News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Interview with Vitalik Buterin on ETH2, Scaling Plans, NF... by jfk13 on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @03:15PM (#26415593)
So instead they were able to get grants on the basis of....what? Knowing some key people involved with Ethereum? Telling a persuasive story on Twitter? Having the right buzzwords in their bio?

Sure, "the academics politics game" may often be an issue. But I don't see how "blockchain!" suddenly solves the problem of deciding where research funds should go in a better way.

Re:Interview with Vitalik Buterin on ETH2, Scaling Plans, NF... by yurielt on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @03:32PM (#26415814)
I honestly do not know what might be the actual conditions of the academics of the comment above. However in most of the cases of the research funded by the eth fundation it seems, it is because they have a good proposal, that is properly structured and detailed to seem valuable to the foundation. On top of that they likely happen to have an impressive resume and citations that give them the credibility. No need to quite aggressively shill the outdated academic politics, just because you mad about the fact that things like this are better.
Re:Interview with Vitalik Buterin on ETH2, Scaling Plans, NF... by dgellow on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @03:49PM (#26416023)
You’re projecting your doubts here. The research topic isn’t blockchain related, isn’t based on buzzwords, isn’t Twitter driven, etc.

The Ethereum foundation is using their funds to finance open research in a lot of different domains, you can check https://esp.ethereum.foundation/en/grants/.

Anyone can submit a proposal, present their research topic.

It’s an actual community based way to finance some open research projects. That’s a fantastic development IMHO.

Re:Interview with Vitalik Buterin on ETH2, Scaling Plans, NF... by jfk13 on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @05:12PM (#26417056)
> The research topic isn’t blockchain related, isn’t based on buzzwords, isn’t Twitter driven, etc.

Well, one of the criteria appears to be "the potential to positively impact Ethereum", so it's hardly unrelated.

> The Ethereum foundation is using their funds to finance open research in a lot of different domains, you can check https://esp.ethereum.foundation/en/grants/.

So why should I believe they're more able to choose worthwhile projects to finance than any other foundation?

As your link says, the "ESP team will work with you to refine and rescope your proposal as needed, then evaluate the final proposal with input from technical advisors before a funding decision is made".

There are lots of foundations that finance research projects in whatever areas they're interested in, based on the funding decisions made by a panel/committee/team/whatever-you-like-to-call-it. What makes this one different/better?

Re:Interview with Vitalik Buterin on ETH2, Scaling Plans, NF... by DennisP on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @03:43PM (#26415943)
Grants from the Ethereum Foundation work like grants from any foundation that funds research: the foundation has a lot of money and employs people with the expertise to evaluate grant proposals.
Re:Interview with Vitalik Buterin on ETH2, Scaling Plans, NF... by zeroxfe on Wednesday March 10, 2021 @06:05PM (#26417693)
Their evaluation and decision making process is quite clear: https://esp.ethereum.foundation/en/guide/