UZH Blockchain Center Awarded Grant to Study IOTA Consensus Model

Grant Funds Two Positions at the Center

TL;DR:
In the latest development in its partnership with the University of Zurich Blockchain Center, the IOTA Foundation has awarded the Center a grant to research the consensus model used in the IOTA protocol.

The IOTA Foundation is pleased to announce that it has awarded a grant to the University of Zurich Blockchain Center, a leading research organization for distributed ledger technology (DLT). The grant supports the Center’s research into the consensus model used in the IOTA protocol (a consensus model is the mechanism that defines the security of the DLT by ensuring consistency across the shared state of the ledger). The IOTA Foundation’s Research Department has had the pleasure of developing this collaboration with Chairman and Academic Director Professor Dr. Claudio J Tessone. He is also the head of the Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies group at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, a growing interdisciplinary team of 15 senior researchers and Ph.D. students.

The title of the grant-awarded research is "Modelling and analysis of the Consensus Model and Cryptoeconomics of the IOTA system." With this work, the UZH Blockchain Center seeks to provide valuable insights into consensus protocols and the implementation of fair and equitable reward systems. In particular, the research will use large-scale data analytics to investigate the fairness of the consensus protocol, verifying whether the realized system follows the design specifics and identifying when user behavior diverges from the theoretical equilibrium.

The grant covers funding for two positions at the UZH Blockchain Center, including a Doctoral Candidate for three years and a two-year Postdoctoral Associate. As part of these positions, the funded researchers will conduct research on modeling and analysis of the consensus protocol and crypto-economics of IOTA 2.0.

Stay tuned for the research results and events of this fascinating project.

About the UZH Blockchain Center

With informal activities since 2017, the UZH Blockchain Center (UZH BCC) formally became a Competence Center of the University of Zurich in 2019. 20 Professors from varied areas (business, economics, finance, informatics, law and mathematics) give it a rare multidisciplinary approach in the field. In terms of members, range of expertise and activities, it is the largest academic initiative in Switzerland and a renowned worldwide blockchain hub. Its mandates include: fostering and coordinating research activities in the area of blockchain and related technologies, creating and nurturing a complete education program (ranging from university students to industry leaders) in the space, and acting as the single point of contact of the university with industry, peer institutions and governments in the field of blockchain.

As a recognition of its efforts and results in the cryptocurrency field, UZH ranked fourth globally and first in Europe in the 2021 Coindesk University Ranking of the top universities for blockchain.

The IOTA Foundation is delighted to deepen our collaboration with Professor Tessone and his colleagues at the UZH Blockchain Center. The IOTA Foundation has participated in the Blockchain Center’s Summer School for the past two years, both by funding students at the summer school and by participating in the Center’s educational program.

To keep up with the latest news from the University of Zurich Blockchain Center, follow it on Twitter at @uzh_blockchain or on LinkedIn.

As always, if you have any questions about IOTA research or would like to connect with our team, you can find our researchers in the #tanglemath channel on our Discord. You are also welcome to follow and participate in our technical discussions on our public forum, IOTA.cafe.