The Open Source Science Project
There are many of us who question the role that science plays in our lives. More specifically, we may find ourselves questioning how the information in front of us came to be what it is, and whether what we read and see in the news and other media are scientific ideas and conclusions that are definite and inalterable. Co-founder and Executive Director of The Open Source Science Project, Priyan Weerappuli understands that science is taught in a manner that often times limits inquiry into the scientific processes that brought the subject to its final state of existence. In an effort to broaden the capabilities of educators and students who wish to further explore various scientific processes, Priyan embarked on a project to create a research-based online scientific resource that embraces empirical questioning while at the same time providing the tools necessary to explore such inquiries.
The Open Source Science Project, formerly known as The Human Brain Project, is a research-based online scientific resource accessible to everyone, and was founded in 2006 by Priyan and his father, Parakrama Weerapulli. Initially, the project was launched as a venture that focused on understanding the different biochemical mechanisms involved in neural processing. However, as Priyan tells us, once he began reading about how neural processes function to create the world as we know it, he discovered how limited the parameters of mankind’s understanding of such processes really are. Armed with this understanding, he began to consider creating a system whereby science would be presented as a transient ‘process,’ and not just a static ‘body of facts.’ And so, The Open Source Science Project was born.
Today it exists as a forum where individuals, irrespective of geographic, cultural, socio-economic, academic, or personal background, can engage directly in the scientific research process. This innovative resource acknowledges the limits of human understanding while encouraging its participants to go beyond those limits to actively engage in scientific inquiry so that they may more effectively answer the questions that continue to confound some of the best minds in science today.
By providing access to first-rate, comprehensive, scientific information, Priyan hopes that interested individuals will tap into the resources made available through The Open Source Science Project. And by utilizing the knowledge that they may gain through The Open Source Science Project, they may ultimately be enabled to render transparent the black box of contemporary scientific research.
Currently, the Open Source Science Project is developing four areas of online resources. One is a research based curriculum that would present scientific understanding as an ongoing process, and not just a series of discoveries and inventions. Taking this understanding, participants are encouraged to develop tools and additional resources by which to better the human lifestyle. Another resource is the online discussion forums where participants can present questions and receive answers from other participants and members of the research community.
A very unique aspect of the Open Source Science Project is its microfinance platform; an additional resource that takes advantage of the utility the internet offers by providing a marketplace where researchers can post research project ideas and receive financing in the form of microloans or microgrants from ordinary citizens. And finally, the novel resource of a research log platform – what The Open Source Science Project is calling an R-LOG – would require researchers who are receiving public tax-based funds to maintain research logs that allow people to see how and where their tax dollars are being spent.
For more information on The Open Source Science Project, visit its website.