Expertise Finder
Search engine for university experts. Find faculty sources by topic across North American institutions for interviews and commentary.
What should journalists know about Expertise Finder?
Expertise Finder is a searchable directory of university faculty across North America, built specifically to connect journalists with academic experts. Co-founded in 2011 by Stavros Rougas (a former CBC Radio journalist who got frustrated finding the right academics for interviews) and Ebrahim Ashrafizadeh (software engineer). The business model is straightforward: universities pay to list their faculty; journalists search for free. Over 2 million annual visitors. The platform also sells Kosmos, a white-label directory software that institutions deploy on their own domains. The value for journalists is speed — instead of cold-emailing department heads or browsing university websites, you search by topic and get faculty profiles with contact info and expertise areas. The limitation is coverage: only universities that pay to be listed appear in results. You won't find every expert in every field — just the ones at participating institutions. This creates a selection bias toward universities with PR budgets. For comprehensive expert sourcing, pair Expertise Finder with SciLine (free AAAS service), ProfNet/Cision, and direct university media relations offices. Based in Toronto.
Finding credentialed academic sources on deadline. Discovering experts you wouldn't find through your existing network. Booking faculty for broadcast interviews. Sourcing across disciplines — sciences, humanities, social sciences, law, medicine.
Finding non-academic experts (industry practitioners, independent researchers, community leaders). Comprehensive sourcing — only participating universities are listed. International reporting outside North America. Investigative work where you need to verify an expert's credentials independently.
Security & Privacy
Data is scrambled while being sent to their servers
Data is scrambled when stored on their servers
Where servers are located — affects which governments can request your data
Privacy policy summary
Expertise Finder collects standard web analytics from journalist visitors. Faculty profiles are published with institutional consent. The platform does not require journalist accounts to search. Detailed privacy policy available on site. Data practices are minimal for end users — the primary data collection is from universities listing their faculty.
How to protect yourself:
Cross-reference any expert's credentials independently before quoting them — listed expertise areas are self-reported or institution-reported. Check for conflicts of interest (industry funding, consulting relationships) that won't appear in the profile. Remember that results are limited to paying institutions — search university media offices directly for experts at non-participating schools. No journalist account required for basic searches, which means minimal data exposure on your end.
Low-risk tool for journalists — no account required for searching, minimal personal data collection. Faculty data is published with institutional consent. Canadian jurisdiction with standard privacy protections. The main concern is not security but completeness: results are limited to paying institutions, which could bias your sourcing if you rely on it exclusively. Adequate for its purpose as a sourcing aid.
Who Owns This
Pricing
Free for journalists to search. Universities pay for faculty listings and Kosmos directory software. No journalist-facing subscription required.
This is an editorial assessment based on publicly available information as of 2026-04-11, using our published methodology. Independent security review is pending. Security posture can change at any time. This is not a guarantee of safety.
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