Citizen science apps built to bring people in

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. 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 focus the custom work on what must be distinctive. A well-defined app can be scoped 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 optional. Every component can be tailored, and Pocket Science can work alongside an institution’s own developers or infrastructure team.

Start with the essential research workflow

A focused first release can still deliver serious citizen science. It can establish the 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.

Tell us what the participants and researchers must be able to do. We 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.

Citizen science needs people, not just software

A functioning app is only the beginning. People must notice the invitation, understand the task, feel that their contribution matters and have a reason to return. Well-guided observations or measurements can then become a useful distributed dataset. We shape the method, interface, tailored feedback, science communication and outreach together.

There is no single Pocket Science template: Transit of Venus made a rare event into a worldwide timing experiment; iSPEX1 joined a phone to an optical attachment for a national citizen aerosol map; Dark Sky Meter uses phone-camera sensing; and Black Hole Finder connects public classification to live astronomy. Each required a different participant experience and data workflow.

The approaches are also different: Transit of Venus made a rare astronomical event something people could rehearse and join; iSPEX1 paired a phone and optical attachment with a nationwide air-quality campaign; Dark Sky Meter made the phone camera a light-pollution sensor. We cannot guarantee an audience for a new project, but creativity, launch experience and continuing care are part of the work we bring to it.

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.

Comparing suppliers for a university or public tender?

Look at the full service your project needs: a participant workflow people can actually use, dependable research data, GDPR-aware collection and access, hosting and security responsibilities, support after launch, app-store and operating-system updates, and a clear continuation or handover plan. Pocket Science can take responsibility for one defined component or for the complete service, with deliverables and responsibilities set out for the 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.

Distinctive experiences, serious science underneath

We pioneered citizen science app development and matured into scientific sensing, calibration, data platforms and machine learning. Our work spans guided field methods, optical attachments, camera-based measurements and live classification; it does not make every participant use the same form. A connected instrument with acquisition guidance, processing and a supporting app is a complete measurement method, not just an interface.

Those capabilities are available independently: a project does not need a sensor or AI simply because Pocket Science can provide them. The useful first question is what will make people join, contribute valid data and stay involved in this particular science.

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 start a conversation, 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