Hello everyone in the Polkadot community! We are the Polkadot Ecology Research Institute, the largest research institute in Asia focusing on the Polkadot ecosystem, and also a research organization with significant global influence within the Polkadot ecosystem. We have successfully completed all plans for the last treasury application, so we are applying here for our annual operational expenses from April 2025 to March 2026.
 

Our team at the Polkadot Ecology Research Institute are all from the earliest builders of the Chinese Polkadot community. We have been contributing to the Polkadot ecosystem since 2019, making it more than 6 years of dedicated effort. Due to our contributions and high-quality research content, we have received support from the Polkadot Treasury for 8 consecutive times.
 

* In the past few years, we have written nearly 300 original pieces of content/in-depth reports on Polkadot and the development of its ecosystem, achieving more than 63 million views. The total word count has exceeded 1.8 million words. We are also the only institution in the Chinese market that publishes research content on the official Medium of Polkadot.
* As of now, we have supported more than 90 Polkadot-related events in total. In 2022 and 2023, for two consecutive years, we participated as guests in the global sharing activities of the Polkadot Decoded Community Conference. The cumulative number of people reaching Polkadot from all activities has exceeded 50,000.
* In addition, we are actively empowering the development of the Polkadot ecosystem. We have provided content/activity/community support for more than 130 projects within the ecosystem. We have provided investment and financing consultation and connection services for some projects to help investment institutions better understand them. Although we are based in the Chinese market, we have also provided assistance and support to many Polkadot ecosystem projects in other regions around the world, and most of it is provided unpaid and voluntary.
* In the past year, we have also increased our overseas operation efforts to serve the global Polkadot market, especially in terms of Twitter operation. We currently have more than 4,700 followers, which is six times the number of followers we had during the same period last year. We have published more than 6,000 tweets in total. Our founder, Zou Yang, has also been actively creating content through his Twitter in the past year. His Twitter account has successfully been selected as one of the top 100 KOLs in the Polkadot Mindshare ranking on KAITO.

As a major institution focusing on the research of the Polkadot ecosystem in the Asia market and even globally, we have continuously contributed to the development of Polkadot over the past 6 years. Whether in a bull or bear market, our research content has been read and adopted by many institutions, and it has also become one of the important channels for ordinary users to understand the development of Polkadot. In the future, we will continue to support the development of Polkadot and its ecosystem!
 

We have recently released a strategic development report on Polkadot with a word count of more than 12,000 words. This report is a comprehensive report on the current situation, challenges, competitive strategies, and various solutions of Polkadot that we have provided after conducting detailed community research (including developers) and collecting materials, taking nearly one month. It has sparked extensive discussions within the Polkadot community, been reposted and read by many institutions, and has been recognized by the Web3 Foundation. If you are interested, you can refer to this [in-depth report](https://medium.com/@polkadot_eri/2025-polkadot-strategic-development-report-how-to-balance-decentralization-and-growth-to-boost-f15d3e7e841e).
 

This is our work feedback report for the past year. You can check the detailed information here:

[The development report of Polkadot Ecology Research Institute for 2024/4 - 2024/9](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uK0mbNE9E1Nabm0VpTyoP5IWIKy5KrnO-lG5UILlGdE/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.jickmsdvsixi)

[The development report of Polkadot Ecology Research Institute for 2024/10 - 2025/3](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vy15vILfTeF4xpqJNZJ3ZCAyDGit0V2iiDBsB4AwJSo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.xfbo4po4b3pw)

In this proposal, we are applying for 12 months of operating funds, mainly for personnel expenses. This is also our 9th application to the Polkadot Treasury. You can check out our detailed proposal and find more information about us [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d6lOYD7GTqTqdxuc1z_4wOlhOnLfUjioibID_IU57bU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.tz1d7pssgl3e), as well as comments from Polkadot builders on our work.

The amount of our application is not particularly large because it is mainly for the personnel expenses of the daily operation of the research institute. The business costs and travel expenses for our participation in various Polkadot activities have always been paid by ourselves. This has been the case in the past few years, and it will still be the case for this application.
 

Please consider casting your valuable vote in our favor, and feel free to leave any questions or feedback in the proposal. We will be sure to respond promptly.



P.S. The reason we're applying for treasury funding instead of going through Market Bounty is primarily due to processing timelines. From our understanding, some teams have waited several months without receiving feedback through the Market Bounty channel. Since we're currently using our own payroll funds to support the team, we require a more expedited funding process to ensure timely salary payments and team continuity. Therefore, applying directly to the treasury represents our most viable option at this time.

Propose and approve a spend of treasury funds.

## Dispatch Origin

Must be [`Config::SpendOrigin`] with the `Success` value being at least
`amount` of `asset_kind` in the native asset. The amount of `asset_kind` is converted
for assertion using the [`Config::BalanceConverter`].

## Details

Create an approved spend for transferring a specific `amount` of `asset_kind` to a
designated beneficiary. The spend must be claimed using the `payout` dispatchable within
the [`Config::PayoutPeriod`].

### Parameters
- `asset_kind`: An indicator of the specific asset class to be spent.
- `amount`: The amount to be transferred from the treasury to the `beneficiary`.
- `beneficiary`: The beneficiary of the spend.
- `valid_from`: The block number from which the spend can be claimed. It can refer to
  the past if the resulting spend has not yet expired according to the
  [`Config::PayoutPeriod`]. If `None`, the spend can be claimed immediately after
  approval.

## Events

Emits [`Event::AssetSpendApproved`] if successful.

- **Problem Statement:** Seeking annual operational expenses funding from the Polkadot Treasury for the Polkadot Ecology Research Institute.
- **Significance:** The institute has been a key contributor to the Polkadot ecosystem for over 6 years, producing extensive research content, supporting events, projects, and global outreach efforts.
- **Proposed Solution:** Requesting 12 months of operating funds for personnel expenses, emphasizing the need for timely financial support to sustain operations.
- **Expected Outcomes:** Continued support for the development of Polkadot, ensuring the institute's sustainability and ongoing contributions to the ecosystem.

#1531 The operating cost for the research organization Polkadot Ecology Research Institute for 2025/4-2026/3

No Active Proposals