Malariacontrol.net - Revision history

Al Piskun: lowercase

2026-06-24T12:46:43Z

lowercase

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:46, 24 June 2026
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	{{Infobox software		{{Infobox software
	\| name = ~~Malariacontrol~~.net		\| name = malariacontrol.net
	\| logo =		\| logo =
	\| logo caption =		\| logo caption =
	\| screenshot = Malaria.gif		\| screenshot = Malaria.gif
	\| caption = ~~Wikidata illustration associated with the Malaria Control Project~~		\| caption = malariacontrol.net Screensaver
	\| description = Malariacontrol.net was a completed BOINC volunteer computing project, part of the Africa@home initiative, that simulated the transmission dynamics and health effects of malaria for the Swiss Tropical Institute and the University of Geneva between 2005 and 2016.		\| description = Malariacontrol.net was a completed BOINC volunteer computing project, part of the Africa@home initiative, that simulated the transmission dynamics and health effects of malaria for the Swiss Tropical Institute and the University of Geneva between 2005 and 2016.

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	}}		}}

	'''~~Malariacontrol~~.net''' was a [[volunteer computing\|volunteer computing]] [[BOINC projects\|BOINC project]] that simulated the transmission dynamics and health effects of [[wikipedia:Malaria\|malaria]] in order to help researchers evaluate strategies for controlling the disease across Africa.<ref name="wiki-mcp">{{Cite web \|title=Malaria Control Project \|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria_Control_Project \|website=Wikipedia \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> Run by the [[wikipedia:Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute\|Swiss Tropical Institute]] (now the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Swiss TPH) in Basel, in partnership with the [[wikipedia:University of Geneva\|University of Geneva]], the project was the founding and only activity of the [[wikipedia:Africa@home\|Africa@home]] initiative, which had in turn been conceived and developed with help from [[wikipedia:CERN\|CERN]].<ref name="africa-home">{{Cite web \|title=Africa@home \|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa@home \|website=Wikipedia \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> ~~Malariacontrol~~.net is generally credited as the first volunteer computing project to model the spread of a human disease.<ref name="natgeo2006">{{Cite news \|last=Lovgren \|first=Stefan \|date=2006-08-08 \|title=Malaria Battlers Enlist Power of Your PC \|work=National Geographic News \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902224121/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060808-malaria.html \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The project ran for roughly a decade before being retired on 21 June 2016.<ref name="status2016">{{Cite web \|last=Maire \|first=Nicolas \|date=2016-06-21 \|title=Status and plans as of June 2016 \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722220548/http://www.malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=1472 \|website=malariacontrol.net \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>		{{Lowercase title}}

			'''malariacontrol.net''' was a [[volunteer computing\|volunteer computing]] [[BOINC projects\|BOINC project]] that simulated the transmission dynamics and health effects of [[wikipedia:Malaria\|malaria]] in order to help researchers evaluate strategies for controlling the disease across Africa.<ref name="wiki-mcp">{{Cite web \|title=Malaria Control Project \|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria_Control_Project \|website=Wikipedia \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> Run by the [[wikipedia:Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute\|Swiss Tropical Institute]] (now the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Swiss TPH) in Basel, in partnership with the [[wikipedia:University of Geneva\|University of Geneva]], the project was the founding and only activity of the [[wikipedia:Africa@home\|Africa@home]] initiative, which had in turn been conceived and developed with help from [[wikipedia:CERN\|CERN]].<ref name="africa-home">{{Cite web \|title=Africa@home \|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa@home \|website=Wikipedia \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> malariacontrol.net is generally credited as the first volunteer computing project to model the spread of a human disease.<ref name="natgeo2006">{{Cite news \|last=Lovgren \|first=Stefan \|date=2006-08-08 \|title=Malaria Battlers Enlist Power of Your PC \|work=National Geographic News \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902224121/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060808-malaria.html \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The project ran for roughly a decade before being retired on 21 June 2016.<ref name="status2016">{{Cite web \|last=Maire \|first=Nicolas \|date=2016-06-21 \|title=Status and plans as of June 2016 \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722220548/http://www.malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=1472 \|website=malariacontrol.net \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

	== History ==		== History ==

	The malariacontrol.net domain name was first registered on 19 May 2005,<ref name="whois">{{Cite web \|title=~~Malariacontrol~~.net domain information \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111071411/https://www.whois.com/whois/malariacontrol.net \|website=whois.com \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> and the project entered public testing soon afterwards, drawing on preliminary in-house computing at the Swiss Tropical Institute of around 40 machines before it became clear that a much larger pool of computing power would be needed to adequately validate the underlying disease model.<ref name="whirlpool">{{Cite web \|title=mc \|url=https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/mc \|website=Whirlpool Wiki \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The project launched publicly on the [[wikipedia:BOINC\|BOINC]] platform in 2006 as part of the broader Africa@home effort, which had been announced on 13 July of that year with backing from the Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN), [[wikipedia:ICVolunteers\|ICVolunteers]], and CERN.<ref name="africa-home" />		The malariacontrol.net domain name was first registered on 19 May 2005,<ref name="whois">{{Cite web \|title=malariacontrol.net domain information \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111071411/https://www.whois.com/whois/malariacontrol.net \|website=whois.com \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> and the project entered public testing soon afterwards, drawing on preliminary in-house computing at the Swiss Tropical Institute of around 40 machines before it became clear that a much larger pool of computing power would be needed to adequately validate the underlying disease model.<ref name="whirlpool">{{Cite web \|title=mc \|url=https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/mc \|website=Whirlpool Wiki \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The project launched publicly on the [[wikipedia:BOINC\|BOINC]] platform in 2006 as part of the broader Africa@home effort, which had been announced on 13 July of that year with backing from the Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN), [[wikipedia:ICVolunteers\|ICVolunteers]], and CERN.<ref name="africa-home" />

