Do you need funding for your research project in a Social Sciences and Humanities discipline? Run your Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) research crowdfunding campaign on wemakeit with the OPERAS channel, get tips from the wemakeit experts to boost your campaign and benefit from the support of the OPERAS community.

Whether you are an early career researcher in a university or other research institution, an independent researcher, or an established scholar looking to start a new line of research, the wemakeit platform is for you, supported by the OPERAS Research Infrastructure. No matter if you need funds to publish critical editions, to organise scientific exhibitions, to launch surveys and studies with local or global impact, the OPERAS channel is the way to go!

Are you ready? Plan your campaign, get support from the crowd, and boost your research!

A bonus for early projects: the first researchers that will launch their crowdfunding campaign will receive extra support by an external communication agency, funded by the French Ministry for Education, Research and Innovation!

Start a project

Do you need a little help to get started? Don’t forget to check the OPERAS FAQs and OPERAS guidelines for submitting a project on the OPERAS crowdfunding channel.

Any questions? We are happy to help at operas@wemakeit.com.

Special tips for your future OPERAS campaign

Interested in our OPERAS initiative, but not sure where to start yet? Watch our information session held on January 13th 2022 to know more about crowdfunding in social science and get some tips for your future campaign!

Conditions of Participation

  • Your research project falls into a Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) discipline. If you are not sure about your specific discipline, have a look at the list of SSH disciplines.
  • Participation is open to independent researchers (or groups of researchers) geographically domiciled in the countries of the European Research Area (ERA) or researchers affiliated with an ERA research organisation.
  • When submitting the project, you state to be included in the OPERAS channel on the wemakeit platform.
  • You will have to provide two letters of support from researchers that are not part of your organisation. These letters should be between 300 and 600 words long, and topics addressed may include a short statement on the planned research objectives and methodology, the researcher’s suitability to successfully carry out the project and the academic and societal impact of the project.
  • All projects will be evaluated by a scientific committee set up by OPERAS.
  • Once approved by the OPERAS committee, all projects will go through wemakeit’s standard application procedure. Researchers will be sent a confirmation if their project meets the requirements for the channel. They will then receive assistance from the wemakeit science team to boost their campaign and maximise their impact.
  • As per wemakeit guidelines, the amount you raise will be paid out only if the crowdfunding campaign is concluded successfully.
  • You agree to allow OPERAS, TRIPLE/GoTriple and wemakeit to use all materials you provide in order to promote your campaigns on their own platforms and on social media.

FAQ

Why support European researchers in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH)?

The collaboration between OPERAS and wemakeit explores crowdfunding as a tool to foster a dialogue between research in the SSH and society at large and to showcase projects that strive for a more human and social world. It’s a great way to get in touch with European researchers from disciplines in the Social Sciences and Humanities, get a glimpse behind the scenes of how they conduct their studies and find out why they love their research so much. We believe crowdfunding is the ideal tool for researchers to communicate their passion, broaden their audience and get financial support.

What is the OPERAS community?

When launching a project, you will not only be supported by the experts from wemakeit, but you will also benefit from the expertise of the OPERAS community. This international community is made up of other researchers and research organisations from the Social Sciences and Humanities, scientific publishers, librarians and passionate citizens! You can find out more about the OPERAS Research Infrastructure, its mission and goals, and the community here: https://www.operas-eu.org/.

Who exactly do you want to support with the OPERAS channel?

We want to empower both early career and advanced researchers who want to reach out and promote their work in the Social Sciences and Humanities. It gives creative and curious minds, within and outside academic institutions, a chance to raise their own funds to test unconventional ideas and to pursue their dreams.

What is the difference between the OPERAS channel and the Science Booster?

Unlike the OPERAS channel, the Science Booster is addressed to both researchers and citizens planning to undertake a scientific project, and it supports projects in all scientific areas beyond those covered by the OPERAS channel, i.e. not just the SSH domain. The Science Booster is, however, only open to people based in Switzerland, while the OPERAS channel is open to all researchers with an affiliation to the European Research Area (ERA).

How can I benefit from the support provided by wemakeit and OPERAS?

When submitting your project to wemakeit, you must specify that you wish to participate in the program by choosing the OPERAS channel. The wemakeit crowdfunding experts will give you feedback and tips, and help you plan a successful campaign. The OPERAS Research Infrastructure will guarantee the quality of your project as it will have been successfully evaluated by a scientific committee before being added to the OPERAS channel. OPERAS will also support you by communicating about your project and offering many opportunities to become part of this community yourself so that you can expand your personal network. For instance, we may invite you to talk about your project at OPERAS events.

Do I need to be affiliated with a university or another research institution?

No. Any researcher with a Social Sciences and Humanities project can apply, independent of an institutional affiliation. However, if you are not affiliated with an European Research Area (ERA) university or other research institution, your place of domicile must be in a country of the ERA.

Are there any topics that are not allowed?

As long as there is no legal or ethical issue with the project, any research topic in the Social Sciences and Humanities will be considered by the OPERAS evaluation committee. We however reserve the right to reject projects that we believe are not aligned with our values.

Which disciplines are part of the Social Sciences and Humanities domain?

The European project MORESS (Mapping Research Expertise in the European Social Sciences and Humanities, 2003–2005) defined 27 categories: Biological anthropology, Social Anthropology and ethnology, Archaeology and prehistory, Architecture and space management, Art and art history, Classical studies, Demography, Law, Economies and finances, Education, Environmental studies, Gender studies, Geography, Management, History, philosophy and sociology of sciences, History, Communication sciences, Linguistics, Literature, Cultural heritage and museology, Musicology and performing arts, Philosophy, Psychology, Religions, Political science, Sociology, Methods and statistics. Click here to find the list of disciplines.

What amount can I ask for?

The campaign goal can be unlimited. In the past, researchers have raised anything from EUR 1,000 to EUR 150,000 on wemakeit - it is up to you to decide how much you need, and how much support you think you can find. Wemakeit will advise you on how realistic the amount is, given your specific target audiences.

Am I supposed to communicate with the donors and to give rewards?

Yes. wemakeit is a reward-based crowdfunding platform. If you run your campaign with OPERAS, our experts will help you build a community, choose your rewards and communicate with your supporters after the campaign has ended.

OPERAS

OPERAS is the Research Infrastructure supporting open scholarly communication in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in the European Research Area. The aim of OPERAS is to make Open Science a reality for research in the SSH and achieve a scholarly communication system where knowledge produced in the SSH benefits researchers, academics, students and more generally the whole society across Europe and worldwide, without barriers.

OPERAS is creating a portfolio of different scholarly communication services at European level, addressing the specific needs of the research community. One of these services is the discovery platform GoTriple, developed by the TRIPLE project (2019–2023). TRIPLE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 863420. It is through the TRIPLE project that OPERAS and wemakeit collaborate.

In addition to its core discovery function, the GoTriple platform integrates a range of other innovative services and tools, including a crowdfunding platform. Both platforms, GoTriple and the OPERAS channel from wemakeit, are interconnected to provide an ideal environment for SSH researchers and their projects.

  • More information: https://project.gotriple.eu/gotriple-platform/
    More information: https://project.gotriple.eu/gotriple-platform/
  • More information: https://www.operas-eu.org
    More information: https://www.operas-eu.org
  • More information: https://project.gotriple.eu/
    More information: https://project.gotriple.eu/