Citizen science apps built for participation at scale

Start with the research method

A serious project brief rarely says only “build an app.” It describes what participants must do, which platforms and languages they need, how consent and data access should work, what the researchers need to inspect or export, and how long the service must remain available.

Pocket Science turns that complete brief into a working service. You do not just buy an app: the interface, participant feedback, science communication, outreach and operational data side are designed together. Tailored does not mean rebuilding every technical layer. We reuse proven mobile, web and observatory foundations where they fit, then spend the project budget on what must be distinctive. We can quote a well-defined app directly. If the scientific interaction or architecture still needs exploration, we begin with a bounded discovery phase.

• Web, Android and iOS
  One coherent workflow across the platforms the participants actually use.
• Attractive simplicity
  Serious science underneath, without making the task feel like rocket science to the user.
• Tailored feedback
  A response shaped around each person’s observation, measurement or classification.
• Science communication
  Onboarding, guidance, stories and results that explain why participation matters.
• Smartphone and sensor methods
  Timing, classification, guided measurements, phone sensors and connected instruments.
• Five years or longer
  Hosting, app-store releases, maintenance, support and a continuation or transfer plan.

Choose only what the project needs

A complete observatory is an option, not a platform you must buy. Every component can be tailored, and Pocket Science can work alongside an institution’s own developers or infrastructure team.

A focused budget can still buy serious citizen science

A €20,000–€40,000 budget can be a realistic range for a focused, production-ready first release. It does not buy every possible component, but it can establish the complete path from a clear participant task to useful research data. The precise scope depends on the platforms, integrations, launch requirements and operating period.

We prioritise the one or two actions participants must perform, the guidance and feedback that help them do those actions well, and the validation, administration or export researchers need. Native apps on multiple platforms, a separate project website, advanced sensors, AI, games and a full public-results environment can be added only when they earn their place—or phased into a later release.

Share the available budget at the start and Pocket Science will propose a bounded first version rather than an oversized system. If a simple form platform already solves the problem well, we will say so.

Mass participation is designed, not assumed

Smartphones and sensors become remarkably powerful when many enthusiastic people can use them well. One person gets a clear, simple task; many smart, structured contributions enable serious analysis and data reduction. We shape the invitation, interface, tailored feedback, science communication and community around that task.

The track record includes 130,000+ Transit of Venus downloads, more than 50,000 Dark Sky Meter measurements, nationwide iSPEX1 participation and Black Hole Finder becoming a SciStarter Top Ten project by participation.

No supplier can guarantee participation. What we can do is treat outreach, participant experience and support as core project work rather than leave them as an afterthought.

Self-hosted, secure and ready for real operation

Pocket Science operates its own managed infrastructure. We do not depend on an external public cloud for project hosting. Security updates, access control, monitoring, backups and recovery are production responsibilities; privacy, retention and data minimisation begin in the architecture.

Researchers receive the access their method requires through dashboards, documented extracts or APIs. Data ownership, source access, licensing, hosting responsibility and handover are agreed explicitly for each project.

A form platform, a generic agency, or Pocket Science?

Pocket Science sits between a fixed shared platform and an everything-from-scratch software build. Reusable observatory experience—including the MOBIS mobile and web platform developed further through Horizon 2020 COS4CLOUD—helps us focus custom work on the parts that make the project scientifically and publicly effective. We can also own one defined component while an internal team retains the rest.

Experience that reaches beyond an app interface

We pioneered citizen science app development and matured into scientific sensing, calibration, data platforms and machine learning. A connected instrument with acquisition guidance, processing and a supporting app is much harder to reproduce than an interface alone. These capabilities are available independently: a project does not need a sensor or AI simply because Pocket Science can provide them.

See the work behind this experience in iSPEX, Black Hole Finder, Mini Secchi and Dark Sky Meter.

Direct commission, consortium or long-term relationship

Researchers can commission a defined build, invite Pocket Science to own a work package, arrange a multi-year support contract, or establish continuing collaboration through an institutional MoU. We understand that academic projects often end after four years while their apps, datasets, participants and responsibilities do not.

To request an initial quote, share the research goal, participant task, platforms, languages, data and privacy requirements, integrations, desired launch and required operating lifetime. Start a project conversation.

Frequently asked questions