	Project scientists estimated that, using thousands of volunteered PCs, malariacontrol.net could complete in a matter of months a volume of computation that would otherwise have taken up to 40 years on the computing resources available in-house to the modelling team.<ref name="whirlpool" /> Each work unit simulated a virtual human population of between 50,000 and 100,000 individuals for around an hour on an average home computer, with completed results returned to the University of Geneva for evaluation.<ref name="wiki-mcp" /><ref name="natgeo2006" /> The project used [[wikipedia:Stochastic simulation\|stochastic simulation]] to model the natural history of malaria infection at the individual level, tracking factors such as transmission intensity, immunity, and the effects of interventions like [[wikipedia:Insecticide-treated net\|mosquito nets]], drug treatment, and candidate vaccines.<ref name="how-it-works">{{Cite web \|title=How does ~~MalariaControl~~.net work? \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629144036/http://africa-at-home.web.cern.ch/africa-at-home/malariacontrolnet.html \|website=Africa@home \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>		Project scientists estimated that, using thousands of volunteered PCs, malariacontrol.net could complete in a matter of months a volume of computation that would otherwise have taken up to 40 years on the computing resources available in-house to the modelling team.<ref name="whirlpool" /> Each work unit simulated a virtual human population of between 50,000 and 100,000 individuals for around an hour on an average home computer, with completed results returned to the University of Geneva for evaluation.<ref name="wiki-mcp" /><ref name="natgeo2006" /> The project used [[wikipedia:Stochastic simulation\|stochastic simulation]] to model the natural history of malaria infection at the individual level, tracking factors such as transmission intensity, immunity, and the effects of interventions like [[wikipedia:Insecticide-treated net\|mosquito nets]], drug treatment, and candidate vaccines.<ref name="how-it-works">{{Cite web \|title=How does malariaControl.net work? \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629144036/http://africa-at-home.web.cern.ch/africa-at-home/malariacontrolnet.html \|website=Africa@home \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

	As of 2010, the project had approximately 10,000 active volunteers out of more than 37,000 cumulative registered participants, drawn largely from the same demographic as the wider BOINC community: mostly men aged 20–50 living in Europe and North America, who most often learned of the project through the BOINC website itself and cited the satisfaction of contributing to a humanitarian cause as their primary motivation.<ref name="krebs2010">{{Cite journal \|last=Krebs \|first=Viola \|date=2010-02-01 \|title=Motivations of cyber-volunteers in applied volunteer computing environment: ~~Malariacontrol~~.net as an example \|journal=[[wikipedia:First Monday (journal)\|First Monday]] \|volume=15 \|issue=2 \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403093734/http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2783/2452/#author \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>		As of 2010, the project had approximately 10,000 active volunteers out of more than 37,000 cumulative registered participants, drawn largely from the same demographic as the wider BOINC community: mostly men aged 20–50 living in Europe and North America, who most often learned of the project through the BOINC website itself and cited the satisfaction of contributing to a humanitarian cause as their primary motivation.<ref name="krebs2010">{{Cite journal \|last=Krebs \|first=Viola \|date=2010-02-01 \|title=Motivations of cyber-volunteers in applied volunteer computing environment: malariacontrol.net as an example \|journal=[[wikipedia:First Monday (journal)\|First Monday]] \|volume=15 \|issue=2 \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403093734/http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2783/2452/#author \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

	Starting on 4 November 2010, with financial support from the [[wikipedia:Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation\|Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]], the project's underlying simulation model was released as an open-source framework called '''OpenMalaria''', which is still maintained by Swiss TPH and used by malaria modellers worldwide.<ref name="openmalaria-wiki">{{Cite web \|last=Smith \|first=Thomas A. \|date=2017-04-20 \|title=Open Malaria \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710032517/https://github.com/swisstph/openmalaria/wiki \|website=GitHub \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>		Starting on 4 November 2010, with financial support from the [[wikipedia:Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation\|Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]], the project's underlying simulation model was released as an open-source framework called '''OpenMalaria''', which is still maintained by Swiss TPH and used by malaria modellers worldwide.<ref name="openmalaria-wiki">{{Cite web \|last=Smith \|first=Thomas A. \|date=2017-04-20 \|title=Open Malaria \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710032517/https://github.com/swisstph/openmalaria/wiki \|website=GitHub \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>
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	== Termination ==		== Termination ==

