Input Output Global, the main developers behind the Cardano blockchain, have funded a $4.5 million research hub at the University of Edinburgh.
The hub is described as a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and IOG to deepen the well of scientific knowledge and set new standards for research within the blockchain and distributed ledger industry.
It will allow university students and researchers to propose new projects for the technology, driving greater industry-wide focus on fundamental research and allowing researchers who work outside of the technology to explore its capabilities more easily.
It will be led by a steering committee, featuring both IOG and university representatives, which will review project proposals and allocate funding.
The company previously established a blockchain technology lab within the School of Informatics.
“Input Output is a pioneer in the blockchain space, both in terms of producing as well as supporting foundational and applied research,” said Professor Aggelos Kiayias FRSE, chief scientist at Input Output Global, chair of cyber security and privacy, and director of the blockchain technology laboratory at the University of Edinburgh.
“The long-term collaboration between IOG and the School of Informatics at Edinburgh has brought forth a lot of advances to this state of the art of technology over the past five years, from Ouroboros, a suite of provably secure blockchain protocols based on proof of stake, through to Ofelimos, a provably secure Proof-of-Useful-Work protocol, which paves the way for resolving the energy efficiency problem of proof of work based blockchains.
“The establishment of this new research hub is a particularly welcome development and a key milestone in continuing and scaling this work across the whole university with emphasis on interdisciplinary research.”
Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IOG, said: “IOG has been working with the University of Edinburgh for some time, and I’m thrilled that this new research hub will let us continue to advance our industry.
“Working with leading institutions like Edinburgh to set up these blockchain research hubs is essential to our vision of making academic rigour an industry standard.
“Our end goal with this hub is to allow blockchain development to grow more rapidly, based on the new learnings that will emerge.”