I submitted my thesis last month (hurray!) and am preparing now for the viva. I'm looking for work for next year, and my department forwarded an email from a company called Mouseion (www.mouseion.com) who pay PhD students and post-docs to write 'critical commentaries' on various topics - they pay per report, so it seems a possible way of getting some money while I'm looking for something more permanent. I was wondering if anyone has worked at all for this company or knew anything about it? It's difficult to see from the website exactly who the writing is aimed at and what happens to the 'commentaries' - and they're not answering the phone.

Had a look at the website. Sounds a bit fishy to me. All this stuff about generating content, but no real mention of who that content is for. Is it to rival Wikipedia? Is it to get teaching/book content on the cheap? Is it an elaborate essay selling business? It's hard to tell from the information provided.

If your uni is listed as one of those participating, ask the company for a local contact with whom you could discuss this. If they don't consent to this, I'd be suspicious. TBH the fact they're not answering the phone doesn't bode well.

Also, neither the CEO not the Director of Content have a current university affiliation listed, and they don't seem to mention any named academics involved, just a list of unis from which they're recruiting. Seems potentially dodgy.

Hi HazyJane, thanks for your reply. I've finally spoken to someone there, and it seems they're launching next year. The content is apparently to be used as teaching aids for undergraduate students. A local contact is a good idea - I'll check it out.

I'd still exercise a little caution. If that's what the materials are for then why doesn't it say that on the website? And how are they going to turn a profit to pay you if they've not launched yet? They may 'pay per report' but I'd find out how soon after finishing that you'll get payment - would it only be if someone purchases the resource? Their business model doesn't seem particularly transparent, which is a concern.