User:Iopensa/SNSF Wiki Research projects
Qualitative analysis of research projects supported by SNSF Swiss National Science Foundation related to the Wikimedia projects. The analysis has been developed in the frame of the project Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Research Fund/The state of science and Wikimedia: Who is doing what, and who is funding it?
Funding from the SNSF supporting research related to the Wikimedia projects
[edit]Methodology for dataset construction and analysis
[edit]Phase 1: Data acquisition
[edit]The dataset was built in several stages. Initially, the research was conducted using the Grant Search tool by performing targeted searches. However, due to the export limit of 1,000 results per session, this method did not guarantee comprehensive coverage. To overcome this limitation, on 09/02/2024 the complete database of the platform was extracted, consisting of 89,808 records.
Phase 2: Filtering and organisation
[edit]The analysis was carried out exclusively using spreadsheet functionalities. To extract the relevant data, an advanced filtering system was applied to the column dedicated to keywords (using the “contains” criterion). Each result was carefully checked to exclude potential errors before being copied and organised into specific thematic blocks (e.g., “AI in keywords,” “Wiki in keywords,” etc.).
Projects containing multiple keywords simultaneously were identified and colour-coded (red background) to indicate their occurrence in multiple sections, thus ensuring the management of duplicates.
Keywords were defined in order to systematically filter and classify the dataset. The search was carried out considering multiple variations in spelling, hyphenation and lexical form, in order to ensure a comprehensive coverage of the dataset.
Keywords:
- Wiki (including all extensions related to the Wikipedia)
- Commons
- Democracy
- Artificial Intelligence (including variants such as Artificial Intelligence, artificial intelligence, artificial-intelligence)
- Large Language Models (LLM)
- Open
- Peer-to-peer
- Self-organization
- Visualization
- Data Visualization
- Information Design
- Design
- Online Communities
- Open Collaboration
- Tool Design
- Crowdsourcing
Phase 3: Analysis using pivot tables
[edit]For each thematic block, an analysis was conducted using pivot tables. Charts and tables were produced regarding:
- Annual distribution: chronological analysis of projects (cross-referencing Grant Number and Call Decision Year).
- Funding type: classification by funding instrument (Funding Instrument Level 1).
- Disciplinary areas: identification of the research fields involved (Main Discipline Level 1).
- Statistical relevance: calculation of the percentage of projects for each keyword relative to the total dataset (89,808).
Phase 4: Specific analyses on the “Wiki” dataset group
[edit]Regarding the Wikipedia/Wikimedia domain, several additional investigations were conducted and dedicated spreadsheets were created. We explored:
- Extension of the internal search: the number of projects mentioning the term “Wiki” in the abstract and those referring to “Wiki” in research outputs were isolated.
- Analysis of researchers’ external funding: the aim was to determine whether researchers who carried out SNF-funded projects on Wikipedia had also received funding from other organisations for similar projects. To do this, the researchers’ curricula vitae, personal websites, and institutional portals were examined. In this phase, a distinction was made between academic grants and private contributions. In the case of Robert West, for example, the analysis of the paper “Web2Wiki: Characterizing Wikipedia Linking Across the Web” clarified that support from Facebook, Google, and Microsoft consists of donations (“generous gifts”) rather than institutional funding.
- Correlation with open data awards in Switzerland: a direct search was conducted on the main Swiss open data website to verify whether winners of open data awards had actually contributed data to Wikidata or carried out activities connected to the Wikimedia ecosystem.
Phase 5: Simple charts
[edit]Simple visual restitutions of a selection of keyword to highlight recurrences and differences.
Keywords selected: wiki, commons, open, democracy, AI, LLM.
