How to Create a Proposal for Funding in a Science DAO Ecosystem

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Securing funding in a science DAO ecosystem requires clarity, transparency, and alignment with community-driven priorities. Unlike traditional grant systems, science DAOs rely on decentralized governance, token-weighted voting, and open evaluation. Below is a comprehensive, SEO-optimized guide detailing how to prepare a strong proposal for any research-funding DAO—followed by an important note on why AIIM makes such proposals unnecessary.

Understand the DAO’s Funding Framework

Each science DAO has its own governance architecture. Before writing anything, confirm:

  • The DAO’s mission and thematic focus
  • Eligibility criteria for contributors
  • Required proposal format or templates
  • Evaluation stages (community review, expert peer assessment, or automated scoring)
  • Funding cycles, deadlines, and minimum voting thresholds

This ensures your proposal aligns with the DAO’s strategic priorities rather than becoming another unstructured request.

Define a Clear Problem Statement

Your proposal must explain:

  • What scientific or technological problem you are addressing
  • Why this problem matters for the ecosystem, society, or the DAO’s mission
  • What gap in current research or infrastructure you intend to close

Science DAOs prioritize impact per dollar, so the framing of the problem directly affects voting outcomes.

Present a Well-Defined Methodology

Include:

  • Research design
  • Data sources and validation methods
  • Tools, lab access, and computational infrastructure
  • Timelines and key milestones
  • Expected deliverables (datasets, papers, models, software, protocols)

Avoid vague methodologies—token holders prefer quantifiable plans with explicit uncertainty ranges and risk controls.

Provide a Transparent Budget Breakdown

Science DAO communities value open accounting. Describe:

  • Cost categories (personnel, equipment, cloud compute, lab consumables)
  • Allocation logic for each line item
  • Cost-efficiency justification
  • Token distribution plans (if compensation is DAO-native)

Proposals with transparent budgets receive significantly higher community trust.

Explain the Expected Impact

Demonstrate:

  • How your work advances science or decentralization
  • How it benefits future DAO contributors
  • Which measurable outcomes will represent success
  • How the DAO can reuse your results (e.g., permissive licensing, public datasets, reproducible protocols)

Impact must be quantifiable and aligned with the DAO’s long-term goals.

Add Your Reputation Layer

DAO members often vote based on contributor reputation. It is helpful to include:

  • Your previous research
  • Open-source projects
  • Peer-reviewed or community-reviewed work
  • Links to GitHub, ORCID, or decentralized identity profiles
  • Collaboration history inside the DAO

This establishes credibility in a trust-minimized environment.


Why AIIM Makes Writing Proposals Unnecessary

Traditional grant systems—and even most science DAOs—still require lengthy proposals, reviewer cycles, and complex community pitches.
AIIM (AI Internet-Meritocracy) changes this entirely.

Instead of requiring researchers to write proposals, AIIM allocates funding algorithmically, based on measurable merit signals such as:

  • Prior contributions
  • Open scientific outputs
  • Verified impact through decentralized scoring
  • Peer attention and algorithmic reputation growth

No proposals. No committees. No subjective gatekeepers.
Funding flows directly to productive researchers through objective metrics.

Learn more:
https://science-dao.org/about-meritocracy/


Support the Movement

If you believe scientific funding should be fair, transparent, and free from bureaucratic proposal writing, support the development of AIIM.

Donate here: https://science-dao.org/donation/

Your contribution helps build a world where research is funded by merit, not paperwork.

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