Will only address your last question: Proposals remain confidential, received, reviewed, approved or rejected. Very very occasionally WCG will pre-announce a project adoption, like the 3 Water related researches and the knowing that one or the other phase I will get a phase II, but that's about as good as it gets.

Articles of papers that refer to WCG in science journals are routes to reach other scientists interested in computational biology / chemistry with humanitarian / environmental objective. Those projects have to be of sufficient size... with present grid performance and standard share being done in a few weeks will not get on [and has happened to get rejected because of this, which then remains confidential as far as WCG is concerned]

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Thanks both for your replies. I guess the best we can do as crunchers is just keep crunching. Getting more results long-term will get more articles into papers (and maybe the odd high-profile thing in the mainstream press or media).

Here is my own experience.

I graduated from and live very close to a huge research based university. The Dean of the Honors College for undergrads is my neighbor. I told her about WCG, and other BOINC projects, how good an institution looks if they have at least one project. She asked me to write a proposal that she could then send around to the heads of various scientific departments.

I put together a very complex detailed description of all of the WCG projects, and many of the other projects running on BOINC software. I used material from the projects' web sites. I made sure that the university or other institution(s) where the project were based was quite clear. I included links and graphics. I made it modular so that she could send just what she wanted to whomever she wanted. I gave it to her in print form, in sections, but also in electronic form for dispersing the sections.

I did a lot of work and nothing came out of it. When I asked here what had happened, she said that she had sent sections to Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, etc. Not one department took any interest.

I was especially surprised about Physics and Astronomy. My university has a significant team in an LHC collaboration, and participates in Astronomy with the European Southern Observatory's organization in Germany and Chile.

I would suggest that anyone who has any connection to any university which might prove fruitful should try and make some kind of contact or connection. I live also near to an institution where a WCG project now ended was based. Another neighbor worked in the project. I donated to them some much needed computer equipment that was excess to my needs. I recommend this kind of contact also. No project, no matter how well funded, needs to spend money on something they need that you have and do not need.