Our Crowdfunding Groups
PsySci@Cal is a democratic undergrad-led faculty-sponsored student organization with more than 280 members in the UC Berkeley college community. PsySci's mission is to foster a vibrant and diverse community that catalyses understanding on how to channel the profound power of psychedelics to engender individual and social transformation so as to manifest greater well-being and flourishing in our ailing world. Our two main avenues to do so has been via education and empowerment — the DeCal and the Student Fund.
Our credited, student-run class 'Introduction to Psychedelic Science' (DeCal) has enriched the education of more than 150 students over the past three semesters and has featured guest lectures by leading pioneers in the psychedelic field like Robin Carthart-Harris, Rick Strassman, and the Mithoefers as well as vocal speakers and community activists from underrepresented backgrounds like Ayize Jama-Everett and Kufikiri Imara. The first two semesters were over Zoom and the lectures are openly-accessible on our website. The class is currently in its fourth iteration and has expanded to two sections comprising of a cohort of 80 students and includes a separate discussion component. Money raised will be used to support DeCal activities, specially honorariums for indigenous speakers, to ensure reciprocity in our community relations.
Our Student Fund is a recently launched financial resource intended to support research, artistic, and community projects proposed by members of our student community. Past projects our members have been involved in include Entheoscope (psychedelic magazine), honors thesis research on Wim Hof breathing and college psychedelic experiences, and psychedelic NFTs. The Fund is stewarded by the PsySci Board with decisions being arrived at democratically via elected board members. Money raised will also go towards supplementing University given funds to allow for a greater degree of support and scope to projects funded.
Our other activities include weekly general meetings, bi-weekly journal clubs led by student-scientists and monthly townhalls. We are also working with the University on changing archaic 'War on Drugs' reminiscent campus delivered drug information towards modern evidence-based data. Another project in the works is an attempt to understand the structures and incentives of current psychedelic scientific practices that are unfavourable to open-science practices and the creation of a clearinghouse of open-source psychedelic brain imaging data.
Some of our horizon aspirations are - hosting an annual Psychedelic Science conference, creating an student-led psychedelic-consciousness research lab, transforming PsySci to a DAO and ultimately the growth of our mycelial network to extend beyond the Berkeley community.
Budget Breakdown
The money raised will be split between our Decal and our Student Fund. DeCal money will primarily go towards honorariums for speakers from indigenous and under-represented backgrounds to ensure non-Western centric voices remain an important perspective in our curricula as well as building reciprocal relationships. Student Fund projects will go towards innovative research, community and artistic projects that emphasize broader value and upliftment. Additional funds will go towards actualizing our horizon aspirations like the Psychedelic Science Conference and the Undergrad Psychedelic Laboratory.
Contact Info:
Website - https://psychedelicscience.berkeley.edu/
Email - ucbpsychedelics[at]gmail[dot]com
Student Fund Application - https://forms.gle/nPCzNJ2NcAZVPj8Y9 -
Youtube (DeCal Material) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1JadK-KD1xV5D4CRBYcTP2oa0dSGPAvh
A shout out in our Discord server to our 200+ members!
A shout out in our Discord server to our 280+ members!
Shout outs on our Instagram & Twitter
Shout out to our Introduction to Psychedelic Science class when we use your donation to pay the honorarium to a speaker we host.
