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Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to the author and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news’ editorial. The scientific method has been our guiding light for centuries, illuminating the path to countless theoretical breakthroughs and practical innovations. However, while the core principles of the scientific method remain true, the structures supporting this discovery process—particularly today’s academic publication models and research funding mechanisms—are increasingly seen as relics of a bygone era. The rise of decentralized science, or DeSci, offers a promising avenue to modernize these systems, providing new solutions for a wide range of scientific stakeholders. By providing new ways to connect, share, and discover the next frontiers of scientific knowledge, web3-enabled DeSci projects are working to fix today’s flawed incentive structures and foster more effective forms of scientific discovery that meet the demands of our time. Take, for example, today’s academic funding process. Traditional funding mechanisms often reward researchers for securing grants rather than producing impactful research. This has disproportionately impacted fields such as drug development, which has traditionally been an incredibly costly and risk-laden endeavor—often monopolized by large corporations with the financial muscle to navigate the lengthy process. To offset this funding imbalance, a new wave of DeSci crowdfunding platforms and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) has emerged, unlocking a broader base of financial support. In many cases, these community backers are also able to contribute additional expertise and resources to the projects they support, in addition to helping reduce researchers’ reliance on traditional government grants and large institutional backers. On top of that, funding models that deploy smart contracts and tokenized incentives can directly tie funding to specific milestones and outcomes. This ensures that researchers are incentivized to deliver meaningful results rather than merely securing the next round of funding. One such project…

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Filed under: News - @ June 16, 2024 1:10 pm