A virtual fund is an Internet repository of descriptions of natural science and scientific and technical effects, including means of forming, presenting, selecting and searching for descriptions. The concepts of natural science and scientific and technical effects are disclosed, their role in the conceptual design of technologies and technology is characterized .. The structure of the description of the effect, the architecture of the fund, the organization of work on its filling and the main opportunities provided by it. are considered. The main attention is paid to non-traditional means of search, using formalized descriptions of effects and the ontology of scientific and technical characteristics, as well as ways of presenting the links of the natural sciences with the fields of engineering and economics.