Dear Volunteers,

Once again, we're celebrating an anniversary that many thought would never come. In 2004, World Community Grid was created by IBM as a short-term proof-of-concept initiative for volunteer computing. 15 years later, we've just launched our 30th project.

As we've all seen this past year, big plans often come with big roadblocks (such as the extensive work on an open-source software program in order to launch the Africa Rainfall Project), and we appreciate everyone's patience and participation while our small team tackles both planned and unplanned challenges.

For our 15th anniversary, we're once again celebrating the dedication of volunteers and researchers who support basic research. Thanks to your donated computing power, and to scientists who devote their careers to the cutting edge of humanitarian science, this work will help lay the groundwork for future discoveries, including some that we probably can't even dream of.

As we mentioned last year, many of the scientists we work with are having unusual difficulty getting funding, others are unable to find new students or staff members, and some don't feel safe in their home countries anymore.

We want to publicly show the world–scientists, supporters or skeptics of science, and the general public–that World Community Grid has been standing tall for humanitarian scientific research since our creation in 2004. So for our 15th anniversary, we're asking you to "shine a beacon for science" on November 16. This can take any public form of sharing your story that you like–check out this article for some ideas.

With permission, your stories, pictures, and videos will be shared on our website, on our social media channels, and within IBM to demonstrate that an international community supports scientific projects that have the potential to help the world.

Questions or comments? Please ask them in this thread.

Thanks to each of you for shining a beacon for science.
Juan Hindo