Since retirement one of the most interesting ways I have been supplementing my pension is by helping with academic research. When I was working I enjoyed mentoring students and I am pleased to still be involved with university studies.

Prolific

I joined    Prolific which is a website that links academics from around the world with participants willing to help complete online research studies.  Many studies are on psychological topics but a variety of other subjects are covered.  Surveys can take from a few minutes to an hour or sometimes more.  You are told in advance how long a survey will take and what the fee will be. Payment is generally about £10.00 per hour and can be made via PayPal or donated to charity.  Unlike most survey sites you rarely get disqualified from a study.  You don’t need a degree to join and participants from most countries are accepted on to their panel. Many studies can be completed using a tablet or mobile phone. The minimum cashout is £5.00 and can be requested instantly.

So far I have completed about 800 studies and earnt over £900.00. I have had a wide range of studies covering subjects as diverse as recognising different types of rock under ultraviolet light to deciding responsibility for criminal behavior in an individual with a head injury.

Click here to find out more about Prolific     

Testable minds is a newer site. At present they do not have many studies and I have not earnt the 20$ needed to cash out but if you would like a flutter click my link.

Volunteering for local university research studies

Many universities also recruit volunteers directly for studies.  I recently participated in a  a study on dopamine and memory run by the University of Bristol.  This was a very interesting experience  which involved two overnight visits to the Bristol sleep clinic and an E.C.G., E.E.G. and an MRI scan.  Luckily I was recruited as a healthy control.  I enjoyed doing the memory tests and meeting the students.  I also received very generous expenses and dinner and breakfast on the two nights I spent at the clinic.

Helping students is something I miss since giving up work and I feel it is a worthwhile use of my time.  If you would like to give it a try, it is worth checking to see if your local university is looking for volunteers for studies.  .

I was also invited to a tasting session for high protein biscuits.  We spent

an enjoyable half an hour discussing such things as crispiness and crunch.  We soon discovered that if you are developing a product to be used as a supplementary food for the elderly you need to assume that at least some of them will have false teeth.

Another study was on cicadian  rhythm and memory.  I had to wear a glucose monitor for four days and check my blood sugar regularly.

A  Bristol company which recruits volunteers for focus groups and telephone interviews is People for research   

I have not taken part in any project with them myself but I think they are reliable.  Most focus groups take place in Bristol, London or another big city but they recruit people nationwide for phone interviews.