Scientific measurement apps
Turn phones, cameras and connected sensors into guided instruments with calibration, signal processing, quality controls and interpretable results.
Explore measurement apps
Citizen science app development · worldwide
Put real science in people’s hands.
Pocket Science pioneered citizen science app development. We have since matured from building apps into scientific sensing, instrumentation, research data systems and machine learning. Bring us the method, sensor, observation or classification problem. We turn it into a system people can use.
For researchers worldwide · commissioned directly or as a consortium partner · approximately half of our work has come from the United States
Pioneersin citizen science app development
Beyond appssensing, instruments, data platforms and machine learning
Since 2010shipping and operating mobile and web technology
Nature · NRC · The Vergeindependent coverage of work we helped bring into the world
What we build
A research method is not a feature list.
Good citizen science technology starts with the scientific question and the people doing the work. We can design whichever layers the project needs—from one focused app to a larger research system—and make them work responsibly with the science.
Citizen science apps & software
Mobile and web applications for observations, classifications and community monitoring—designed for sustained participation and useful research data.
Explore citizen science softwareResearch data infrastructure
Production backends, maps, dashboards, validation workflows, APIs and interoperable data services that remain useful after the launch campaign.
Explore research infrastructure
When to call Pocket Science
Choose us when the difficult part is making the science work outside the laboratory.
- Your participants must do more than complete a form.
- The phone camera, onboard sensors or external hardware are part of the method.
- Data quality, calibration or validation must be designed into the workflow.
- You need an app and a production backend, not a disconnected prototype.
- Scientists, participants and engineers need to shape the system together.
- Your international research or innovation programme needs a technical work-package owner.
Selected case studies
Built in the field, tested by reality.
Our portfolio is not a gallery of interfaces. It is evidence that we can translate unfamiliar scientific methods into technology used by real people.
Air and water · smartphone optics
iSPEX
Our flagship scientific-instrument lineage: apps, processing and international field deployment around smartphone spectropolarimetry.
Astronomy · classification
Black Hole Finder
A public classification platform connected to an active university research programme and robotic-telescope follow-up.
Water · field participation
Mini Secchi
A guided mobile workflow for participatory observation of water colour and clarity, developed in Horizon 2020 MONOCLE.
Light pollution · phone camera
Dark Sky Meter
A long-running example of turning consumer-phone camera data into a structured environmental measurement experience.
Curiosity is part of the work
We do not sit in the researcher’s chair. We pull ours alongside it.
The subject is never “just content” for an app. We want to understand why a reflection on water matters, what hides in a flickering point of light, why the night is getting brighter, and what a participant can genuinely add. That enthusiasm is how we notice the technical detail that a detached supplier misses.
We love unfamiliar subjects, open instruments and the moment someone realises their phone can help investigate the world.
We learn deeply without pretending to replace the scientist, community or field expert. Their authority stays theirs. Our role is to become involved enough to translate the method faithfully, challenge the technology constructively and keep caring after launch.
Open source and open science are natural parts of that attitude: useful methods, tools and knowledge should travel further when project rights and participant responsibilities allow it.
CitiObs FellowsPart of a European citizen-observatory community focused on turning observation into action.
SciStarter Top Affiliate 2025Connected to a worldwide community helping people find and join real science.
European Citizen ScienceAn active organisation profile, projects and relationships across the European community.
EOSC involvementPractical delivery and advice around interoperable citizen-science services and open research infrastructure.
DarkSky InternationalShared work and visibility around public light-pollution observation and measurement.
IAU ambassadorsConnecting public participation with astronomy and an international community of discovery.
How we work
Bring us the subject, problem or opportunity.
You do not need a finished specification or a technology shopping list. We listen, learn enough of the domain to become genuinely involved, and shape a route we can responsibly deliver.
Tell us the goal
Start with what you are trying to achieve, who it matters to and what is persistently difficult.
We listen and learn
We study the method, participants, evidence, systems and constraints until we can think alongside you.
Shape the route
Together we identify the smallest serious step, the wider opportunity and any direct, co-funded or funded route.
Bound the work
Before substantive design or development, we agree scope, responsibilities, rights, evidence boundaries and payment.
Build and stay
We deliver with domain experts, validate the system, and remain available for operation, maintenance or responsible transfer.
“People do not want to watch science. They want to do it.”
That conviction has guided our work from public astronomy to smartphone optics, water observation and research platforms: give people a meaningful scientific action and make difficult technology feel natural.
Commercial clarity
A senior build partner, scoped around the work.
Every research system is different, so we do not pretend it has a one-click price. We do make the first commercial step explicit.
Technical fit call
A focused conversation about the research method, participants, constraints, current systems and likely delivery route.
- 30 minutes
- No sales theatre
- Clear fit or no-fit answer
Discovery and system definition
For projects that need method translation, architecture, risk reduction and an implementation plan before a responsible quote.
- Defined scope and output
- Technical and participation risks
- Delivery and funding options
Project delivery
A direct assignment, co-funded development or funded technical work package with agreed milestones and responsibilities.
- Mobile and web delivery
- Backend and data services
- Maintenance available
Start with the science
What should people be able to measure, observe or discover?
Tell us the goal, participants, method, current systems and desired timescale. We will respond with questions and a practical assessment.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +31 45 20 31 008