1. PROT-G Case Study
Creation of an online forum to increase connectivity and collaboration among marine protist researchers

2. What is PROT-G?
The Moore Foundation invested $8m to accelerate development of experimental model systems (EMS) in marine microbial ecology. The PROT-G group on protocols.io was created to support the EMS scientists.

3. What were the main motivations for PROT-G?
Freeing researchers from ‘reinventing the wheel’ by:
Providing a tool to make it easier to collaborate
Sharing knowledge that could be useful both within and outside of the protist research community
"Advances in one type of science often helps others because scientists are developing concepts and technologies relevant to multiple types of organisms, habitats and host associations."
J.Kaye, Ph.D., program director of the Marine Microbiology Initiative at the Moore Foundation

4. Mission of protocols.io for PROT-G:
To provide an online forum to increase connectivity and collaboration among marine protist researchers at all levels, from undergraduates to professors, working in different labs and teams
To reduce the loss of method know-how and facilitate sharing of knowledge and optimizations among labs

5. Which protocols.io features help to foster interactions in the PROT-G community?
Interactive protocols for web & mobile use
Protocol forks and new versions
Discussions and annotations on any step
Group discussions and subgroups
Jobs, news, events
Protocol wishlist

6. PROT-G group: Some figures (as of June, 2017)

7. PROT-G group: 127 members

8. April Woods, Moss Landing Marine Labs
Some testimonials
‘Having worked with biological systems ranging from bacteria, animal models and marine phytoplankton, I have found that even the most ubiquitous protocols require some tweaking when applied against the myriad cell types and conditions one encounters in scientific research. Protocols.io creates a systematic and organized platform for researchers to share the gritty, less dazzling aspects of science that help us all get our work done. I am excited to support the protocols.io community, as it seeks to achieve greater transparency and reproducibility in science.’
April Woods, Moss Landing Marine Labs

9. Some testimonials
‘Many laboratories around the world have developed methods that could be amenable to other systems, and with protocols.io the methods can be shared before the journal article is published, and most likely in more detail than published. Finally, with the online community that can be directly questioned about a protocol or just general questions, this is allowing science and method development to be pushed forward faster. This has been a valuable resource with the development of genetics in Aureococcus as all of the members in PROT-G are trying to accomplish the same task in their own organism.’
Eric Gann, Wilhelm lab

10. Some testimonials
‘Even though I have worked on protistan ecology most of my academic career, I have worked in different aspects of the field involving different tools and protocols. Having come from a lab in Hong Kong that was limited in resource and collaboration, it was difficult for me to try and learn new methods on my own, and I find it can be hard to obtain enough information from the 'Methodology' section of publications some times. This is why I wanted to become an ambassador for protocols.io/PROT-G to help promote this great idea of sharing protocols, so that new students and researchers trying out new methodologies do not have to spend precious time figuring things out on their own, especially when the methodology may have been perfected by many others in the field already.’
Alle Lie, Caron Lab

11. 124 PROT-G protocols

12. 41 Group discussions

13. Examples of comments

14. News

15. Events and jobs offers

16. Events and jobs offers