# Theiss Research

**URL:** <https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/theiss-research/1254>\
**Category:** Organisations\
**Created:** [March 2, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/theiss-research/1254 "2021-03-02T18:48:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gavin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@Gavin](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/Gavin)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/theiss-research/1254/1 "2021-03-02T18:48:39Z")

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I stumbled across Theiss Research, was (is?) a US organisation for independent scientists. They look to have been most active around 2005-2010 and seem to have received a decent amount of [grant funding](https://web.archive.org/web/20160214110151/http://www.theissresearch.org/organization/grants.php).

I’m posting a link to a wayback machine archive from 2016 as their current site isn’t well maintained [https://web.archive.org/web/20160325153711/http://www.theissresearch.org/](https://web.archive.org/web/20160325153711/http://www.theissresearch.org/)

@alex.lancaster, have you heard of them?

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**Author:** ![alex.lancaster](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/onscienceandacademia.org/alex.lancaster/32/59_2.png) [@alex.lancaster](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/alex.lancaster)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 4:50am UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/theiss-research/1254/2 "2021-03-21T04:50:27Z")

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Hey Gavin, sorry for the delay on this. Interesting. I think I might have heard about them in passing, they seem familiar somehow, but I don’t know much about them. It was well before Jon even started thinking about Ronin (which was around 2011, I believe).

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**Author:** ![Gavin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@Gavin](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/Gavin)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/theiss-research/1254/3 "2021-03-23T21:57:56Z")

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Turns out I was wrong to assume that a broken website indicated an inactive organisation.

[Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?hl=en&scisbd=2&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22Theiss+Research%22&btnG=) shows regular and recent publications including a Theiss Research affiliation. And [Guide Star](https://www.guidestar.org/profile/65-1268370) shows their 2018 grant income was above $3MM!

I’m kind of surprised that such a well-established organisation for independent researchers has such a small web-presence and seems to be quite unknown within our circles 🤔

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**Author:** ![alex.lancaster](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/onscienceandacademia.org/alex.lancaster/32/59_2.png) [@alex.lancaster](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/alex.lancaster)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/theiss-research/1254/4 "2021-03-26T02:41:40Z")

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Yes, it is bit surprising. My hunch is that the intention is perhaps less building a community and an organization, and more in the nature of a vehicle for the participants. A different, but no less valid approach. In that sense it may be more similar to the Fresh Pond Research Institute [http://www.freshpond.org/](http://www.freshpond.org/) it’s run by Steven Orzack, who is also on the Ronin Board - Fresh Pond was partly what inspired Jon Wilkins to form Ronin itself, as I understand it.