Hi,
I've previously talked both on the IRC channel and via e-mail (see forwarded below) to some of your member regarding my study of indie labs. Considering all the yellow press and half-backed sociological studies on DIYbio, I wanted to do a more thorough investigation, as I will be setting up my own biohacking space in the US in a year.
I recently met with Biologigaragen and Biotinkering, who had contact with some members of your space and they suggested that I contact this e-mail. I will be in Prague on this Thursday through Saturday; will it be a good time to come in on Friday? Thanks.
Sincerely,
Vip Sitaraman viputheshwar.com
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Viputheshwar Sitaraman vip.sitaraman@gmail.com Date: Wed, May 20, 2015 at 4:38 PM Subject: Re: [Rada] [Indie Science]: Let's Meet Up! To: TMA tma@jikos.cz Cc: Brmlab Hackerspace rada@brmlab.cz
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to reply in such detail. I'll be dropping in that Tuesday for sure! The work happening at brmlab is super interesting. I was wondering if there's any extra information I could provide perhaps to attract the interest of "more knowledgeable members" that you mentioned. Thanks again.
Sincerely, Vip Sitaraman
On Wed, May 20, 2015 at 5:15 PM, TMA tma@jikos.cz wrote:
On Thu, May 14, 2015 at 06:58:34PM -0700, Viputheshwar Sitaraman wrote:
Hello,
I'm Vip Sitaraman, founder of [1]Draw Science and [2]#IndieSci. I'm travelling through Europe conducting a study of the financial
structures
of successful indie labs and simultaneously meeting with key partners
for
setting up the upcoming Draw Science open access,
infographic [3]journal.
Hello Vip,
I am in no position to provide you with an official statement on our policy or anything else. This is only my personal opinion. In no event shall be the views presented construed the views of the hackerspace, my employer or anyone else but me.
I wanted to meet with you at brmlab sometime between July 26 to 30
while
I'm in Prague, CZ. I'm hoping to stay in a nearby hostel (any recommendations?) and meet you a few times to discuss potential collaborations and learn more about what you do.
I decided to study indie labs in Europe having recognized the
long-term
failure of attempts at indie labs in the United States. The most
visible
of the few successful indie labs in the US are Breakout Labs and Brightworks CoResearch, both of which were privileged to enjoy high initial investments and large funding pools. I will be investigating
the
structural organization, research flexibility and goals, target
audience,
and business model of the indie labs that allow me to visit. The
study of
indie labs will be submitted for publication on a scholarly journal
and
further described on the #IndieSci website.
The business model: the members of the hackerspace pay they monthly dues, the hackerspace (a nonprofit corporation) rents the space.
We have never obtained a significant amount of money from nonmembers (we have some nonmember supporters that give us money -- I recall it is less than $15 per month in total). We are being provided with free internet connectivity and free VPS server from our sponsors. Those are nonmonetary gifts to the hackerspace.
The equipment we have at our disposal can be divided into three broad categories and one narrow one:
- long term loan from our members
- gift from our members
- old equipment discarded from elsewhere that was obtained cheaply (e.g. a microscope that was discarded from a high school that no longer had use for it)
- equipment bought from the member dues [that's the narrow category]
The "research goals" are set by the individual "researchers" based on their interests. (I am using the quotes because I don't feel the words describing the situation appropriately, the connotation of researcher being a person that has to conform to some institutional pressure (be it the lab management, thesis advisor or the grant agency rules). The rules our members conform to are self imposed.)
See https://brmlab.cz/project/start for the list of the projects our members are doing, are planning to do, or have done.
Unfortunately for you, the biohackers would probably not be available to meet you during your stay.
I was wondering if/when you'd be available to meet while I'm in the
area.
I'd love to hear what you have in mind for our collaborations and/or conversations. Thanks!
There is always a throng of people Tuesday evenings when there is the regular weekly meetup. You can check whether there is someone present on our IRC channel #brmlab on freenode. You are welcome to drop by.
However, the aforementioned paragraph shall not be construed as a guarantee of your questions be answered to your satisfaction. Your inquiry has not generated sufficient interest from the more knowledgeable members so far.
Sincerely,
--TMA