Vision

SciXchange transforms dormant laboratory assets into citable and tradable resources. As arXiv is to preprints and GitHub is to code, SciXchange will become the standard for the discovery, citation, and exchange of scientific materials.

SciXchange is an ORCID-verified, peer-to-peer platform that addresses the billions of dollars in high-quality research materials that are idled or discarded annually after project completion.

The Problem

As a scientist, I've spent countless nights perfecting protein purifications, optimizing cell lines, and synthesizing compounds—only to have them sit unused after publication. Meanwhile, across the hall or across the world, another researcher is starting from scratch on the same materials I've already mastered.

This inefficiency is systemic:

• Dormant Assets: Billions of dollars in high-quality research materials are discarded annually after project completion
• Connection Barrier: Requesting materials from unfamiliar labs lacks a standardized trust framework
• Credit Vacuum: Material contributions lack formal academic credit mechanisms
• Innovation Bottleneck: Emerging labs face high costs and long lead times for key materials

We've all been there—spending weeks preparing samples that could be easily made in another lab, or discovering that the exact reagent we need already exists in a colleague's freezer. The current system relies on informal networks and serendipitous conversations, wasting precious time and resources that could be directed toward actual discovery.

Our Solution

SciXchange is a secure, peer-to-peer platform for scientific resource matching that provides infrastructure for trust, credit, and compliance.

Key Features:

• ORCID-based verification for scientific identity
• Material listing system with collaboration models
• Request board for community matching
• Standardized workflows replacing informal emails
• Credit tracking for sharing contributions
• AI-powered discovery to find materials and providers
• Automated compliance documentation

Current Status

Development Phase: MVP Development & Closed Beta Initial Focus: Academic research institutions in life sciences

Why I'm Building This

As a single-molecule biophysicist, I've experienced firsthand the challenges of accessing specialized reagents and materials. During my PhD and postdoc, I've spent countless hours developing proteins, cell lines, and experimental protocols—resources that could benefit other researchers but often sit idle after publication.

At the Damon Runyon retreat, I shared the vision for SciXchange with fellow researchers and received enthusiastic support. Many scientists face the same frustrations: materials requests that go unanswered, weeks spent recreating existing resources, and the lack of proper credit for sharing research materials.

SciXchange aims to solve these problems by creating a trusted, credit-based platform that makes scientific materials discoverable, accessible, and properly attributed.

Impact Vision

• Accelerate Discovery: Reduce material preparation time from months to days
• Enable Innovation: Lower barriers for emerging labs and resource-limited institutions
• Recognize Contributions: Create formal academic credit for material sharing
• Reduce Waste: Transform idle assets into productive resources
• Build Community: Foster collaboration through trusted scientific networks

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SciXchange is a personal project by Longfu Xu, aimed at improving scientific collaboration and material sharing. This initiative is independent of my academic research at UC Berkeley/HHMI.