	On 21 June 2016, the project's science team announced that malariacontrol.net would not resume sending out work units and confirmed its termination.<ref name="status2016" /> The announcement explained that, unlike when the project began roughly ten years earlier, volunteer computing was no longer the most efficient or cost-effective way to obtain the simulation throughput required by the modelling team, since improvements in institutional [[wikipedia:High-performance computing\|high-performance computing]] had made dedicated cluster resources available to the group that simply hadn't existed a decade before.<ref name="status2016" /> The announcement also noted that the staffing profile behind the project had changed over the years, making the continued maintenance of project-specific BOINC server components harder to justify given the scale of investment that would have been required to upgrade them.<ref name="status2016" /> The malariacontrol.net server was left running for a period afterward without issuing further work, and the project was formally retired from the BOINCstats project listings later that year.<ref name="boincstats2016">{{Cite web \|title=~~Malariacontrol~~ quits \|url=https://www.boincstats.com/forum/10/11036,1 \|website=BOINCstats/BAM! \|date=2016-08-01 \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>		On 21 June 2016, the project's science team announced that malariacontrol.net would not resume sending out work units and confirmed its termination.<ref name="status2016" /> The announcement explained that, unlike when the project began roughly ten years earlier, volunteer computing was no longer the most efficient or cost-effective way to obtain the simulation throughput required by the modelling team, since improvements in institutional [[wikipedia:High-performance computing\|high-performance computing]] had made dedicated cluster resources available to the group that simply hadn't existed a decade before.<ref name="status2016" /> The announcement also noted that the staffing profile behind the project had changed over the years, making the continued maintenance of project-specific BOINC server components harder to justify given the scale of investment that would have been required to upgrade them.<ref name="status2016" /> The malariacontrol.net server was left running for a period afterward without issuing further work, and the project was formally retired from the BOINCstats project listings later that year.<ref name="boincstats2016">{{Cite web \|title=malariacontrol quits \|url=https://www.boincstats.com/forum/10/11036,1 \|website=BOINCstats/BAM! \|date=2016-08-01 \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

	== Scientific output ==		== Scientific output ==
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	# {{Cite journal \|last=Carneiro \|first=Ilona \|last2=Smith \|first2=Lucy \|last3=Ross \|first3=Amanda \|last4=Roca-Feltrer \|first4=Arantxa \|last5=Greenwood \|first5=Brian \|last6=Schellenberg \|first6=Joanna Armstrong \|last7=Smith \|first7=Thomas \|last8=Schellenberg \|first8=David \|year=2010 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.09.072397 Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa] \|journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization \|doi=10.2471/BLT.09.072397}}		# {{Cite journal \|last=Carneiro \|first=Ilona \|last2=Smith \|first2=Lucy \|last3=Ross \|first3=Amanda \|last4=Roca-Feltrer \|first4=Arantxa \|last5=Greenwood \|first5=Brian \|last6=Schellenberg \|first6=Joanna Armstrong \|last7=Smith \|first7=Thomas \|last8=Schellenberg \|first8=David \|year=2010 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.09.072397 Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa] \|journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization \|doi=10.2471/BLT.09.072397}}
	# {{Cite journal \|last=Ross \|first=Amanda \|last2=Smith \|first2=Thomas \|year=2010 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-9-132 Interpreting malaria age-prevalence and incidence curves: a simulation study of the effects of different types of heterogeneity] \|journal=Malaria Journal \|doi=10.1186/1475-2875-9-132}}		# {{Cite journal \|last=Ross \|first=Amanda \|last2=Smith \|first2=Thomas \|year=2010 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-9-132 Interpreting malaria age-prevalence and incidence curves: a simulation study of the effects of different types of heterogeneity] \|journal=Malaria Journal \|doi=10.1186/1475-2875-9-132}}
	# {{Cite journal \|last=Krebs \|first=Viola \|year=2010 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i2.2783 Motivations of cybervolunteers in an applied distributed computing environment: ~~MalariaControl~~.net as an example] \|journal=First Monday \|doi=10.5210/fm.v15i2.2783}}		# {{Cite journal \|last=Krebs \|first=Viola \|year=2010 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i2.2783 Motivations of cybervolunteers in an applied distributed computing environment: malariaControl.net as an example] \|journal=First Monday \|doi=10.5210/fm.v15i2.2783}}
	# {{Cite journal \|last=Gosoniu \|first=L. \|last2=Vounatsou \|first2=P. \|last3=Sogoba \|first3=N. \|last4=Maire \|first4=N. \|last5=Smith \|first5=T. \|year=2009 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csda.2009.02.022 Mapping malaria risk in West Africa using a Bayesian nonparametric non-stationary model] \|journal=Computational Statistics & Data Analysis \|doi=10.1016/j.csda.2009.02.022}}		# {{Cite journal \|last=Gosoniu \|first=L. \|last2=Vounatsou \|first2=P. \|last3=Sogoba \|first3=N. \|last4=Maire \|first4=N. \|last5=Smith \|first5=T. \|year=2009 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csda.2009.02.022 Mapping malaria risk in West Africa using a Bayesian nonparametric non-stationary model] \|journal=Computational Statistics & Data Analysis \|doi=10.1016/j.csda.2009.02.022}}
	# {{Cite journal \|last=Tediosi \|first=Fabrizio \|last2=Maire \|first2=Nicolas \|last3=Penny \|first3=Melissa \|last4=Studer \|first4=Alain \|last5=Smith \|first5=Thomas A. \|year=2009 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-8-127 Simulation of the cost-effectiveness of malaria vaccines] \|journal=Malaria Journal \|doi=10.1186/1475-2875-8-127}}		# {{Cite journal \|last=Tediosi \|first=Fabrizio \|last2=Maire \|first2=Nicolas \|last3=Penny \|first3=Melissa \|last4=Studer \|first4=Alain \|last5=Smith \|first5=Thomas A. \|year=2009 \|title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-8-127 Simulation of the cost-effectiveness of malaria vaccines] \|journal=Malaria Journal \|doi=10.1186/1475-2875-8-127}}
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	== Technology ==		== Technology ==

