SciXchange: Transforming Scientific Material Sharing

As a researcher who has spent countless hours requesting plasmids, antibodies, and reagents from other labs, I've experienced firsthand the inefficiencies in our current system of material sharing. Even more frustrating is when I spend weeks preparing samples from scratch – time that could have been saved since these exact materials often exist as sleeping assets in other labs, or could be more efficiently prepared by labs with greater expertise and established protocols. This experience, combined with my fellowship at UC Berkeley and HHMI, inspired me to create SciXchange – a platform that could revolutionize how scientists share and access research materials.

The Problem with Current Material Sharing

Every year, billions of dollars worth of high-quality research materials sit idle in laboratories after projects conclude. Meanwhile, other researchers struggle to access these same materials, facing high costs from commercial vendors for materials that already exist in academic labs, long wait times for custom synthesis or production, connection barriers when trying to request materials from unfamiliar labs, and lack of academic credit for sharing materials unlike publications.

The current system relies on informal emails, personal networks, and goodwill – but this approach doesn't scale and leaves many valuable resources underutilized.

Our Solution: A Peer-to-Peer Infrastructure

SciXchange is not just another marketplace. We're building the credit infrastructure for research resources – a platform where every material contribution becomes a quantifiable academic asset. Just as arXiv transformed preprint sharing and GitHub revolutionized code collaboration, SciXchange aims to become the standard for scientific material discovery, citation, and exchange.

Key Features

ORCID-Verified Identity: Every user is verified through ORCID or institutional email, creating a trusted network of researchers.

AI-Powered Matching: Our engine scans publications to identify materials and automatically matches researchers' needs with available resources.

Compliance-First Approach: Built-in Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) generation and institutional compliance tracking.

Credit-Based System: Researchers earn credits by sharing materials, which they can use to request materials from others. Every share gets a citable ID, contributing to a "Material Impact Index."

From Sharing to Science Acceleration

The platform supports three interaction modes:

Share: Free sharing with the community
Exchange: Collaboration-for-authorship arrangements
Sell: Compliant peer-to-peer transactions (for verified institutional members)

This phased approach allows us to build community trust first, then introduce sustainable economic models that benefit both individual researchers and the broader scientific ecosystem.

Technical Innovation

Our AI-powered discovery engine doesn't just wait for users to list materials. It proactively scans new publications to identify key materials and their creators, generates professional request drafts for researchers, recommends potential providers from both our platform and the broader literature, and handles compliance paperwork automatically.

Looking Forward

We're currently in the MVP development phase, with a closed beta launching within the UC system. Our goal is to seed the network with high-quality initial users and materials, leveraging the strong collaborative culture within the UC and HHMI communities.

The vision extends far beyond just material sharing. We're creating an ecosystem where no research effort is wasted since every material has the potential for broader impact, emerging labs have equal access to cutting-edge tools and reagents, material contributors receive proper academic credit for their generosity, and scientific collaboration happens at unprecedented scale.

Join the Movement

If you're interested in participating in our beta testing phase or learning more about SciXchange, reach out at sciXchange[at]longfuxu.com. We're particularly looking for research labs with active material sharing needs, graduate students and postdocs who frequently request materials, and institutional partners interested in streamlining compliance processes.

Together, we can transform how science gets done – ensuring that every valuable research material achieves its full potential in accelerating discovery.

SciXchange is a personal project founded by Dr. Longfu Xu (UC Berkeley/HHMI-Damon Runyon Fellow) and is not affiliated with any other organizations.