Future of Research

Name

Future of Research

Legal name

Future of Research

Website

https://futureofresearch.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Research Advocacy

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Biomedical Sciences & Medical Research Institutes (University-Based) (EDAHAGAI)

Keywords

• Research advocacy
• Scientific workforce
• Postdoctoral training
• Early career researchers
• Academic policy

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Future of Research received grant funding from the Open Philanthropy Project to begin full-time operations. As a nonprofit organization, the primary revenue stream was charitable grants rather than commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Future of Research is a non-profit advocacy organization that champions, engages, and empowers early career researchers (ECRs) in the biomedical sciences with evidence-based resources. It delivers publications, departmental mentoring guidelines, postdoctoral salary tracking, ethical peer review research, symposia, and policy advocacy aimed at improving academic training environments and postdoctoral working conditions.

Product overview

Future of Research is a non-profit advocacy organization (no longer active as of February 2024) that provided evidence-based resources, community engagement, and expertise to early career researchers. The organization offered publications and reports on scientific enterprise topics, departmental mentoring guidelines, postdoctoral salary monitoring data, ethical peer review research, and organized symposia and meetings. These offerings were designed to help ECRs make informed career choices and improve academic training environments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Publications and Reports A library of published research papers, reports, and articles covering scientific enterprise topics including peer review practices, postdoctoral salaries, and scientific society involvement.
• Departmental Mentoring Guidelines Actionable, community-developed guidelines for ECRs to advocate for improvements to their training environments, covering six major areas and three excellence tiers.
• Postdoc Salary Survey Initiative Data collection and monitoring initiative tracking postdoctoral salary information across institutions in response to FLSA updates and institutional compliance, covering 100+ universities and research institutions.
• Making ECR Voices Heard Initiative focused on giving early career researchers a voice in spaces where they are normally not represented, including advocacy for policy changes at NIH and other institutions.
• Ethical Peer Review Project Project examining the ethical involvement of early career researchers in peer review, including co-reviewing practices and ghostwriting issues.
• Meeting and Symposia Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Assisted in organizing 8 trainee-organized symposia in 2 countries over 2 years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (NASEM)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Two Future of Research board members (Gary McDowell and Jessica Polka) were authors of the National Academies consensus study 'Next Generation of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences Researchers: Breaking Through' and represented ECR voices during the drafting of the report.
• NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017President Fátima Sancheznieto spoke at the NIH's biannual advisory committee meeting and was subsequently invited to sit on the working group for the ACD's Next Generation Researcher's Initiative.
• American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015ASBMB co-organized Hack Day events with Future of Research, providing cash prizes of $500 for winning projects. ASBMB also provided sponsorship for the 2015 Boston symposium.
• Boston UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Boston University hosted the 2014 founding symposium and 2015 Boston Future of Research symposium. The event was held on Boston University Campus with keynotes and panels featuring economists and researchers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• eLife: Open-access scientific publisher with significant advocacy around peer review reform and ECR participation in publishing - directly aligned with Future of Research's peer review ethics and ECR visibility work.

Broad incumbents

• FASEB: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, an umbrella body representing biomedical researchers across multiple societies - a broader incumbent working on overlapping ECR workforce and federal funding advocacy.
• American Association for the Advancement of Science: The largest U.S. scientific society, with deep engagement on science policy, federal research funding, and ECR issues - a broader incumbent active in adjacent policy advocacy space.
• Sigma Xi: International honor society for scientific and engineering research with programs supporting ECRs and advocating for research integrity and ethics - shares Future of Research's community-building and research-ethics focus.

Direct peers

• Rescuing Biomedical Research: A grassroots advocacy organization focused on reforming the biomedical research enterprise and improving training and career outcomes for early career researchers - directly overlapping with Future of Research's core mission and constituency.
• National Postdoctoral Association: The leading U.S. advocacy and resource organization for postdoctoral scholars, addressing the same issues of career development, salary transparency, and policy advocacy for postdocs and ECRs that defined Future of Research's mission.
• Research!America: A nonprofit advocacy alliance focused on increasing public and private investment in medical and health research, sharing Future of Research's federal advocacy model and engagement with NIH and Congressional policy processes.
• ASAPbio: A researcher-driven advocacy organization promoting transparency and innovation in scientific publishing, particularly preprints - sharing Future of Research's grassroots, ECR-led advocacy model and science policy engagement.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FORsymp
• Facebookfacebook.com/futureofresearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/future-of-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Future of Research