	~~Malariacontrol~~.net distributed work to volunteers through the [[BOINC\|BOINC]] client, the same [[wikipedia:Volunteer computing\|volunteer computing]] middleware that underpins projects such as [[SETI@home]] and [[Einstein@Home]]. The project's simulation engine modelled malaria transmission and intervention effects using individual-based [[wikipedia:Stochastic simulation\|stochastic simulation]], generating outputs across a population of <math>5\times10^{4}</math> to <math>10^{5}</math> simulated individuals per work unit and tracking variables including the [[wikipedia:Entomological inoculation rate\|entomological inoculation rate]] <math>EIR</math> and the resulting force of infection over time.<ref name="how-it-works" /> The project supplied a custom OpenGL screensaver, developed by Jasenko Zivanov, a University of Basel student who had previously designed the graphics for [[SETI@home]]; the visualization rendered an animated three-dimensional chart plotting the average infectiousness of the simulated human population by age group over time, layered against a stylised African landscape populated by animated mosquitoes, and included a "mosquito cam" viewing mode.<ref name="screensaver">{{Cite web \|title=What is the ~~Malariacontrol~~.net screen saver showing? \|url=https://boinc.mundayweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_is_the_Malariacontrol.net_screen_saver_showing%3F \|website=BOINC Wiki \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The graphics application was only ever made available for Windows.<ref name="screensaver" /> See [[BOINC project screensavers]] for a broader survey of project screensaver graphics across BOINC history.		malariacontrol.net distributed work to volunteers through the [[BOINC\|BOINC]] client, the same [[wikipedia:Volunteer computing\|volunteer computing]] middleware that underpins projects such as [[SETI@home]] and [[Einstein@Home]]. The project's simulation engine modelled malaria transmission and intervention effects using individual-based [[wikipedia:Stochastic simulation\|stochastic simulation]], generating outputs across a population of <math>5\times10^{4}</math> to <math>10^{5}</math> simulated individuals per work unit and tracking variables including the [[wikipedia:Entomological inoculation rate\|entomological inoculation rate]] <math>EIR</math> and the resulting force of infection over time.<ref name="how-it-works" /> The project supplied a custom OpenGL screensaver, developed by Jasenko Zivanov, a University of Basel student who had previously designed the graphics for [[SETI@home]]; the visualization rendered an animated three-dimensional chart plotting the average infectiousness of the simulated human population by age group over time, layered against a stylised African landscape populated by animated mosquitoes, and included a "mosquito cam" viewing mode.<ref name="screensaver">{{Cite web \|title=What is the malariacontrol.net screen saver showing? \|url=https://boinc.mundayweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_is_the_Malariacontrol.net_screen_saver_showing%3F \|website=BOINC Wiki \|access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The graphics application was only ever made available for Windows.<ref name="screensaver" /> See [[BOINC project screensavers]] for a broader survey of project screensaver graphics across BOINC history.

	== Legacy ==		== Legacy ==

Al Piskun: first light

2026-06-24T12:22:22Z

first light

New page

{{Infobox software
| name = Malariacontrol.net
| logo =
| logo caption =
| screenshot = Malaria.gif
| caption = Wikidata illustration associated with the Malaria Control Project
| description = Malariacontrol.net was a completed BOINC volunteer computing project, part of the Africa@home initiative, that simulated the transmission dynamics and health effects of malaria for the Swiss Tropical Institute and the University of Geneva between 2005 and 2016.

| status = Completed
| category = Biology and Medicine
| compute = CPU
| dependencies = None

| developer = Swiss Tropical Institute (now Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute)
| author = Nicolas Maire, Thomas A. Smith and the Swiss Tropical Institute modelling group
| sponsor = Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN)
| maintainer = Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
| released = {{Start date and age|2006|12|19}}
| completed = {{Start date and age|2016|6|21}}
| discontinued =
| repository =

| programming language = C++
| operating system = Windows, Linux, macOS
| size =

| stats as of = {{Start date and age|2014|1|1}}
| average performance = 12.155 TFLOPS
| active users = 7,907
| total users = 200,749
| active hosts = 29,988
| total hosts = 545,517

| rac =
| credit per day =
| gpu performance = Not applicable
| cpu performance = 12.155 TFLOPS

