NIH Grants to Help Develop "Facebook for Scientists"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 27, 2009 - 8:35am.

Washington - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $12.2 million in grants to seven universities as part of a project to create what's being called the "Facebook for scientists."

The goal of the project, known as Vivo, is to link researchers around the country, while also protecting sensitive data and intellectual property through authentication mechanisms.

"Many researchers have profiles and evolving networks on multiple, but incompatible, sites," said Katy Borner of Indiana University.

"They try to use Facebook and Google for their research, however, these tools and services do not completely address the needs of scholars."

Participants include Indiana, Cornell, Florida, Weill Cornell Medical College, Washington University in St. Louis, the Scripps Research Institute and the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico.

http://www.nih.gov/news/index.html#releases