The Thesis: A tremendous wealth of innovative science is occurring at Universities and among individual scientists and inventors. If such innovation could be matched with other groups working on similar problems and projects, great advances and even breakthroughs could be accelerated.
Furthermore if such breakthroughs could be matched with commercialization strategies, solutions to complex challenges like pandemics and climate change could be found.
But today no such collaborative model exists broadly. Scientists do collaborate but only through their own initiatives and our institutions are not designed to reward such collaboration. In fact, the incentive systems currently in place discourage it.
An international network of graduate students in the sciences collaborating toward addressing societal challenge can be very powerful force for progress.
The idea is to create a mechanism to source the best quality information around which we can apply critical thinking. This provides the basis from which a forum for civilized discussion for best policies can function.
The overall meltdown of governmental institutions has been accelerate by the Virus. This is an experiment to explore policy changes could and should be made. The key assumption:
- There are solutions to the COVID challenge but they are in pieces and in the minds of scientists and innovators, what is missing is platform for pieces of the puzzle to come together.
The Virus Project is the platform to connect those pieces and place where innovators can meet.
The Altru Virus Project Research Fellowship. Focused on those the core as research and communications skills to refine their ability to source analyze and summarize content in a format that is understandable by a broad audience. Fellows will:
- Commitment to a topic and to understand companies, investors, scientists in that area.
- Learn what the companies and scientists are doing and what they are needing.
- Connect with other fellows to foster relationships between labs and at companies.
Initial mission is to tackle COVID testing with The Race to the Test campaign where we have built a foundation of information on most of the companies seeking regulatory approval.
We are in a time of change and crisis. The old models aren’t serving us. if a new generation can learn from the mismanagement that has occurred over the past few decades we can make progress. To learn more about this project, send your comments and/or contact information.