Projects supporting research in areas directly related to the Wikimedia projects
[edit]| GrantNumber | Title | Responsible | Keywords | Start | Ends | Amount CHF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 148975 | Wikipedia Primary School: Providing on Wikipedia the information necessary to complete the cycle of primary education in the languages used by the different education systems. | Pensa, Iolanda | OER Open Educational Resources; Intellectual propriety; Open content; Education; Wikipedia | 2014 | 2017 | 219055.00 |
| 142353 | Production and consumption of information in large-scale social media | Ciampaglia, Giovanni Luca | social media; wikipedia; twitter; information diffusion; open collaboration; online communities; social production; social computing; time series analysis; complex networks; Hawkes process; text analysis; collective attention | 2013 | 2015 | 68250.00 |
| 125128 | Mathematical modeling of online communities | Vancheri, Alberto | mathematical modeling; online communities; Wikipedia; multi-agents systems; complex systems; stochastic processes; social media; agent-based modeling; interaction spaces | 2009 | 2010 | 64180.00 |
| 158539 | Culture and Safety in Africa | Pensa, Iolanda | Access to information; Safety; Wikipedia; Urban transformation; Public art; Africa | 2015 | 2018 | 174514.00 |
| 183217 | WikiMaps | Beaude, Boris | Digital Humanities; Digital Methods; Wikipedia; Digital Sociology; Digital Traces; Visualisation; Data Mining; Globalisation | 2018 | 2021 | 219820.00 |
| 190700 | WikiWorlds : Exploiring collective attentions from digital traces | Beaude, Boris | Wikipedia; Digital Methods; Digital Humanities; Data visualization; Digital footprints; Digital Sociology | 2020 | 2021 | 79536.00 |
| 185043 | Modeling and Improving the Content and Usage of Multilingual Online Encyclopedias | West, Robert | Network analysis; Computer science; Web browsing; World Wide Web; Multilingual content; Online encyclopedias; Applied machine learning; User modeling; Wikipedia; Data science; Data mining; Navigation | 2020 | 2025 | 696516.00 |
| 206953 | Motivations and tools to encourage contributions on Wikipedia | Piccardi, Tiziano | hci; wikipedia; online community; tool design; crowdsourcing | 2022 | 2024 | 123280.00 |
| 211379 | Self-Supervised NLP: From Text to Knowledge and Back | West, Robert | neuro-symbolic AI; Wikipedia; knowledge extraction; natural language understanding; machine learning; natural language processing; artificial intelligence; large language models | 2024 | 2028 | 1799376.00 |
| 10003183 | Visual Analytics for Sustainability and Climate Change: Assessing online open content and supporting community engagement. The case of Wikipedia. | Pensa, Iolanda | Wikipedia; Wikimedia; Creative Commons; Climate change; Information design; Participatory design; Sustainability; Open collaborative peer-production platform; Visual analytics; Open science; Citizen science; Community science | 2025 | 2029 | 447880.00 |
The research project Research:Science Communication in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is supported by SNSF and it is related also to the Wikimedia projects. It doesn't appear in the list because Wiki (Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia and so on) are not among the keyworks.
Research outcomes related to Wiki
[edit]| Output Data | Title of the project |
|---|---|
| The STCA guide is an online wiki-page, which introduced the socio-technical configuration analysis (STCA) method to students, researchers and practitioners interested in using it in their work. The website is continually updated with novel research insights and methodological procedures, many of which were developed in the scope of the GLORIWA project. | Global Socio-technical Regimes in the Water Sector (GLORIWA) |
| Adolf Fick Preis https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf-Fick-Preis | Molecular mechanisms of mammalian phosphate sensing and homeostatic control |
| A wiki database, 'East Asians Encountering the Modernity' has been built with 26 East Asian travel writings on the West in the very first stage of their encounters with Western/modern civilization in the nineteenth century. This database would be opened to the public after completion. | Modern-European Civilization in the Eye of East Asian Travelers |
| Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System CSDMS Annual Meeting Type: Talk given at a conference Title of contribution: https://csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/2018_CSDMS_meeting-108 | Forecast and warning concept for landslides in Switzerland based on rainfall triggering thresholds and multiscale hydrological modelling |
| Best poster prize. International conference on neurofeedback, Maastricht, December 2019 Title: "Regulating subliminal neural activity in thefusiform face area: a fMRI-based neurofeedback study" (presented by Lucas Peek; https://www.rtfin2019.org/107020/wiki/486308/schedule : no 14) Results unpublished, paper in preparation. Abstract: https://www.aanmelder.nl/i/doc/e3cc914da63c165edc33e24474b4eddf?forcedownload=True | Harnessing residual unconscious processing with neurofeedback to regulate visual awareness: implications for spatial attention deficits in patients with neglect after stroke |
