About Us

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is a global non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Ethereum to ensure its long-term success. As part of this mission, EF Research (EFR) is a collection of research teams, including the Robust Incentives Group (RIG). At RIG, we work on the protocol architecture and mechanisms through the lens of game theory, mechanism design, using formal methods, and empirical analysis. While our research has an economic focus, our work is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing insights from economics, computer science, cryptography, and distributed systems. We work and collaborate across these fields to find ways to improve Ethereum. This includes both longer-term foundational research and more immediate proposals for Ethereum mainnet upgrades—with a bias towards the latter.

Our team has contributed to major protocol upgrades such as EIP-1559, the switch to Proof-of-Stake, finding and mitigating attack vectors, out-of-protocol markets for block construction and MEV, and many other efforts. At RIG you will be at the forefront of these conversations. Alongside brilliant researchers, EF collaborators, and the broader Ethereum community you will take part in a dynamic research environment. You will not just be a participant—you will be in the driver’s seat to push Ethereum forward.

About the Role

We are looking for an exceptional Protocol Architecture research scientist for the Robust Incentives Group. This role is a permanently open position—we are continually looking for the right talent.

In this role, you will have high agency in defining and pursuing research that directly improves Ethereum. You will work closely with researchers, Ethereum core devs, industry experts, and academics on topics such as fee mechanisms, PoS economics, market structure, scaling execution and data of Ethereum, and more. The work is inherently interdisciplinary, demanding a deep sense of curiosity and the ability to think across fields such as economics, distributed systems, and cryptography. You should be able to synthesize theoretical insights with real-world constraints, designing mechanisms that are both rigorous and practical.

Responsibilities

• Explore foundational and applied research questions—through theoretical or empirical analysis—that shape Ethereum’s protocol architecture, such as auction mechanisms, staking incentives, or rational consensus.
• Conduct rigorous research and transform insights into proposals to improve Ethereum.
• Collaborate with research peers, Ethereum coredevs, industry experts, academics, and the wider Ethereum community—discussing findings in open forums, co-authoring papers, or writing EIPs.
• Communicate your findings clearly with different audiences in mind: from academic, to less formal but highly technical, to wider Ethereum community.

Qualifications

• High agency & autonomy: You thrive in an environment that trusts you to identify and deliver high-impact work. You take initiative, own your projects, and are able to navigate ambiguity. You are motivated to design new mechanisms and see them through to their deployment in the Ethereum protocol.
• Interdisciplinary mindset: You excel at the intersection of multiple disciplines and collaborate with experts across fields, drawing insights from economics, computer science, cryptography, distributed systems, and other relevant areas. While you value rigorous research, you are driven by its practical application and the tangible progress it brings to Ethereum.
• Clear communicator: You revel in peeling back layers and communicating your findings clearly and widely to both technical and non-technical audiences—whether in writing, discussions, or presentations.
• Research excellence: You have a strong research background, whether in academia or applied research. Ideally, your experience includes economics, distributed systems, cryptography, computer science, mathematics, or related fields. A PhD is welcome but not required if you have a track record of exploring new fields with an interdisciplinary mindset.
• Passion: You care deeply about harnessing decentralized economic systems and are passionate about solving the types of intellectual challenges Ethereum is facing. You are excited to join a group of research collaborators working in the open to advancing technology.

Nice to Have

• Direct experience managing clusters of Ethereum nodes (e.g., RPC endpoints, validator nodes, indexing services) under high-volume conditions.
• Proven expertise in performance profiling and optimization of blockchain infrastructure or similar highly complex distributed systems.
• Experience collaborating closely with DevOps teams to streamline deployments and establish robust, continuous performance monitoring systems.