What is DeSci made of? Eight simple questions to make it clear for scientists

7 min readFeb 8, 2023

You may have heard of DeSci in your life, and you may not. Maybe you have read that it is useful and nice and helps to avoid barriers to publishing your research proposal and getting funded. But then you try to go into it, and… how the hell does it work? Where to go and what to do? Gees, you think, I’m a scientist, but I’m no nerd. I don’t speak IT. How can I understand anything there? Getting lost in that strange web3 world you just go and send your proposal to traditional scientific journals.

Yes, the environment of the DeSci community may feel a bit unclear for most scientists by now. But we are sure you can profit from it. Let us explain why and how.

What is DeSci?

DeSci is a movement in science that aims to solve its current problems. DeSci stays for:

easy access and contribution to scientific research;
peer-review of research proposals;
crowdfunding and other transparent and equal mechanisms of research financing;
easy publication of results, no matter how biased or resonant they are;
receiving recognition and building a reputation;
collaboration across the field.

DeSci builds an environment of decentralized organizations. Such organizations have no governing center where decisions are made and information is stored. Their leadership is distributed among all members of the community. In the DeSci environment, the whole process of research conducting and sharing becomes easier and quicker, while its security and profoundness don’t suffer. That happens because of the new technologies lying under DeSci.

Is DeSci a science on the blockchain, and how does it work?

Yes, DeSci uses blockchain technologies but in its unique way.

First of all, let us remember what blockchain is. The blockchain is a chain of blocks of information records organized in a distributed ledger. “Distributed” means that information is not stored in one single center but is hosted on millions of computers of the chain. It updates every ten minutes, continually checking all transactions, commitments, and new records made by its users. Therefore, blockchain is a secure and transparent system: no one has enough power to hack it, and every member can see all the changes in the record.

Initially, blockchain was used for transactions, thus forming DeFi — decentralized finance. DeFi is about cryptocurrency-based financial services which have already proved their security, transparency, and convenience. It appears that people can deal with money without banks and their complicated procedures. Now it’s time for decentralized science which uses these qualities of transparency and distribution to make research funding, conducting, and publication faster, easier, and more accessible.

What is NFT, and how does it help a scientist?

There are several mechanisms by which DeSci can use blockchain for reaching its goals.

The most known one is NFT which is already known in the art world. NFT (non-fungible token) is a cryptography certificate of any digital object. NFT can not be copied or substituted but can be sold. NFT can be used for confirmation of ownership or use of a computer game, art object, or diploma from a university. For example, in 2022 the HOSEO University and Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology gave their graduates NFT diplomas created on the OpenSea platform using Ethereum.

NFT can be also used for scientific results. Some scientists already mint their own NFTs to crowdfund their proposals.

IP-NFTs represent legal rights to IP for research and data; they distribute ownership, authorship, and governance; provide new ways to interact with trade secrets and publicity rights. For example, an engineer did a lot of work for medical research and contributed to its success, but researchers did not mention him as an author: well, he is an engineer, and his commitment is considered to be “purely technical”. But it is not fair, and IP NFT solves this problem: his work and his authorship are recorded, and nobody can deprive him of his intellectual property.

What is DAO, and how does it work?

DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization where the process of decision-making is divided between community members. All the procedures are encrypted in smart contracts which are performed automatically.

Imagine an open scientific community of individual token-holders who can share their research proposals, review others’ research, vote for them, fund them with their tokens, and collaborate in any way possible. You get information and data without paywalls. DAO system encourages like-minded scientists from all over the world to collaborate and work together.

How can my research get funded?

There are several possible mechanisms of funding suggested by DeSci.

Crowdfunding

Members of the community can give their money to fund the research or somehow participate in it (for example, with the necessary data or equipment).

Sponsorship by buying IP NFT

An investor can buy the whole NFT project, or several investors can unite and buy it together, thus participating in intellectual property.

Direct voting

Community members in DAO vote with their tokens. Voting tokens are like shares in a digital world: owning a token gives you the right to vote for the research you love. A decentralized community of experts estimates the value of the research.

Imagine for example that you upload your research and get 100 tokens to vote for others’ research in the community. If the research gets a majority and passes, the scientist can exchange the tokens she got for TIP3 tokens and get her real money to buy equipment and all she needs for her research. Voting for the research you get the opportunity to have a share in intellectual property and thus earn money, for example, if it is a pharma clinical trial or some other important result that can bring business profit. After its successful launch, DAO can get a part of its money back due to smart contract conditions.

How do reputation mechanisms work in DeSci?

Reputation in DeSci does not depend on your ability to publish your proposals in scientific journals. It is more about your real input and how other community members estimate it. Every member of DAO participates and makes commitments to its goal. All decisions are transparent and add to the reputations of the participants. That can happen by various means which can manage reputations across the community and in the whole DeSci world.

GOSH DAO, for example, suggests CFTs — commit fungible tokens, which work like an h-index or a digital resume. In the DeSci environment, you don’t need to multiply your publications to get access to funding. You can simply conduct your research and get CFTs from other community members who appreciate your results.

Being a member of the community you also have your CFTs and you can give them to others when you appreciate their commitment. Your CFT also grows when you review others’ proposals, take part in mentoring, participate in other authors’ research, and perform any other activity concerning your subject. With CFTs you do not need to think about presenting your qualities to the world. CFTs completely automate this process.

What real things are already done in and via the DeSci community?

Since 2021 there has been explosive growth in DAO initiatives. There is huge progress in sharing data, raising funds, and peer-reviewing.

The pioneer here is biotech DAO, like VitaDAO which finances early-stage research for longevity, the extension of human life, and health span. They have already funded more than 10 research concerning Alzheimer’s disease, aging, and other subjects. You can buy Vita tokens or earn them through collaboration. VitaDAO has over 1300 token holders for now. Last week, VitaDAO closed a $4,1 million funding round with Pfizer Ventures and other investors.

The Molecule DAO aims to join together researchers and potential investors, having for now over 4500 DAO community members, and 3 Bio DAOs with over $10M in their network that goes on research. It is a great hub for DAOs seeking financing and investors in need of insightful startups.

But most DAOs are still in their childhood, which doesn’t make them less interesting. For example, LabDAO focuses on sharing equipment and IT tools and helping bioscientists and engineers to collaborate, share data, and save funds on resources and equipment.

What DeSci is yet to make?

DeSci is only beginning to collaborate with traditional forms of the current scientific system and government regulators. They need more bridges to work together, especially in fields like Public Health or global warming prevention. There are unsolved questions concerning experts’ role in DAO because it is not an easy task to combine transparency and equity with a competent assessment of research. Also, there is a problem: sometimes, Web3 enthusiasts concentrate too much on their tools instead of their integration into the work of scientists. These two worlds should meet together.

But these issues are manageable. The faster scientists, medics, and the general public will discover the DeSci advantages the more various, popular, and flourishing the DeSci world will be and the more it will contribute to the public good. Maybe by now, it is somewhat puzzling, but we are sure that it can bring your research a lot of good and is worth looking at.

You can find more about DeSci mechanisms and advantages here:

To take part in DeSci and connect to active participants of the movement, see here:

Twitter: #DeSci, @paulkhls (Paul Kolhaas, cofounder of Molecule), @jocelynpearl (Jocelynn Pearl), @GolatoTyler (Tyler Golato, cofounder of Molecule, core at VitaDAO and PsyDAO), @Futurizt (Mitja Goroshevsky, founder of GOSH DAO), Ariella Coler-Reilly🏳️‍🌈🩺🖋 (Ariella Coler-Reilly? managing editor of VitaDAO) and many others

Telegram: @BlockchainForScience