Hello everyone in the Polkadot community! 

We are the Polkadot Ecology Research Institute, the largest Asian research institute focusing on 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 2024 to March 2025.

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 5 years of dedicated effort. 

- We have received support from the Polkadot treasury 7 times in a row. In the past few years, we have written nearly 200 original content about Polkadot and its ecosystem development, which have received more than 60 million reads, with a total word count of more than 1.3 million words. We are also the only institute in the Chinese market that publishes its content on Polkadot's official Medium.
- Up to now, we have supported more than 70 Polkadot-related activities, and participated in the global sharing activities of the Polkadot Decoded Community Conference as a guest for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023. The cumulative number of people reaching Polkadot from all activities has exceeded 40,000.
- We have actively empowered over 110 Polkadot ecosystem projects with content, events, and community support, as well as providing investment and financing consulting and connection services for some projects so that investment institutions can better understand them. Although we are based in the Chinese market, we have also provided help and support to many Polkadot ecosystem projects in other global regions, often pro bono.

Our funding request is not that high because it mainly used to cover the day-to-day operational costs of the institute. Expenses like participating in various Polkadot activities, business costs, and travel expenses have always been paid by ourselves in the past few years, and this application remains the same.

As a major institute focusing on Polkadot ecosystem research in the Asia-Pacific market, and even globally, we have been consistently contributing to Polkadot's development over the past 5 years. Whether it is a bull market or a bear market, our research content has been widely read and adopted by many organizations, and it has also become one of the most important channels for users to understand Polkadot's development. We will continue to drive Polkadot and its ecosystem's development in the future!

Last year, we published an in-depth strategy report on Polkadot, spanning nearly 30,000 Chinese words. It has become the most comprehensive and multi-dimensional original report on Polkadot last year in Asian. The report covers numerous recommendations for Polkadot's future development, which are still being discussed by various institutions and users recently. If you are interested, you can click to read the [report](https://medium.com/@polkadot_eri/polkadot-growth-strategy-report-building-a-continuously-growing-future-for-polkadot-bfc35ae70b45).

In this proposal, we are applying for 12 months of operational funding, primarily for personnel expenses. This marks our 8th 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/1DaWP1eGi6QYdyB1tQPoYhLeMlKCwwPbyZ22IoDZ4ENM/edit?usp=sharing), as well as comments from Polkadot Builders on our work.

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.

- **Problem Statement:** Seeking funding for the Polkadot Ecology Research Institute's operational expenses from April 2024 to March 2025.
- **Significance:** The institute has been a key contributor to the Polkadot ecosystem for over 5 years, producing extensive original content, supporting numerous activities, and empowering ecosystem projects.
- **Proposed Solution:** Requesting 12 months of operational funding primarily for personnel expenses to continue driving Polkadot's development.
- **Expected Outcomes:** Sustained contribution to Polkadot's growth, continued research, and support for ecosystem projects.

#792 The operating cost for the research organization Polkadot Ecology Research Institute for 2024/4-2025/3