| website = {{URL|http://www.malariacontrol.net/}}
| license =
}}

'''Malariacontrol.net''' was a [[volunteer computing|volunteer computing]] [[BOINC projects|BOINC project]] that simulated the transmission dynamics and health effects of [[wikipedia:Malaria|malaria]] in order to help researchers evaluate strategies for controlling the disease across Africa.<ref name="wiki-mcp">{{Cite web |title=Malaria Control Project |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria_Control_Project |website=Wikipedia |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> Run by the [[wikipedia:Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute|Swiss Tropical Institute]] (now the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Swiss TPH) in Basel, in partnership with the [[wikipedia:University of Geneva|University of Geneva]], the project was the founding and only activity of the [[wikipedia:Africa@home|Africa@home]] initiative, which had in turn been conceived and developed with help from [[wikipedia:CERN|CERN]].<ref name="africa-home">{{Cite web |title=Africa@home |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa@home |website=Wikipedia |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> Malariacontrol.net is generally credited as the first volunteer computing project to model the spread of a human disease.<ref name="natgeo2006">{{Cite news |last=Lovgren |first=Stefan |date=2006-08-08 |title=Malaria Battlers Enlist Power of Your PC |work=National Geographic News |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902224121/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060808-malaria.html |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The project ran for roughly a decade before being retired on 21 June 2016.<ref name="status2016">{{Cite web |last=Maire |first=Nicolas |date=2016-06-21 |title=Status and plans as of June 2016 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722220548/http://www.malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=1472 |website=malariacontrol.net |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

== History ==

The malariacontrol.net domain name was first registered on 19 May 2005,<ref name="whois">{{Cite web |title=Malariacontrol.net domain information |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111071411/https://www.whois.com/whois/malariacontrol.net |website=whois.com |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> and the project entered public testing soon afterwards, drawing on preliminary in-house computing at the Swiss Tropical Institute of around 40 machines before it became clear that a much larger pool of computing power would be needed to adequately validate the underlying disease model.<ref name="whirlpool">{{Cite web |title=mc |url=https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/mc |website=Whirlpool Wiki |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The project launched publicly on the [[wikipedia:BOINC|BOINC]] platform in 2006 as part of the broader Africa@home effort, which had been announced on 13 July of that year with backing from the Geneva International Academic Network (GIAN), [[wikipedia:ICVolunteers|ICVolunteers]], and CERN.<ref name="africa-home" />

Project scientists estimated that, using thousands of volunteered PCs, malariacontrol.net could complete in a matter of months a volume of computation that would otherwise have taken up to 40 years on the computing resources available in-house to the modelling team.<ref name="whirlpool" /> Each work unit simulated a virtual human population of between 50,000 and 100,000 individuals for around an hour on an average home computer, with completed results returned to the University of Geneva for evaluation.<ref name="wiki-mcp" /><ref name="natgeo2006" /> The project used [[wikipedia:Stochastic simulation|stochastic simulation]] to model the natural history of malaria infection at the individual level, tracking factors such as transmission intensity, immunity, and the effects of interventions like [[wikipedia:Insecticide-treated net|mosquito nets]], drug treatment, and candidate vaccines.<ref name="how-it-works">{{Cite web |title=How does MalariaControl.net work? |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629144036/http://africa-at-home.web.cern.ch/africa-at-home/malariacontrolnet.html |website=Africa@home |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

As of 2010, the project had approximately 10,000 active volunteers out of more than 37,000 cumulative registered participants, drawn largely from the same demographic as the wider BOINC community: mostly men aged 20–50 living in Europe and North America, who most often learned of the project through the BOINC website itself and cited the satisfaction of contributing to a humanitarian cause as their primary motivation.<ref name="krebs2010">{{Cite journal |last=Krebs |first=Viola |date=2010-02-01 |title=Motivations of cyber-volunteers in applied volunteer computing environment: Malariacontrol.net as an example |journal=[[wikipedia:First Monday (journal)|First Monday]] |volume=15 |issue=2 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403093734/http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2783/2452/#author |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

Starting on 4 November 2010, with financial support from the [[wikipedia:Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation|Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]], the project's underlying simulation model was released as an open-source framework called '''OpenMalaria''', which is still maintained by Swiss TPH and used by malaria modellers worldwide.<ref name="openmalaria-wiki">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Thomas A. |date=2017-04-20 |title=Open Malaria |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710032517/https://github.com/swisstph/openmalaria/wiki |website=GitHub |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

== Termination ==

On 21 June 2016, the project's science team announced that malariacontrol.net would not resume sending out work units and confirmed its termination.<ref name="status2016" /> The announcement explained that, unlike when the project began roughly ten years earlier, volunteer computing was no longer the most efficient or cost-effective way to obtain the simulation throughput required by the modelling team, since improvements in institutional [[wikipedia:High-performance computing|high-performance computing]] had made dedicated cluster resources available to the group that simply hadn't existed a decade before.<ref name="status2016" /> The announcement also noted that the staffing profile behind the project had changed over the years, making the continued maintenance of project-specific BOINC server components harder to justify given the scale of investment that would have been required to upgrade them.<ref name="status2016" /> The malariacontrol.net server was left running for a period afterward without issuing further work, and the project was formally retired from the BOINCstats project listings later that year.<ref name="boincstats2016">{{Cite web |title=Malariacontrol quits |url=https://www.boincstats.com/forum/10/11036,1 |website=BOINCstats/BAM! |date=2016-08-01 |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

