community.

THE HUMAN BRAIN PROJECT DISCUSSION FORUM LAUNCHED

ISSUES/PROBLEMS

OUR GOALS

PROGRESS MADE

A GLOBAL INEQUALITY OF ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH MATERIALS, TOOLS, AND FUNDING

Second only to resource inequality; the greatest obstacle to creating a global community that is able to directly participate in the scientific research process is the increasingly 'closed-door' manner of its conductance.

THE DIFFICULTY OF FINANCING RESEARCH PROJECTS THAT MAY NOT PROMISE AN IMMEDIATE MARKETABLE/PATENTABLE PRODUCT

Due to the recent decline in the US Federal R&D (Research & Development) budget; the relative proportion of scientific research proposals that have ultimately received public financing has decreased considerably over the course of the past 30 years.

A BROAD INABILITY FOR NON-RESEARCHERS TO PARTICIPATE AND CONTRIBUTE DIRECTLY TO THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROCESS

While often redistributed in the form of government grants/fellowships; with the exception of some charitable organizations, individual citizens (currently) remain unable to directly finance research projects that they may find interesting, promising, or from which they may derive some personal benefit or sense of satisfaction.

A GROWING SOCIETAL SKEPTICISM REGARDING THE PRODUCTIVITY AND NECESSITY OF INDIVIDUAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH STUDIES

The combination of outdated curricula, 'closed-door' research practices, and increasingly expensive publication subscriptions, have helped to foster a broad societal inability, and unwillingness, to appreciate or comprehend the questions that lie along the cutting edge of contemporary scientific research - as evidenced by the controversies that continue to surround fields of research such as stem-cell research, cloning research, and evolutionary research.

PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR ALL INDIVIDUALS TO PRESENT AND PURSUE RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THEORIES

By providing this platform, we hope to empower individuals at all levels of society to pursue those questions that occupy their curiosity by submitting project proposals, securing funding, and conducting research projects under the mentorship of their peers within the research community.

ENSURE THAT ACCESS TO LARGE GRANT AGENCIES/INSTITUTIONS IS NO LONGER A HINDRANCE FOR THE PURSUIT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

The disparity between research funding allocated to third-world diseases and that allocated to first-world diseases is widely recognized.  In order to present all research (irrespective of any of the above-mentioned classifications) on an equal pedestal, we shall work to ensure that the project proposals which are published for microfinancing are both of high quality, and representative of the diversity of issues which impact all humanity.

FOSTER A SENSE OF 'OWNERSHIP' AND PARTICIPATION WITHIN THE BROADER NON-RESEARCH COMMUNITY

By providing an unprecedented degree of transparency in the academic research process; we will provide individuals who may wish to participate in this process in a non-research capacity, with the ability to directly invest (by way of microinvestments) in specific research projects - and thereby develop a sense of ownership in the insights and understanding it yields.

THE HUMAN BRAIN PROJECT RESEARCH MICROFINANCE HOMEPAGE LAUNCHED

ISSUES/PROBLEMS

OUR GOALS

PROGRESS MADE

LACK OF TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLICLY-FUNDED RESEARCH

Presently, the exponential rise of academic journal subscriptions, and the 'closed-door' manner of contemporary academic research, have contributed to the development of a broad inaccessibility of those research projects and studies financed with the aid of tax contributions.

GENERAL SOCIETAL IGNORANCE OF THE SCIENCE UNDERLYING HIGHLY POLITICIZED ISSUES SUCH AS ABORTION, END-OF-LIFE CARE, AND STEM-CELL RESEARCH

Closed-door research practices have, over the past half-century, done much to erode the trust necessary between a well-functioning society and their scientific researchers - particularly in the US.  As a consequence, numerous scientific research questions have become vulnerable to politicization and often at the expense of their original context.  This gradual politicization is most evidenced by issues such as abortion, end-of-life care, and stem-cell research.

ALLOW PRIVATE CITIZENS ACCESS TO THE ACADEMIC RESEARCH PROCESS - SPECIFICALLY, THOSE STUDIES CONDUCTED WITH THE AID OF PUBLIC FUNDS

By providing this resource, we shall afford private citizens an opportunity to directly interact with researchers actively conducting publicly-funded research.

ALLOW RESEARCH STUDENTS AND NON-RESEARCHERS A 'BEHIND-THE-SCENES' PERSPECTIVE OF THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROCESS

Specifically, with the aid of this resource, we shall provide all individuals - both researchers and non-researchers alike - a 'behind-the-scenes' look at the thought process underlying academic research projects.

THE HUMAN BRAIN PROJECT R-LOG HOMEPAGE LAUNCHED