Students crowdfund DKK 18,000 for their thesis

William Cotton and Pierre-Ami Maudoux study environmental and natural resource economics and are currently writing up their master’s thesis. Their joint thesis is about the public perception of macroalgae aquaculture and is to be handed in this August.

To collect enough data for their research, they quickly found out that they needed help getting their questionnaire to the right group of people. But this help costs money.

Target reached after a day and a half

“When our supervisors told us how much money we actually needed to carry out our planned research, we knew we had to find a way to raise the funds – fast,” says William Cotton.

The two students saw opportunities in crowdfunding, so instead of waiting around hoping for a grant, they took the matter in their own hands. They chose the experiment.com website and set up a 30-day campaign to collect the funds they needed.

“When we launched the campaign, we were nervous about whether we could raise enough money to complete our research. We set the original goal modestly hoping to collect the absolute minimum of money needed,” says William Cotton

There was not much to worry about. After 36 hours the two students had achieved their target.

This is how the two student projects look at experiment.com

“Well, shock is the best way to describe what we felt when the donations started pouring in,” Pierre-Ami Maudoux says about the experience.

When the campaign expired after 30 days, William Cotton and Pierre-Ami Maudoux had collected USD 2,713 Their initial target was USD 1,000

Advice to other students

The two students now invite other students to make use of the crowdfunding opportunity.

“You should not underestimate the forces that this tool unleashes,” they say, and Pierre-Ami Maudoux continues:

“It’s surprisingly easy to put together. We set up an introduction video and provided ongoing updates to sponsors and other interested parties. In the updates, we explained the most important aspects of our work. If you just make an extra effort to make the project exciting, you will be both surprised and deeply grateful over how willing people are to help,” he says.

High ambitions

The extra money has raised the ambitions of William Cotton and Pierre-Ami Maudoux. They now have the means to hire professionals to help with their research instead of being dependent on volunteers.

Some of the funds go to fieldwork and others to graphics, but most of the collected funds go to hiring a company that can deliver a questionnaire to the right group of people and make sure that the two students get representative data.

“This is completely essential for the scientific quality of the study. It’s hard to do without it if you want to produce credible scientific work,” says Pierre-Ami Maudoux.

According to the two students, crowdfunding also makes it possible to have a much more interactive experience with sponsors than when you receive a grant. You have a direct relationship with your sponsors when you crowdfund, and can continuously update them with your progress and discoveries.