Cardano Foundation Expands its Academic Research With The Blockchain Center of the University of Zurich

A three-year collaboration will revolve around their mutual ambition of advancing high-level academic research on blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) 

Zurich, Switzerland — 5th April 2022 — The Cardano Foundation, the non-profit organization and custodian of the Cardano blockchain, and one of the leading research universities in Europe, the Blockchain Center of the University of Zurich (UZH BCC). The organizations are joining forces for three years to explore the development of blockchain research initiatives and education.

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The Cardano Foundation aims to establish a research collaboration with the Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (BDLT) Group at the University of Zurich. Additionally, it is geared towards two main objectives: contributing to the expertise of the BDLT Group and the continuous development of Cardano. 

Focus on consensus protocol

The BDLT Group will provide the Cardano Foundation with important tools to aid the development and governance of Cardano, focusing on the incentives behind the consensus protocol, and an extensive study of the economic activities on the platform. The research will explore different angles around the core questions surrounding Cardano as a secure, scalable, and decentralized system. 

The collaboration will explore a variety of topics:

• Integrating the Cardano blockchain ecosystem in the nascent UZH Blockchain Observatory;
• Transaction growth and lifecycle analysis for UTXO growth, scalability, and large wallet management;
• The organization of Cardano token economies ;
• The efficacy of consensus protocols and incentive schemes, the analysis of protocol parameters effect on staking dynamics and reward distribution;
• The analysis of the decentralization of block production and the participation of long-term interest groups;
• Facilitating the analysis of reward system manipulation and attack vectors specific to Ouroboros, the Proof of Stake system for Cardano. 

Cardano Foundation’s CEO, Frederik Gregaard said: 

“Our collaboration with the University of Zurich will provide crucial insights to nurture the ecosystem and enhance understanding of Cardano. As blockchain moves from the margins to the mainstream, considerably more academic research is required to enhance understanding and, ultimately, bring about adoption. This is why we have even specifically called out education as a core goal of the Foundation for the year ahead.”

Largest academic initiative in Switzerland

The UZH BCC started in 2017 and has grown out to be the largest academic initiative in the space in Switzerland. It advocates for a multidisciplinary approach to blockchain research and education. Promoted to Competence Center at the university, it’s home to 20 professors across the business, economics, finance, informatics, law, and mathematics fields, with expertise ranging from agent-based modelling, network and data sciences, systems design, to quantitative finance. 

The Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies Group is at its core, with a focus on blockchain analytics, consensus, and crypto-economics. 

Prof. Dr Claudio J. Tessone welcomed the collaboration:

“Our objective is to link micro-behaviour to global properties of blockchain-based systems. To achieve it, our  approach heavily relies on large-scale data analysis supported by rigorous mathematical and statistical modelling. We want to support the advancement of the field, which is why working closely with developers and the Board at the Cardano Foundation is particularly appealing to us. Their input is invaluable to the co-creation of research questions and methodologies.”