# META-036: Fund Futarchy Applications Research — Robin Hanson at George Mason University

**Proposed:** 2026-03-21  
**Status:** Active  
**Category:** Grants / Academic Research  
**Amount:** $80,007 USDC  
**Duration:** 6 months  

## Summary

MetaDAO proposal to fund the first rigorous academic research on futarchy governance mechanisms, led by futarchy inventor Dr. Robin Hanson at George Mason University.

## Scope

- 500 student participants ($50 each) in controlled decision-making experiments
- IRB-reviewed experimental protocols
- Graduate research assistant for full academic year + summer
- First experimental evidence on information-aggregation efficiency of futarchy governance

## Budget Breakdown

- Hanson summer salary: ~$30K
- Houser co-investigator: ~$6K
- Graduate research assistant: ~$19K
- Participant payments: $25K
- **Total:** $80,007 USDC

## Disbursement Structure

50/50 split:
- 50% on execution
- 50% on interim report delivery

## Market Data (2026-03-21)

- **Likelihood:** 50%
- **Volume:** $42.16K
- **Pass token:** $3.4590 (+0.52%)
- **Fail token:** $3.3242 (-3.40%)
- **Time remaining:** ~2 days

## Significance

This represents the first academic research proposal to experimentally validate futarchy decision-market governance. The engagement brings academic rigor to a mechanism that has been deployed in production (MetaDAO) but lacks controlled experimental validation.

## Proposers

- m3taversal
- metanallok

## Related

- robin-hanson
- george-mason-university
- daniel-houser
- [[metadao]]