SPOTTERON
Central Institution for Meteorology and Geodynamics
The Central Institution for Meteorology and Geodynamics (German: Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik, ZAMG) is the national meteorological and geophysical service of Austria. It is a subordinate agency of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research. The ZAMG headquarters are located in Vienna, with regional offices in Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz, and Klagenfurt. ZAMG was founded in 1851 and is the oldest weather service in the world. Its task is not only to operate monitoring networks and to conduct research in various fields, but also to make the results available to the public.
ZAMG has a long tradition of involving the general public in their research - whether it's observing nature, the weather or earthquakes, dating back as early as 1897. Their research is not only of scientific importance; it also presents a useful tool for agricultural purposes or anybody else who might be interested.
Global 2000
GLOBAL 2000 is an Austrian environmental organisation. It was founded in 1982 in Vienna and consists of the associations "GLOBAL 2000 Umweltschutzorganisation" (environmental organisation) and "GLOBAL 2000 Umweltforschungsinstitut (UFI)" (environmental research institute founded in 1991). The organisation claims to work independently and critically for a green, sustainable and healthy environment. Since 1998 it also is member of the worldwide environmental protection network Friends of the Earth and thereby a sister organisation of BUND(Germany) and Pro Natura (Switzerland).
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, or simply BOKU (derived from its German name, Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, founded in 1872, is an education and research center for renewable resources in Vienna, Austria. BOKU combines fundamental and applied expertise in the fields of natural sciences, engineering and biotechnology as well as social and economic sciences to enhance the knowledge basis for sustainable management of natural resources. It is a member of the leading Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) university network. There are currently around 12,500 students from over 100 countries enrolled at BOKU.
Citizen Science has a long tradition at BOKU. In addition to individual projects from a wide range of disciplines, BOKU also includes research areas in which citizen participation has always been part of the research concept.
Therefore, it was a logical step for BOKU to support the platform "Österreich forscht" and the Citizen Science Network Austria, which aims to promote this type of research across all institutions.
Link: https://boku.ac.at
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (German: Universität Wien) is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is one of the oldest universities in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich history, the University of Vienna has developed into one of the largest universities in Europe, and also one of the most renowned, especially in the Humanities. It is associated with 15 Nobel prize winners and has been the academic home to a large number of scholars of historical as well as of academic importance. In 2017 they joined Citizen Science Network Austria with an ever increasing number of projects.
Free Quotation
Get a free quotation for your Citizen Science project based on the SPOTTERON platform, inculding smartphone apps, the interactive map (web-app) and an optional browser website here: Free Citizen Science quotation form
Get a free quote
Get a free quotation for your Citizen Science project based on the SPOTTERON platform. Please provide some basic information about your project and our team will get back to you shortly via eMail.
new Team page
We put up our new team page as its own section - visit our core team here: SPOTTERON Citizen Science Team
Team
In our Citizen Science design studio in Vienna, Austria, we work to create the most advanced Citizen Science platform for providing reliable and high-quality tools in a mobile world. Coming from various backgrounds, our team not only designs and develops Citizen Science applications but also provides support and works together closely with the projects during their whole runtime.
Our core team
Philipp Jonathan Hummer
Design & Project Lead
Rainer Holzapfel
Development Lead
Agnes Milewski
Media & Community
Stefan Holzapfel
Development
Dominik Essletzbichler
Design & Communication
Stefan Nachtnebel
Development
Doris Ortner
Design & Communication
Ingrid Pointecker
Project Management
Stefan Fiedler
Development
Baiba Prūse
International Project Management
Christian Knapp
Development
Thanks also to all contributors, freelancers and test groups in our extended team - without your help, SPOTTERON would not have come that far.
You can get in contact with the SPOTTERON Team via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via phone at +43-676-598-2272
Article 13
Let`s fight for Citizen Science! Article 13 of the EU copyright law draft endangers all web-based CitSci projects, learn here in our Blog how to take action.
Article 13 threatens all Citizen Science projects - let`s take action now!
-
”Our collaboration with SPOTTERON has been essential for our citizen science project. The ideas of our research have been efficiently implemented into the app in a simple and didactic way, thanks to the good communication and professionalism of the team.Sara Blanco Ramirez, PhD student, Hydrology and Climate
-
”Mammals Atlas Kenya (MAKENYA), an operational mobile application to submit mammal sightings by citizens was launched in January 2021. I found the SPOTTERON team very magnanimous, highly professional, meticulous and committed to their work; and definitely I recommend the team to anyone interested in citizen science applications worldwide.Simon Musila, Mammalogy Section, National Museums of Kenya
-
”
Working with SPOTTERON for our citizen science app was the best decision our team could have made! Philipp and his team led us through the design process and helped us translate our ideas into reality. As US clients, we were surprised that there was no lag in communication due to the time difference where the SPOTTERON team works. I am convinced they work around the clock! They always responded quickly to our emails and scheduled calls to meet our schedule. I highly recommend working with SPOTTERON if you are designing a citizen science app.
Jules Bruck, University of Delaware -
”
Choosing SPOTTERON for our CrowdWater project was the best decision we could have made for developing the app. Excellent implementation of our (sometimes not entirely thought through) ideas, competent advice, and a fair business model - working with SPOTTERON is a major factor why CrowdWater is working so well.
Prof. Jan Seibert, Department of Geography Hydrology and Climate, University of Zurich -
”
SPOTTERON has enabled Tea Bag Index to widen our citizen scientist engagement methods and helped us to come up with ideas on how to bring soils closer to the public. It is a pleasure to work with a company who wants to create a platform that is a communication possibility for everybody involved in the project!