== Scientific output ==

Over its roughly ten years of operation, malariacontrol.net contributed to more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles.<ref name="wiki-mcp" /> Areas of study supported by the project's simulations included the comparative effectiveness of candidate [[wikipedia:Malaria vaccine|malaria vaccines]] across high- and low-transmission settings,<ref name="penny2008">{{Cite journal |last=Penny |first=Melissa A. |last2=Maire |first2=Nicolas |last3=Studer |first3=Alain |last4=Schapira |first4=Allan |last5=Smith |first5=Thomas A. |year=2008 |title=What Should Vaccine Developers Ask? Simulation of the Effectiveness of Malaria Vaccines |journal=PLoS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0003193 |pmid=18784833 |pmc=2527129}}</ref> the impact of intermittent preventive treatment with [[wikipedia:Sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine|sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine]] in infants,<ref name="ross2008">{{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Amanda |last2=Penny |first2=Melissa |last3=Maire |first3=Nicolas |display-authors=etal |year=2008 |title=Modelling the Epidemiological Impact of Intermittent Preventive Treatment against Malaria in Infants |journal=PLoS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002661 |pmid=18628828 |pmc=2441827}}</ref> and the development of a comprehensive individual-based simulation framework for [[wikipedia:Plasmodium falciparum|''Plasmodium falciparum'']] transmission and control, the foundational paper for what would become OpenMalaria.<ref name="smith2008">{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=T. |last2=Maire |first2=N. |last3=Ross |first3=A. |display-authors=etal |year=2008 |title=Towards a comprehensive simulation model of malaria epidemiology and control |journal=Parasitology |doi=10.1017/S0031182008000371 |pmid=18694530}}</ref>

A study published in 2012 used the project's simulations to assess the likely benefit of deploying the [[wikipedia:RTS,S|RTS,S]] candidate vaccine through the World Health Organization's Expanded Programme on Immunization across a range of transmission settings, concluding that the gains over a 14-year horizon were comparatively modest under routine delivery and that targeted mass vaccination campaigns in low-transmission areas could extract more benefit from the same vaccine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Status update |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327012309/http://www.malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=1264 |website=malariacontrol.net |date=2012-03-23 |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> Further work carried out around 2013 examined the diagnostic performance of [[wikipedia:Rapid diagnostic test|rapid diagnostic tests]] and other surveillance tools across high- and low-transmission ''P. falciparum'' settings, and found that population-wide screening before treatment could be more cost-effective than indiscriminate mass drug administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Science update part I: till January 2013 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327034710/http://www.malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=1351 |website=malariacontrol.net |date=2013-07-26 |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Science update part II: till March 2013 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327015443/http://www.malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=1352 |website=malariacontrol.net |date=2013-07-30 |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> A related 2013 analysis compared [[wikipedia:Pyrethroid|pyrethroid]]-only mosquito nets against nets treated with both pyrethroid and [[wikipedia:Piperonyl butoxide|piperonyl butoxide]], finding both options to be cost-effective across pyrethroid-susceptible and pyrethroid-resistant mosquito populations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Science update part III: till June 2013 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327053305/http://www.malariacontrol.net/forum_thread.php?id=1353 |website=malariacontrol.net |date=2013-07-30 |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

Many subsequent OpenMalaria-based publications by the Swiss TPH disease modelling group continued to explicitly credit the volunteers of malariacontrol.net for providing the computing capacity behind their simulations, even after the project stopped issuing new work units.<ref name="tediosi2009">{{Cite journal |last=Tediosi |first=Fabrizio |last2=Maire |first2=Nicolas |last3=Penny |first3=Melissa |last4=Studer |first4=Alain |last5=Smith |first5=Thomas A. |year=2009 |title=Simulation of the cost-effectiveness of malaria vaccines |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-8-127}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Briët |first=Olivier J. T. |last2=Chitnis |first2=Nakul |year=2013 |title=Effects of changing mosquito host searching behaviour on the cost effectiveness of a mass distribution of long-lasting, insecticidal nets: a modelling study |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-12-215}}</ref>

=== Science Publications===

The list below reproduces the malariacontrol.net entries from the official ''[https://boinc.berkeley.edu/pubs.php#Malariacontrol.net Publications by BOINC Projects]'' page, maintained by Alex Piskun.<ref name="boinc-pubs">{{Cite web |title=Publications by BOINC Projects |url=https://boinc.berkeley.edu/pubs.php |website=BOINC |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> Each entry links to the article itself. Entries are listed newest first, as on the source page.

