Pocket Science helps researchers turn scientific questions into public participation and meaningful measurements. We build tailor-made citizen science apps, complete observatories and apps that work with scientific sensors—including our own flagship instrument, iSPEX.
Commission a defined build, add us to a consortium, or establish a long-term support relationship.
Selected customers and scientific partners from almost fifteen years of citizen science.
We do not compete by copying an existing app for less. We create a distinctive, exceptionally user-friendly experience that gives participants something worth returning for—and gives researchers meaningful, trustworthy measurements.
Before development, we ask who will participate, why they will care, what they receive in return and how the project will reach them. The scientific task, visual character, feedback and outreach belong to one experience.
Attention is only the beginning. Communication, end-user support, updates and careful community maintenance can turn first-time participation into loyalty—and more participation into more useful measurements.
Transit of Venus asked whether a worldwide crowd could repeat the historic experiment for estimating the Earth–Sun distance—and reached 130,000+ downloads. Dark Sky Meter moved from an amateur astronomer’s idea to BBC and CBS coverage and more than 50,000 measurements. Black Hole Finder became a SciStarter Top Ten project and reached the NRC front page in 2026.
No one can guarantee success. We bring almost fifteen years of enthusiasm, creativity, public-launch experience and honest judgment to improve its chances. We have also declined technically feasible apps when there was no credible route to momentum.
A citizen science observatory is the whole working environment around the research: participant apps and websites, data collection, researcher tools, secure infrastructure, communication and support. It is an option—not a required package—and every part can be tailored to the method.
Mobile, web or both. We translate the method into an accessible participant experience, including unusual interactions, multilingual delivery, offline use and connections to existing research systems.
Explore app developmentAdd only what the project needs: a website, dashboard, administration, maps, exports, APIs, sensor integration, participant support, outreach, data processing or machine learning.
Explore data and infrastructureOne coherent, self-hosted environment for participants and researchers, with the public experience, research workflow, data access, operations and long-term stewardship designed together.
Explore research partnershipsResearch teams ask Pocket Science to connect the parts that turn an application into a living, dependable research service.
We shape the invitation, onboarding, feedback and communication around a meaningful scientific task. Our work has brought thousands of people into real research, and we have operated our own communities for years.
The interface follows the research question. Validation rules, metadata, consent, anonymisation, researcher access and exports are designed into the system.
We run our own managed infrastructure rather than placing project data in an external public cloud. Data minimisation, access control, backups, monitoring and GDPR responsibilities are part of the architecture.
We can handle participant questions, app-store releases, maintenance, hosting and integrations for years. Before a project ends, we agree how its app, data and community can continue or be transferred responsibly.
Our portfolio spans citizen science apps, international campaigns, research platforms and smartphone instruments—built with research partners and used outside the lab.
An active research line with atmospheric citizen-science heritage. Prof Stefan Simis and Dr Tom Jordan at Plymouth Marine Laboratory successfully derived above-water remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) with iSPEX2 in multiple 2025 validation campaigns; research deployments and wider validation continue, with protocols, data and processing open on OSF.
Public classification, researcher workflows and machine-learning support around live astronomical candidates. A SciStarter Top Ten project in 2024 and NRC front-page story in 2026.
A guided mobile workflow for observing water colour and clarity, developed through Horizon 2020 MONOCLE and supported in continuing field use.
Invented and fully owned by Pocket Science, Dark Sky Meter has collected 50,000+ measurements and remains actively supported; Pro serves amateur astronomers and researchers, while Loss of the Night extends the suite to Android users.
Science is our passion. Enabling people to do it—and helping make the world a little better—is our goal.
Pocket Science grew from an early belief that the smartphone in everyone’s pocket could give ordinary people real scientific power. In 2013, when citizen science was still unfamiliar to many, that message reached the TEDxEutropolis stage and audiences around the world.
Today Norbert, Joep and Demelza share the same DNA: curiosity, love for the subject, respect for end users and the determination to make useful science last. Together we build apps and instruments, complete observatories, worldwide research relationships and communities that continue beyond launch.
Projects and grants end. Valuable science should not have to. Sustaining the apps, instruments, communities and knowledge that deserve a future is part of the mission—and it is why we design outreach, support, self-hosting and long-term operation alongside the technology.
Bring us in for a defined app, a consortium work package, or a relationship that outlives the project.
We can quote a clear app directly. Where the method, interaction or infrastructure is still taking shape, we begin with a bounded discovery phase and turn it into a responsible scope.
What should participants observe, measure, report or classify—and why does it matter?
Who will participate, what must they do, and what makes the resulting data useful?
We define the app, optional components, integrations, ownership, support and route beyond funding.
We deliver with the research team, validate the workflow and stay for the agreed lifetime of the service.
Share the research goal, expected participants, required platforms, languages, data needs and desired lifetime. We will reply with the questions needed for a practical fit and initial quote.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +31 45 20 31 008