A letter from Ijad, ResearchGate's CEO and co-founder.

Dear ResearchGate members,

Five years and one month after the first researcher signed up on May 28, 2008, ResearchGate has reached three million members. This means the world to me, and I want to say:

Thank you for being a part of ResearchGate!

I had the idea for ResearchGate when I was working in the lab and couldn't find an answer to a question I was struggling with. So, with my friends Sören Hofmayer and Horst Fickenscher, I set out to provide you with a new infrastructure to keep you from experiencing the same isolation I experienced, and to help you find partners to collaborate with. Little did we know that ResearchGate would someday come so far, and you've led the way. Every day, you:

… ask hundreds of questions and give thousands of answers
… share thousands of datasets and publications
… connect with thousands of other researchers.

This has resulted in countless collaborations. Researchers who might otherwise never have met have found each other through the network and made discoveries together.

This is what it looks like when three million researchers collaborate worldwide.

You've also created a huge knowledge base of more than 50 million publications that is accessible to everyone and includes unique raw and negative data – a great resource for your peers and the next generation of researchers.

Our plan for the future is to open up science even further. I'd be delighted if you continue the journey with us!

With sincere thanks,
Ijad

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