| Treffen mit Bundesrat Schneider-Amman und Rektorin Schenker-Wiki Type: Talks/events/exhibitions | Quantum Coherence in Nanoscale Systems |
| Santiago Software Wiki Type: Others (e.g. unlicensed products/procedures, prototypes, demonstrators, teaching materials) | Accelerating sustainable sanitation for all: Software, consulting, and training to integrate technology innovation in strategic planning |
| Wiki-LDA: A Mixed-Method Approach for Effective Interest Mining on Twitter Data Pu X.; Chatti M.A.; Thüs H.; Schroeder U. Wiki-LDA: A Mixed-Method Approach for Effective Interest Mining on Twitter Data. In CSEDU 2016 (8th International Conference on Computer Supported Education), Rome, Italy. x: x. | MODERN: Modeling discourse entities and relations for coherent machine translation |
| Wiki Love Living Heritage • in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results Ghana | Open Science Retreat 2025 |
| Open Education Roadmap Class, Barbara; Balli, Fabio; Enkerli, Alexandre; Favre, Sandrine; Gillet, Denis; Hensler, Iris; Mboa Nkoudou, Thomas Hervé; Notari, Michele; Scherrer, Yvonne; Tschupp, Guillaume Open Education Roadmap. Online: EduTechWiki. Open Education Day CH Type: Talk given at a conference Title of contribution: A Whitepaper in the form of a wiki: Sharing Open Educational Practices through an Open Educational Resource OER#22, 13th annual conference for Open Education research, practice and policy Type: Talk given at a conference Title of contribution: A Multilingual Wiki to Leverage Open Culture and Promote Open Educational Practices? | A Roadmap for Open Education in Switzerland: First Steps |
| Webseite Heuschrecken-Wiki Type: New media (web, blogs, podcasts, news feeds etc.) Media: Webseite Orthoptera.ch New Orthoptera-app and wiki-website Type: Media relations: print media, online media Media: NewsHopper IUCN | Orthoptera-App for Android |
| New Orthoptera-app and wiki-website Type: Media relations: print media, online media Media: NewsHopper IUCN Webseite Heuschrecken-Wiki Type: New media (web, blogs, podcasts, news feeds etc.) Media: Webseite Orthoptera.ch | Orthoptera-App and Wiki |
| 1st Conference of the EDDY Network for Digital Democracy Type: Talk given at a conference Title of contribution: Comparing Interactions Options in Wiki Surveys DSI Digital Democracy Workshop 2023 Type: Talk given at a conference Title of contribution: RfC Deliberative Quality Across Wikimedia Projects: Comparing English Wikipedia, Wikidata, Commons, and Meta Invited Talk at the Wikimedia Australia community meeting Type: Individual talk Title of contribution: Measuring the Gender Gap: Attribute-based Class Completeness Estimation Invited Talk at the Workshop on Understanding Wikimedia as a Digital Media Platform co-located with the 2023 ADM+S Symposium, Sydney, Australia Type: Talk given at a conference Title of contribution: Measuring the Gender Gap: Attribute-based Class Completeness Estimation Wikiworkshop 2023 Type: Talk given at a conference Title of contribution: Deliberative Quality in Wikimedia Projects: Comparing RfCs on Meta, Wikipedia and Wikidata (presenter: Dylan Baumgartner) | Large-Scale Political Participation: Issue Identification, Deliberation, and Co-creation |
| Wikipedia Primary School: Providing on Wikipedia
the information necessary to complete the cycle of primary education in the languages used by the different education systems. |
Other funders
[edit]| Responsible | Funding | Grant No | Name | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ciampaglia, Giovanni Luca | Wikimedia Foundation’s Research Fund | G-RS-2303-1208 | Survival of the Notable: Gender Asymmetry in Wikipedia Collective Deliberations | 25,876 USD |
| West, Robert | Google Faculty Research Award 2017 | – | – | $70,000 |
| West, Robert | Microsoft Swiss Joint Research Center | – | Web2Wiki: Characterizing Wikipedia Linking Across the Web | – |
| West, Robert | Novo Nordisk Foundation | NNF24OC0099109 | Web2Wiki: Characterizing Wikipedia Linking Across the Web | – |
| West, Robert | Pioneer Centre for AI | – | Web2Wiki: Characterizing Wikipedia Linking Across the Web | – |
| West, Robert | EU Horizon 2020 | 101168951 | Web2Wiki: Characterizing Wikipedia Linking Across the Web | – |
| West, Robert | generous gifts from Facebook, Google, and Microsoft | Donation | Web2Wiki: Characterizing Wikipedia Linking Across the Web | – |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation lettera27 Foundation / Moleskine Foundation) | lettera27 Foundation
Cariplo foundation |
