Peer-to-peer Science

A trust-less, smart contract system which allows funders to entrust their funds directly with scientists without University middlemen.

I am a published scientist with experience in raising funds for research and a programmer.

To execute this project, I will bring together a team of developers and academics using my existing connections.

Scientists compete for research funding from funders such as charitable trusts and governments. Research funders deposit their funds in a University research account which is then accessed by the scientists to pay for consumables, equipment and salaries, for example. Universities are considered to be trusted middlemen who will only allow the funds to be spent as per the wishes of the funders. However, these systems generate massive amounts of inefficiency as a portion of the funding is taken by the university to pay for it's inefficient bureaucratic systems. Furthermore, a huge amount of scientists' time is wasted liaising with university bureaucracies in order to access the funds they have already won! In many cases, universities form an obstacle to accessing the funds, whereas the funders are usually keen for their funds to be used in the most productive way possible.

Smart contracts could replace universities in research funding by allowing the funders a degree of control over how the funds are spent. This is an avenue to a new way of funding scientific research.