Crowdfunding projects through sites like Kickstarter has become incredibly popular lately. Can the same process of opening up funding to "the crowd" work for academic and scientific research?

A new site called Microryza launches today to do just that. But founder Denny Luan insists that this isn't just another Kickstarter clone. He's emphasizing the social learning component that comes along with opening up the research process to the component, sharing results early and often with supporters.

You can read my story over on Inside Higher Ed...