NEAR Research Collective | March 2024 Report
Funding and Financials
We received a total of $5,700 in NEAR from the NDC this month on March 18th, 2024. (4,633.5 due to NEAR price drop)
Budget Utilization:
*Includes funds that are on track to be spent soon; as the KYC process and verification of some guest lecturers is taking longer than expected, and the funds for approved research proposals will be sent after completion of said research.
| Expense | Updated Budgeted | Spent / On Track |
|---|---|---|
| Guest Lecturers | $750 | $750 |
| Student Earning | $400 | $400 |
| Operation | $1,200 | $1,200 |
| Course Facilitators | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Research Proposals | $300 | $300 |
| Total: | $4,650 | $4,650 |
*Budget has been updated to reflect the USDC we received after selling NEAR tokens.
Summary:
- $250 for each of the 3 guest lecturers we have had in March for the NEAR Certified Researcher course
- Distributed to active students in the NCR course
- $400 each for 3 council members
- $1,000 for lead facilitator and $500 each for 2 co-facilitators.
- 3 approved research proposals. $100 each.
Progress and Milestones
Our objectives for the month of March were to:
- Retain at least 12 students active in cohort
- Bring on at least 3 guest lecturers.
- Begin accepting proposals to fund relevant research.
Completed:
All of these objectives have been completed.
- We have retained 23 active students.
- Brought on guest lecturers for 3 of the 4 classes.
- Have begun accepting research proposals and approved 3.
Impact and Outcomes
Achievements in March:
- 3 new people onboarded to NEAR by our co-facilitators Nedlar and BGem.
- Brought on 2 external guest lecturers Dider and Jeff Gold, as well as had the NRC council come on for the class on governance in blockchain.
- Updated course page to enhance navigation and organization.
- Updated article entitled, ‘Inside the NEAR Research Collective: Blockchain Elevated’ for easy onboarding.
- Started accepting research proposals for alumni of the NCR course, there are 3 approved proposals that should yield valuable research papers in the near future.
- Onboarded a qualified individual to be a lead facilitator in the future.
Community and Engagement
Community Growth:
Social Media and Distribution Channels:
- Twitter formerly X: 178 followers
- Post impressions: 6,877
- Engagement rate: 7.7%
- Link clicks: 81
- Retweet without comments: 124
- Likes: 299
- Replies: 33
- BOS page: 62 followers
- Posts: 6
- Likes: 47
- YouTube: 11 subscribers
- Videos: 2
- Views: 14
- Likes: 8
Events and Outreach:
- Weekly Insights Forum every Friday at 3 PM UTC (11 AM EST) on telegram. Participants range from 5-15.
NRC Team Individual Reports
XVII - Council
Hannah - Council
Chloe - Lead Facilitator
Nedlar - Co-facilitator
BGem - Co-facilitator