Would you publish your bids for all to see?

Watch out—the open science movement has your grant proposals in its sights. Antoaneta Roussi talks to Ethan White, founder of an open-access bid-publishing website, about the pros and cons of going open with your grants.

When Ethan White, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Florida, first decided to publish his grant proposals online he was surprised to discover a whole community of researchers doing the same. While many of the researchers were motivated by the desire to hone their own bids, they also acted out of commitment to the open-science movement, which says that scientific information should be open to all.

With funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s data-driven discovery initiative, White was able to turn his pet project into a website—ogrants.org. The website allows anyone to browse thousands of proposals from researchers in every area, and White hopes that it will inspire others to take the plunge and publish their bids openly.