# {{Cite journal |last=Penny |first=Melissa A. |last2=Verity |first2=Robert |last3=Bever |first3=Caitlin A. |display-authors=etal |year=2016 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736%2815%2900725-4 Public health impact and cost-effectiveness of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine: a systematic comparison of predictions from four mathematical models] |journal=The Lancet |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00725-4}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Cameron |first=Ewan |last2=Battle |first2=Katherine E. |last3=Bhatt |first3=Samir |display-authors=etal |year=2015 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9170 Defining the relationship between infection prevalence and clinical incidence of Plasmodium falciparum malaria] |journal=Nature Communications |doi=10.1038/ncomms9170}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Penny |first=Melissa A. |last2=Maire |first2=Nicolas |last3=Bever |first3=Caitlin A. |last4=Pemberton-Ross |first4=Peter |last5=Briët |first5=Olivier J. T. |last6=Smith |first6=David L. |last7=Gething |first7=Peter W. |last8=Smith |first8=Thomas A. |year=2015 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-015-0864-3 Distribution of malaria exposure in endemic countries in Africa considering country levels of effective treatment] |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/s12936-015-0864-3}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Penny |first=Melissa A. |last2=Galactionova |first2=Katya |last3=Tarantino |first3=Michael |last4=Tanner |first4=Marcel |last5=Smith |first5=Thomas A. |year=2015 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0408-2 The public health impact of malaria vaccine RTS,S in malaria endemic Africa: country-specific predictions using 18 month follow-up Phase III data and simulation models] |journal=BMC Medicine |doi=10.1186/s12916-015-0408-2}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Stuckey |first=Erin M. |last2=Stevenson |first2=Jennifer |last3=Galactionova |first3=Katya |display-authors=etal |year=2014 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107700 Modeling the Cost Effectiveness of Malaria Control Interventions in the Highlands of Western Kenya] |journal=PLoS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0107700}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Briët |first=Olivier J. T. |last2=Penny |first2=Melissa A. |year=2013 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-401 Repeated mass distributions and continuous distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets: modelling sustainability of health benefits from mosquito nets, depending on case management] |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-12-401}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Briët |first=Olivier J. T. |last2=Chitnis |first2=Nakul |year=2013 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-215 Effects of changing mosquito host searching behaviour on the cost effectiveness of a mass distribution of long-lasting, insecticidal nets: a modelling study] |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-12-215}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Nunes |first=Julia K. |last2=Cárdenas |first2=Vicky |last3=Loucq |first3=Christian |last4=Maire |first4=Nicolas |last5=Smith |first5=Thomas |last6=Shaffer |first6=Craig |last7=Måseide |first7=Kårstein |last8=Brooks |first8=Alan |year=2013 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-13-295 Modeling the public health impact of malaria vaccines for developers and policymakers] |journal=BMC Infectious Diseases |doi=10.1186/1471-2334-13-295}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Briët |first=Olivier J. T. |last2=Penny |first2=Melissa A. |last3=Hardy |first3=Diggory |display-authors=etal |year=2013 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-77 Effects of pyrethroid resistance on the cost effectiveness of a mass distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets: a modelling study] |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-12-77}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Briët |first=Olivier J. T. |last2=Hardy |first2=Diggory |last3=Smith |first3=Thomas A. |year=2012 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-20 Importance of factors determining the effective lifetime of a mass, long-lasting, insecticidal net distribution: a sensitivity analysis] |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-11-20}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Crowell |first=Valerie |last2=Hardy |first2=Diggory |last3=Briët |first3=Olivier |last4=Chitnis |first4=Nakul |last5=Maire |first5=Nicolas |last6=Smith |first6=Thomas |year=2012 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2011.10.003 Can we depend on case management to prevent re-establishment of P. falciparum malaria, after local interruption of transmission?] |journal=Epidemics |doi=10.1016/j.epidem.2011.10.003}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Stuckey |first=Erin M. |last2=Stevenson |first2=Jennifer C. |last3=Cooke |first3=Mary K. |display-authors=etal |year=2012 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-357 Simulation of malaria epidemiology and control in the highlands of western Kenya] |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-11-357}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Thomas |last2=Ross |first2=Amanda |last3=Maire |first3=Nicolas |display-authors=etal |year=2012 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001157 Ensemble Modeling of the Likely Public Health Impact of a Pre-Erythrocytic Malaria Vaccine] |journal=PLoS Medicine |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001157}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Brooks |first=Alan |last2=Briët |first2=Olivier J. T. |last3=Hardy |first3=Diggory |last4=Steketee |first4=Richard |last5=Smith |first5=Thomas A. |year=2012 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032587 Simulated Impact of RTS,S/AS01 Vaccination Programs in the Context of Changing Malaria Transmission] |journal=PLoS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0032587}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Maire |first=Nicolas |last2=Shillcutt |first2=Samuel D. |last3=Walker |first3=Damian G. |last4=Tediosi |first4=Fabrizio |last5=Smith |first5=Thomas A. |year=2011 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2011.06.004 Cost-Effectiveness of the Introduction of a Pre-Erythrocytic Malaria Vaccine into the Expanded Program on Immunization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Analysis of Uncertainties Using a Stochastic Individual-Based Simulation Model of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria] |journal=Value in Health |doi=10.1016/j.jval.2011.06.004}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Thomas A. |last2=Chitnis |first2=Nakul |last3=Briët |first3=Olivier J. T. |last4=Tanner |first4=Marcel |year=2011 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2010.12.011 Uses of mosquito-stage transmission-blocking vaccines against Plasmodium falciparum] |journal=Trends in Parasitology |doi=10.1016/j.pt.2010.12.011}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Amanda |last2=Maire |first2=Nicolas |last3=Sicuri |first3=Elisa |last4=Smith |first4=Thomas |last5=Conteh |first5=Lesong |year=2011 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018391 Determinants of the Cost-Effectiveness of Intermittent Preventive Treatment for Malaria in Infants and Children] |journal=PLoS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0018391}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Bretscher |first=Michael T. |last2=Maire |first2=Nicolas |last3=Chitnis |first3=Nakul |last4=Felger |first4=Ingrid |last5=Owusu-Agyei |first5=Seth |last6=Smith |first6=Tom |year=2011 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2011.03.002 The distribution of Plasmodium falciparum infection durations] |journal=Epidemics |doi=10.1016/j.epidem.2011.03.002}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Carneiro |first=Ilona |last2=Smith |first2=Lucy |last3=Ross |first3=Amanda |last4=Roca-Feltrer |first4=Arantxa |last5=Greenwood |first5=Brian |last6=Schellenberg |first6=Joanna Armstrong |last7=Smith |first7=Thomas |last8=Schellenberg |first8=David |year=2010 |title=[https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.09.072397 Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa] |journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization |doi=10.2471/BLT.09.072397}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Amanda |last2=Smith |first2=Thomas |year=2010 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-9-132 Interpreting malaria age-prevalence and incidence curves: a simulation study of the effects of different types of heterogeneity] |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-9-132}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Krebs |first=Viola |year=2010 |title=[https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i2.2783 Motivations of cybervolunteers in an applied distributed computing environment: MalariaControl.net as an example] |journal=First Monday |doi=10.5210/fm.v15i2.2783}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Gosoniu |first=L. |last2=Vounatsou |first2=P. |last3=Sogoba |first3=N. |last4=Maire |first4=N. |last5=Smith |first5=T. |year=2009 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csda.2009.02.022 Mapping malaria risk in West Africa using a Bayesian nonparametric non-stationary model] |journal=Computational Statistics & Data Analysis |doi=10.1016/j.csda.2009.02.022}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Tediosi |first=Fabrizio |last2=Maire |first2=Nicolas |last3=Penny |first3=Melissa |last4=Studer |first4=Alain |last5=Smith |first5=Thomas A. |year=2009 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-8-127 Simulation of the cost-effectiveness of malaria vaccines] |journal=Malaria Journal |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-8-127}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Penny |first=Melissa A. |last2=Maire |first2=Nicolas |last3=Studer |first3=Alain |last4=Schapira |first4=Allan |last5=Smith |first5=Thomas A. |year=2008 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003193 What Should Vaccine Developers Ask? Simulation of the Effectiveness of Malaria Vaccines] |journal=PLoS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0003193 |pmid=18784833 |pmc=2527129}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=T. |last2=Maire |first2=N. |last3=Ross |first3=A. |display-authors=etal |year=2008 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182008000371 Towards a comprehensive simulation model of malaria epidemiology and control] |journal=Parasitology |doi=10.1017/S0031182008000371 |pmid=18694530}}
# {{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Amanda |last2=Penny |first2=Melissa |last3=Maire |first3=Nicolas |display-authors=etal |year=2008 |title=[https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002661 Modelling the Epidemiological Impact of Intermittent Preventive Treatment against Malaria in Infants] |journal=PLoS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002661 |pmid=18628828 |pmc=2441827}}

