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Page last updated: May 16, 2022

Academic Grants Round

This call is now open! Apply before April 22, 2022! Apply here.

The Ethereum Foundation is sponsoring a wave of grants to support Ethereum-related academic work. This grants round has up to $750,000 in total available. Proposals are due April 22, 2022. All of the details you’ll need to apply can be found below.

We’re calling all those interested in expanding academic knowledge throughout the Ethereum ecosystem!

The Ethereum community has grown immensely as developers, artists, companies, and even governments work together to make a positive impact with this technology.

With this grants round, the Ethereum Foundation welcomes more academics to the table to push forward formal academic research in related domains. Such domains include theoretical and applied cryptography and mathematics, zero-knowledge proofs, economics, computation, cybersecurity, protocol and consensus mechanisms, formal verification, P2P networking, and hardware, just to mention a few areas.

The Ethereum Foundation is excited to expand Ethereum’s reach across more of academia through this grants round.

Submit proposal

Individual researchers with academic backgrounds, research centers, universities, think-tanks, educators and other stakeholders interested in research on matters related to Ethereum and its ecosystem are encouraged to apply.

Anyone is free to participate in this grants round, as an individual or with a team.

Research outputs are encouraged but not limited to the following wishlist.

We welcome research at any stage, whether it’s a new idea based on the wishlist, a project that furthers Ethereum-related research you’ve already undertaken, or a lab experiment.

Grants will be awarded on a case-by-case and rolling basis. You may enter more than one proposal as long as each proposal is unique and meets the requirements.

Submit your application here.

Deadline

The deadline for proposals is Friday, April 22, 2022. We will follow-up regarding your submission by email.

Requirements

  • Proposals must be in English.
  • Work must be open source.
  • Reports must be accessible by a url.

Selection criteria

Surprise us with your creativity! But here are a few selection criteria considerations:

  • Impact of the proposed research output.
  • Quality of work and experience of the research team.
  • Clarity, conciseness and organization of the proposal.
  • Contribution to the wishlist areas.
  • Potential of long-term involvement in the Ethereum ecosystem.
  • Analyses or visualizations that help a non-technical audience gain insight into the research.

Wishlist

The Ethereum Foundation is interested in research and academic output in the following domain areas, but don’t let this restrict your creativity. Check out our wishlist.

Next steps and support

For any general support questions about your submission, please email [email protected].

Frequently asked questions

Who can submit proposals for Academic Grants Round?

Teams and individuals involved in formal research.

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Academic institutions, consortia of universities, research centres, universities, think-tanks and individuals with prior research experience.

What makes for a good proposal?

The more detailed information, the better.

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In short, we need enough information to understand your goals, the research problem you’re aiming to tackle, the academic output, information on previous research work, who’s involved and estimation regarding time and budget. The more details you provide, the more likely we’ll be able to help.

For example:

  • Clearly showing the research area you’re digging into.
  • Outlining the output. Is it a research paper or lab work that will culminate in an experimental report?
  • Clearly stating the impact your research will have and how you foresee your findings being used by the Ethereum community.
  • Detailed description of your project, milestones, the people involved and how much time you think it will take to complete.

What stage does my idea or project need to be in?

Any stage of research.

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If you have a follow-up idea of a previous research you conducted or if your research is aligned with the wishlist domains, we want to hear about it! The goal is to advance knowledge that pushes the Ethereum ecosystem forward.

What should the output be?

Formal research output which is open-source.

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We are aiming to receive academic and formal research outputs, be it a research paper, an experimental report or some sort of comprehensive research output. Whatever the output, the information should be open-source and available for the broader community to use. The Intellectual Property can still be owned by the research team, but it is key that the output is open source.

What is the budget available for this round?

Up to $750,000 in total

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This grants round has up to $750,000 in total, which is to be distributed among selected projects.

What is the expected duration of the research project?

Between 6 to 12 months

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We envision projects to take between 6 to 12 months, however, we are open to some flexibility depending on the project proposal.

Are applications evaluated on a rolling basis or at the end of the deadline?

On a rolling basis.

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Project submissions will be evaluated on a rolling basis and contact will be made with each applicant to inform about the evaluation outcome.

What if I miss the deadline?

Reach out to the Ecosystem Support Program!

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We encourage you to submit an inquiry for support through the Ecosystem Support Program.

The Ethereum Foundation has a general grants initiative called the Ecosystem Support Program (ESP).

If you miss the deadline for this dedicated round of grants, but have a proposal that advances the Ethereum ecosystem, we encourage you to head over to ESP.

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