Citizen science

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Citizen science is a term used for a project (or ongoing programme of work) which aims to make scientific discoveries, verify scientific hypotheses, or gather data which can be used for scientific purposes, and which involves large numbers of people, many of whom have no specific scientific training.

Citizen science projects are often run by scientific institutions, research NGOs, or educational establishments; they usually attract participants through a combination of recuiting among their membership, advertisements and media coverage.

The idea is most widespread in North America; citizen science projects take place in many other countries, for example in the UK, although the term is not in common usage there.

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