Grant | Share Your Knowledge: Creative Commons and Wikipedia for Cultural institutions, 2011-2012 | 172’000 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation lettera27 Foundation / Moleskine Foundation) | Orange Foundation | Grant | WikiAfrica Cameroon, 2012-2013 | 40'000 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Wikimedia Foundation | Grant | What is about – C’est quoi. A series of communication tools about Wikipedia. Cameroon pilot project, 2013-2014 | 15’000 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | European Union program Interreg | Grant | The Alps on Wikipedia: Open data, Wikipedia, GIS and digital and analog museum design, 2013-2015 | 677’000 euro, , includes Wikimedia related activities |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | SUPSI and FFHS | Grant | Swiss Foundations and Open Licenses. Preliminary study, 2014-2015. | 16’000 CHF, includes Wikimedia related activities |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Fondazione Cariplo | Grant | Wikimania Esino Lario: Protagonismo culturale online e offline, 2014-2018 | 190'000 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | Wikimedia CH | Collaboration | GLAM Visual Tool, 2017 | 15’000 CHF |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | Migros percento culturale | Grant | Spaces of culture, creativity and expression of Ticino on OpenStreetMap – I luoghi di cultura, creatività ed espressione del Ticino su OpenStreetMap – Try the edit button / Prova il tasto modifica, 2018 | 10'000 CHF - salary of the PI not covered |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | European Union, cooperation programme Interreg V-A Italy-Switzerland | Grant | GIOCONDA: Gestione integrata e olistica del ciclo di vita degli open data, 2019-2021 | 80’640 CHF, includes Wikimedia related activities |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Wikimedia Italia | Grant | Wikipedia and the Italian school/Wikipedia e la scuola italiana, 2020 with updates in 2021, 2022, 2023 | 12’000 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Wikimedia Italia | Grant | The Italian cultural heritage on Wikipedia, the Wikimedia projects and OpenStreetMap, 2020-2022 | 25’000 euro in 2020 + 11.590 euro in 2021 |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Wikimedia Italia | Funds | Certificating trainers / Formatori certificati, 2013, 2023-2024 | 3'000 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Wikimedia Italia | Grant | Wikipedia in the Italian schoolbooks/Wikipedia nei libri di testo della scuola italiana, 2021 | 1'000 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Wikimedia Foundation / Wikimedia Italia | Grant | Empowering Italian GLAMs / Tutti i musei su Wikipedia, 2022-2024. | 116’680 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Wikimedia Italia | Funds | Data-driven community engagement for Wiki Loves Monuments, 2022. | 22’560 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | swissuniversities | Grant | Open Science for Arts Design and Music (OS-ADM), 2022-2024 | 798’460 CHF, includes Wikimedia related activities |
| Pensa, Iolanda (volunteer) | Wikimedia Italia | Grant | Wikipedia and the Italian school – Support to the scalability of the project in Uruguay / Wikipedia e la scuola italiana – Sostegno alla scalabilità del progetto in Uruguay, 2023 | 1’000 euro |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | Wikimedia CH | Grant | Decolonising knowledge in Switzerland, 2024-2025 | 15'000 CHF salary of the PI not covered |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | Wikimedia Italia
Wikimedia CH |
Grant | Intensive course on research state of the art and Wikipedia for PhD students, 2025 | 1'000 CH Wikimedia Italia and 1'000 CH Wikimedia CH. salary of the PI not covered |
| Pensa, Iolanda (affiliation SUPSI) | Canton of Ticino | Service within a project supported by the European Union European Union program Interreg | Libervie. Freedom To Move: Accessible and Inclusive Cross-Border Cultural and Literary Routes [Libertà Di Muoversi: Vie Culturali e Letterarie Transfrontaliere Accessibili e Inclusive], Mappe letterarie, 2025-2027 | 79’470.00 CHF, includes Wikimedia related activities |
Foundations which appear to be sensitive or potentially sensitive to research related to the Wikimedia projects are the Swiss foundations Hasler Foundation and Mercator Foundation
- Hasler Foundation regularly funded opendata.ch and its hackathons.
- Mercator Foundation https://www.stiftung-mercator.ch/en/
- Mercator Foundation and Fondation Christoph Marian have a joint program promoted by Opendata.ch called Prototype Fund to support digital tools with added value for society https://prototypefund.opendata.ch/fr/a-propos/public-interest-tech/
Related content
[edit]- Images on Wikimedia Commons State of science and Wikimedia.
- Presentation of the project Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Research Fund/The state of science and Wikimedia: Who is doing what, and who is funding it?
- Report of the project Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Research Fund/The state of science and Wikimedia: Who is doing what, and who is funding it?/Project