It matters.
Rigorous predictive models are the cornerstone of science and engineering. Predictive models took us to the moon.
Unfortunately, today, there are no comprehensive predictive models of living cells and tissues. Consequently, the entire field of biology and medicine is in a kind of pre-mathematical era.
A revolution in the biosciences driven by simulation-based research, using predictive models running on high performance computing architectures with flexible user interfaces, is now possible.
What we are building with OpenWorm will enable unprecedented in silico experiments to power the next generation of advanced computational drug discovery and dynamic disease modeling.
How will the money be spent?
All the scientists and engineers that contribute to OpenWorm are volunteering their time and have daily jobs which they use to pay their bills. They do it because they believe in what they are doing and will continue to do so.
However money is an extremely valuable resource and every little donation would help us to reach these targets:
$15,000
Organize an OpenWorm conference. This would give our distributed team the possibility to meet in person, boosting productivity and coordination.
$40,000
Pay a PhD student or a Junior developer to work full-time on our team. This would help us to coordinate our activities and contribute to the development of our many projects.
$100,000
Fund a research project in collaboration with a University to harvest missing biological data essential to reach our goal.