Bridging the gap between science and society is one of the FWF’s main responsibilities. To do so, it relies both on communicating with the public about science and research-related issues as well as on encouraging active participation in scientific processes.
Under the motto “Research with you and me,” the Top Citizen Science program gives researchers the opportunity to involve citizens in their research projects. Ongoing FWF projects can be expanded to include a project with citizen science participation.
Citizen Science includes all activities of people who contribute to the increase of scientific knowledge in a non-executive capacity and is understood here to mean the active involvement of citizens and their knowledge, commitment and resources in scientific research and gaining scientific knowledge. Citizen Science is aimed at citizens of different ages, genders and social backgrounds, as well as people with highly specialized knowledge or expertise – known as knowledge communities. Youth target groups are explicitly included.