# For Backers This page covers everything you need to discover research campaigns, contribute USDC, and manage your portfolio on PepFund. *** ## Before You Begin ### A Solana Wallet PepFund is non-custodial. You need a Solana wallet to contribute to campaigns. Supported wallets: * [Phantom](https://phantom.app) * [Backpack](https://backpack.app) * [Solflare](https://solflare.com) If this is your first time using a Solana wallet, Phantom provides the smoothest setup experience. Install the browser extension, create a wallet, and securely store your recovery phrase. ### USDC on Solana All contributions on PepFund are denominated in USDC (USD Coin) on the Solana network. You will need USDC in your wallet to back campaigns. You can acquire USDC through any centralised exchange that supports Solana-native withdrawals (Coinbase, Kraken, Binance) or via a decentralised exchange such as Jupiter. {% hint style="warning" %} Make sure you are using **Solana-native USDC**, not USDC bridged from another chain. PepFund only accepts native SPL USDC. {% endhint %} A small amount of SOL is also required to pay Solana transaction fees (less than $0.01 per transaction). *** ## Discovering Campaigns The PepFund campaigns page shows all active fundraises. You can filter by: * **Status:** Active, Funded, Closing Soon * **Category:** Biology, Climate, Neuroscience, Longevity, Materials, Pharmacology, Astronomy, Environment * **Funding stage:** Any percentage range Each campaign card shows the project title, research category, current funding progress, number of backers, and days remaining. Click any card to open the full campaign page. *** ## What to Look For When evaluating a campaign, consider the following: **Researcher credentials** All researchers are ORCID-verified. Their profile includes institution, publication history, and linked identifiers. Click the researcher badge on any campaign to view their full ORCID profile. **Milestone specificity** Well-structured campaigns define milestones with clear, measurable deliverables. Vague milestones ("conduct research", "publish findings") are a signal to look more closely before contributing. **Team composition** Look for teams with relevant domain expertise. Multi-member teams with complementary skills reduce execution risk. **Funding goal vs. scope** A campaign asking for $200,000 with a three-month timeline and two team members is worth scrutinising. Cross-reference the scope of work against the capital requested. *** ## Contributing to a Campaign 1. Open a campaign page and review the research details, milestones, and team. 2. Click **Back This Research**. 3. Enter your USDC contribution amount. The minimum contribution is $1. 4. Review the transaction summary: your contribution, the campaign tokens you will receive, and the escrow address. 5. Confirm and sign the transaction in your wallet. Your USDC is transferred to the campaign escrow immediately. Your research tokens are minted and sent to your wallet in the same transaction. {% hint style="info" %} If the campaign does not reach its goal before the deadline, you can claim a full USDC refund at any time. The escrow contract enforces this automatically. {% endhint %} *** ## Your Research Tokens When you contribute to a campaign, you receive research tokens proportional to your share of the total raised. These tokens are specific to the campaign and carry: * **Governance rights:** vote to approve or flag milestone submissions * **IP access rights:** first-mover access to research outputs when published * **Revenue participation:** a proportional share of future licensing income, if the research generates it Tokens are non-transferable while the campaign is active. Once the campaign completes, the researcher's configuration determines whether tokens become transferable. See [Research Tokens](/core-concepts/research-tokens.md) for a full explanation. *** ## Your Portfolio The portfolio view shows all campaigns you have backed, the current milestone status of each, your research token holdings, and your full contribution history. Every entry links to the corresponding onchain transaction. *** ## Refunds If a campaign fails to reach its funding goal before the deadline, the campaign transitions to a **Failed** state. At that point: * No further contributions are accepted * The escrow unlocks for backer refunds * You can claim your full USDC contribution from the portfolio page at any time Refunds are processed as a single Solana transaction. No request to PepFund is required. The contract handles it automatically. *** ## Next Steps * [Backing a Campaign](/guides/backing-a-campaign.md): the full step-by-step contribution guide * [Research Tokens](/core-concepts/research-tokens.md): understand what you receive when you back a campaign * [Campaign Lifecycle](/core-concepts/campaign-lifecycle.md): understand how campaigns progress from creation to completion --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.pepfund.xyz/getting-started/for-backers.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.