Project Discovery: Flow Cytometry
Phase three of Project Discovery began on June 15th 2020. It was preceded by Project Discovery: Exoplanets. In-game, results are submitted to the CONCORD Assembly and the project is supervised by Dr. Andrea Cossarizza's in-game avatar.
Mechanics
From the Dev Blog
The newest iteration of Project Discovery allows you to analyze data produced by flow cytometers. Using a tracing tool, you will draw polygons around clusters of cells. In doing so, you will participate in analyzing COVID-19 data, as well as other related flow cytometry charts, which will help scientists understand better how our immune systems are impacted by this novel coronavirus.
Specifically, you will be demarcating different cell populations present in blood. That data will provide information about how infections and other factors impact immune systems. Your polygons aid scientists in understanding how different cell populations and types are altered through infection.
In-Game
Running a blood sample through the Flow Cytometer yields a graph presented to you on the left. Each dot represents a cell. Cells of the same type will often group together in a Cluster. Your task is to identify the boundaries of such clusters. A graph can contain up to 8 clusters but often less. Each polygon can contain no more than 10 vertices. Each polygon cannot overlap another.
After submitting a sample, you will be shown your accuracy for that sample. Accuracy is determined by how close what you outlined is to the "Gold Standard" that the researchers outlined. You will also be shown these other stats:
- High Score (highest submitted accuracy)
- Par (accuracy needed to pass)
- Average (of what other capsuleers got)
A sample can be graded as:
- Flawed (>0%)
- Substandard (>33%)
- Acceptable (>50%)
- Considered (>70%)
- Robust (>90%)
Restrictions
You may only submit 5 samples per minute on any one account. Additionally, while you will still accrue (or lose) accuracy and ISK, you may only continue to progress levels if you meet the total skill point requirements. The Skill Point requirement is 1 million Skill Points per 25 levels. Example: Once you reach level 25 you must have at least 2 million total Skill Points to continue gaining Experience Points (and Superior Flow Cytometry Crates) until you reach level 50 whereas to continue to accrue Experience you will need 3 million Skill Points, and so on.
Note : you may only submit a certain amount of samples per day, with the day starting at downtime:
- as an Omega account, 200 samples per day (total of 19,8 million ISK)
- as an Alpha account, 100 samples per day (total of 9,9 million ISK)
Rewards
- Experience points: Up to 89 EXP at 99% accuracy. The first 10 submissions of the day (starting at 00:00, not at downtime) will provide double the amount of EXP.
- ISK: up to 99,000 ISK at 99% accuracy. ISK rewards are taxable.
Ranks are gained by obtaining sufficient experience points. If the Skill Point requirement is not met no experience points will be gained, however ISK rewards are not affected.
Each time you gain a new rank you receive a Flow Cytometry Reward Crate containing 1 SKIN from a limited set of Biosecurity Responders SKINs. After rank 25 you start to receive Superior Flow Cytometry Reward Crates, which contain 2 SKINs per crate and draw from all possible Biosecurity Responders SKINs. In May and August 2021, players received 3-5 PLEXs from a reward crate, proving that PLEX is also a possible rare loot.
There are specific rewards at certain ranks in addition to the usual rewards:
- 5: Biosecurity Response Team Mask
- 10: Project Discovery Cytometry Hat
- 25: Project Discovery Cytometry T-shirt
- 50: Pacifier Blueprint Copy - 1 Run
- 75: Pacifier Biosecurity Responders SKIN
- 100: Women's Biosecurity Response Team Coat
- 125: Men's Virtuality Biotechnician Coat
- 150: Enforcer Blueprint Copy - 1 Run
- 175: Enforcer Biosecurity Responders SKIN
- 200: 'Purity Vector' Facial Augmentation
- 250: BioCrystal Protective Glasses
- 350: 'Eico BioSec' Facial Augmentation
- 500: Marshal Blueprint Copy - 1 Run
- 650: Marshal Biosecurity Responders SKIN
See also
2021-04-22 Project Discovery was nominated for a Webby
