VDP-110: Allocating Resources for the Next Batch of VitaDAO Longevity Fellows

VDP-110: Allocating Resources for the Next Batch of VitaDAO Longevity Fellows

Project Lead: Maria Marinova

Team: Vincent Weisser, Alex Dobrin

Summary

We propose for VitaDAO to allocate $10,000 USD to fund the next batch of VitaDAO Longevity Fellows with need-based micro-grants of up to $2,000 USD. These grants will support and encourage scientists, students, and longevity enthusiasts to enrich their knowledge or further develop an interest in longevity science, while growing the VitaDAO ecosystem and attracting talent.

Motivation

The VitaDAO Longevity Fellowship was established to financially empower and encourage individuals interested in becoming more deeply involved in longevity science research. The first fellowships were enabled by our generous donors from our Gitcoin project “Longevity Fellowship Grants”. Due to the positive feedback from the broader community and fellows, as well as amazing unfunded applicants, we want to fund a new batch. This will go a long way in advancing longevity research and our broader community.

Funding

We plan to top up the budget with funds from other longevity organizations and donations sent to fellowship.vitadao.eth. This will help us to provide need-based funding to our fellows to pursue research, attend conferences, or join programs such as the Longevity Biotech Fellowship.

Proposal

We propose to fund VitaDAO Longevity Fellows with micro-grants of up to $2k. This will help them to get more deeply involved in longevity research, take a break to focus on getting deeper into longevity, attend a conference, or join a program such as On Deck Longevity Fellowship.

We have developed a strategy to keep the Fellows engaged and connected after each funding round, including social channels, quarterly meet-ups, fellow highlights and VITA bounties to incentivize them to contribute to the work of Dealflow and Awareness working groups.

Assessment Process

We suggest having a rigorous assessment process at the end of the program. An idea would be to require fellows to deliver small reports covering the work done, usage of proceeds (which can be compared against initial intentions), and next steps (if any). By doing this, we can generate KPIs that can be compared with previous/future batches, reflect on expenses and keep track of potential future engagement with fellows.

Conclusion

We believe that this proposal will help us to continue our mission of advancing longevity research and building a strong community around it. We look forward to your support and feedback.