== Technology ==

Malariacontrol.net distributed work to volunteers through the [[BOINC|BOINC]] client, the same [[wikipedia:Volunteer computing|volunteer computing]] middleware that underpins projects such as [[SETI@home]] and [[Einstein@Home]]. The project's simulation engine modelled malaria transmission and intervention effects using individual-based [[wikipedia:Stochastic simulation|stochastic simulation]], generating outputs across a population of <math>5\times10^{4}</math> to <math>10^{5}</math> simulated individuals per work unit and tracking variables including the [[wikipedia:Entomological inoculation rate|entomological inoculation rate]] <math>EIR</math> and the resulting force of infection over time.<ref name="how-it-works" /> The project supplied a custom OpenGL screensaver, developed by Jasenko Zivanov, a University of Basel student who had previously designed the graphics for [[SETI@home]]; the visualization rendered an animated three-dimensional chart plotting the average infectiousness of the simulated human population by age group over time, layered against a stylised African landscape populated by animated mosquitoes, and included a "mosquito cam" viewing mode.<ref name="screensaver">{{Cite web |title=What is the Malariacontrol.net screen saver showing? |url=https://boinc.mundayweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_is_the_Malariacontrol.net_screen_saver_showing%3F |website=BOINC Wiki |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref> The graphics application was only ever made available for Windows.<ref name="screensaver" /> See [[BOINC project screensavers]] for a broader survey of project screensaver graphics across BOINC history.

== Legacy ==

Although the volunteer computing project itself ended in 2016, its scientific legacy continues through [[wikipedia:OpenMalaria|OpenMalaria]], the open-source malaria simulation framework seeded by malariacontrol.net's codebase. OpenMalaria remains under active development by Swiss TPH's disease modelling group and collaborators, and continues to be used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and likely public-health impact of malaria interventions and vaccination strategies in support of policy decisions by national malaria control programmes and international bodies.<ref name="openmalaria-wiki" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Core Malaria Modelling |url=https://www.swisstph.ch/en/projects/project-detail/project/core-malaria-modelling |website=Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute |access-date=2026-06-23}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[BOINC projects]]
* [[SETI@home]]
* [[Einstein@Home]]
* [[World Community Grid]]
* [[BOINC project screensavers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Completed BOINC projects]]
[[Category:Biology and Medicine]]