ResearchGATE Applies Open Source Principles to Scientific Collaboration

As GigaOM reports, Matt Cohler of Benchmark Capital--the venture capital firm that initially backed eBay and many other Silicon Valley companies--has led a new round of funding for ResearchGATE, a social network for scientists that helps them collaborate. Scientists can join ResearchGATE now and the site has half a million members, but new funding could grow it and make it more meaningful. One of the premises behind ResearchGATE is that much scientific research is unpublished, and could be shared efficiently on an online platform. ResearchGATE operates on a number of the same principles that make open source work efficiently. For more on it, check the GigaOM story.