Phases

All research in the past has been funded by centralized bodies such as non-profit foundations, governments, or corporations. In contrast, as the first on-chain Research DAO, we, by choice, do not have a traditional legal form. We exist as a set of self-governing smart contracts on various blockchains, and our rules of operation are encoded in code.

As a new form of funding body, we are still exploring the scope and limitations of what is possible through this format. As such, we are deploying our grants in phases. The initial phases are less ambitious. Our purpose is to learn how to operate through an on-chain voting process and a distributed governing board. Additionally, we want to learn how fiat/cryptocurrency pricing affects grants, and how comfortable scientists are with receiving grants in cryptocurrency. We are also ensuring the security of our operations, such as key management and smart contract auditing, by starting small.

We are currently in Phase One of the Research DAO. During this phase, we are only funding student travel grants. To apply for a student travel grant, consult our page on receiving funding.

In next phases, we plan to fund more long-term research projects such as the whole development of research papers. We also plan to, ultimately, fund entire research positions.