Computational research techniques have become increasingly powerful and accurate at predicting laboratory experiments. But to fully leverage such techniques, researchers need more computing resources than they typically have access to. This need for vast computing power can instead be met by by thousands of people coming together and sharing the load through World Community Grid, an IBM philanthropic initiative. World Community Grid allows anyone with a computer or Android device to donate their device’s unused computing power to help scientists conduct research on healthy, poverty and sustainability. For example, Harvard University is using World Community Grid to predict the effectiveness of millions of organic polymer molecules as potential solar cell materials. The research team has already identified over 1,000 candidates with the potential to double the average efficiency of organic photovoltaics - a discovery that has been recognized by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for its significant contribution to materials science. The impact of this research is further magnified as the team has made their data publicly available, in accordance with World Community Grid's open data policy. Through this collaboration between researchers and our volunteers, World Community Grid has also enabled important advances in childhood cancer and water filtration. Today, our volunteers are helping scientists develop drugs for new or resistant diseases, design sustainable sources of energy and preserve natural resources. Between our proven platform and committed volunteers, World Community Grid is providing free and scalable computing resources to help scientists tackle some of the toughest humanitarian challenges of our time.

Accelerating scientific discovery through crowdsourced computing

252nd National Meeting (2016)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.