Dr. Taru Sandén, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety - AGES -
”
Working together with Spotteron has been a smooth and fast way to get our Citizen Science project started! Their impressive experience in app building as well as in communication with citizens has proven to be invaluable and complements nicely with a team of scientists taking their first steps in citizen science!
Bram Vanthournout, Ghent University -
”
GLOBAL 2000 has been working closely with Spotteron for more than 3 years. Together we have started the DreckSpotz app and are constantly developing it. The SPOTTERON team is not only incredibly competent, but above all very flexible and uncomplicated. That's why we feel extremely well looked after as an environmental organization and NGO.
Johannes Frauscher, GLOBAL 2000, Friends of Earth Austria -
”
The decision to use the SPOTTERON Citizen Science platform for our participatory project can be summarized best in this way: it was possible in a short time to create a well-working and user-friendly Citizen Science app for our research. The positive feedback on our project "Landauf - LandApp" shows that involving citizens in a scientific project can be a lot of fun when using the right tool.
Daniel Fähle, National Archive Baden-Württemberg, Germany -
”
The app developed by SPOTTERON is an ideal extension to our established methods and strengthens the inclusion of Citizen Scientists. The design and intuitive usability relate also to a young audience. Especially the community features make a direct feedback possible and it is especially motivating that the SPOTTERON team themselves are actively contributing in the app - a win-win situation for everyone.
Irmgard Greilhuber, Mycological Society Austria, University of Vienna -
”Working with SPOTTERON to design the app was an interesting experience for me. As an ecology PhD student, I knew how to catch Brush-turkeys and design experiments to learn about their behaviour. I knew next to nothing about how to engage with the broader community at large. SPOTTERONS’s expertise was invaluable here, they have experience in designing apps that people want to use, and balance detail with ease of function.Matthew Hall, University of Sydney
-
”I've worked with loads of app developers over my career, but none so high quality as SPOTTERON. Their capabilities are astounding. They are incredibly innovative, creative and agile with a keen sense of humour and lightness. SPOTTERON apps are the benchmark of how to do citizen science well. They are elevating our ability to engage with the natural world in a meaningful way.Jen Sutfin, EarthWatch Australia
-
”
SPOTTERON brings a lot of passion and lots of expertise in the field of Citizen Science to the table, to present projects - not only in technical terms - in the right light. The websites for both schweiz-forscht.ch and ecsa-conference.eu are based on good and easy cooperation with our Austrian partners.
Yasemin Tutav, Science et Cité -
”
I’m amazed by SPOTTERON's passion for CitizenScience, impressed by their energy and initiatives and grateful for what I’ve learned by collaborating with them on the Fjällkalendern app.
Kjell Bolmgren, University of Stockholm -
”
As a scientist, collaborating with SPOTTERON to create our Citizen Science App ‘Fågelbär’ was the right choice. We could focus on what type of data we want to collect and the team at SPOTTERON designed, built and are now running the App!
Matilda Arnell, University of Stockholm -
”
With our SPOTTERON App Nature's Calendar ZAMG we are always technically up-to-date. As a result we are able to offer our Citizen Scientists a tool which is also appealing to today's generation without having to worry about any technical questions.
Thomas Hübner, Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik ZAMG -
”
Working with SPOTTERON implies working with a professional partner on the topics of Apps & Citizen Science. I was always very pleased about the reliability, but also the openness to try new things and the possibility to exchange with competent partners. Thanks!
Dr. Dott. Didone Frigerio, University of Vienna, KLF Grünau/Almtal -
”
With our project Roadkill, we were on the SPOTTERON platform since its beginnings, this way we got to witness the great development of this tool first-hand and were able to contribute in the shaping process. SPOTTERON manages the fine balance between scientific research, community management and modern design. The personal collaboration on a professional level supports the comfortable atmosphere in the project.
Florian Heigl PhD, University of Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna -
”
If you are looking for a dedicated team for the development of a Citizen Science App - even if that has to happen quite fast- you are in good hands at SPOTTERON. Fast communication, straightforward coordination and running updates of the app, even after the release, characterize our successful collaboration.
Magdalena Gärtner, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg -
”
Through the SPOTTERON App "Was geht ab?" we were able to create an appealing and useful possibility for kids, to spot problem- and feel-good areas in their home- and school surroundings. In the SPOTTERON team we found reliable and creative partners, that care about more than just the implementation.
Juliane Stark, University of Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna -
”
Thanks to the experience and the knowhow as well as the basic structure of SPOTTERON, we were able to have the CrowdWater apps developed in no time. We consider the model that allows every project to use all newly developed tools very fair and transparent. This way our apps even got some new features, we didn't even know we needed before.
Simon Etter, University of Zurich -
”
Through SPOTTERON we share more than just an app infrastructure with other projects, we also share ideas. This way we get to develop and constantly improve user-friendly apps, which are easy to handle and work for many different kinds of projects.
Barbara Strobl, University of Zurich -
”
To me, SPOTTERON is the successful combination of scientific claim and aesthetic design. The apps work intuitively, are extremely appealing and still fulfill all my scientific requirements when it comes to data quality and safety. Working together happens in a very loyal and trusting way and that allows us to profit from the design- and usability experience SPOTTERON has.
Daniel Dörler, University of Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna -
”
What I especially like about SPOTTERON, is that we get to use many ideas and new tools that were developed for other projects in the SPOTTERON family without having to pay for them..
Klaus Wanninger, Lacon
