The University of Malta has partnered with the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) to establish a €300,000 ($351,000) blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) scholarship fund, Times of Malta reported August 29. The new scholarship is targeted at students studying information and communications technology (ICT), law, finance, and engineering, and will be split over three years. Starting this coming academic year, students can apply the scholarship to completing their Master’s and PhD research dissertations in blockchain and DLT. The move comes amidst governmental efforts to attract blockchain companies to Malta by ensuring sufficient staffing capacity locally. Silvio Schembri, the digital …

The South Korean government is set to launch a program dedicated to fostering young talent in emerging areas including blockchain on August 10, a press release confirmed today, August 9. The 2018 Innovative Growing Youth Talent Concentration Project is the second installment of the initiative following a successful inaugural round, which ran June 11 through July 10. It is hosted by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion. Participants will receive a six-month training course covering applications of blockchain and other technologies in various sectors, with instruction beginning mid-September. The ultimate …

A new platform is using artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to address the “growing class divide” in education — helping all students access equal opportunities and unlock their full potential. Õpet says it wants to address the “confusion and apprehension” teenagers face when they finish high school and simultaneously offer smart revision tools that will help these students get the best grades possible in crucial exams, resulting in a wider range of options when they are contemplating their first steps. The company says an educational chatbot will be the beating heart of its ecosystem. Digitally available to students at all …

Turkey has established the country’s first university-level blockchain center, aiming to close the blockchain expertise gap and ensure wide deployment of the technology, local news outlet Daily Sabah reported August 3. The Istanbul Blockchain and Innovation Center (BlockchainIST Center) was inaugurated at Bahçeşehir University (BAU). According to the center’s director Bora Erdamar, BlockchainIST is set to be “the most important center of research and development and innovation in Turkey in which scientific studies and publications are made in blockchain technologies.” Erdamar said that Turkey may have a chance to become the leading country in technology that will “transform humanity.” He …

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Cointelegraph.com Blockchains and cryptocurrencies are still young. The ones in actual operation still have a range of teething problems and weaknesses, while they also lack the widespread adoption that would forcibly accelerate their development and provide an expanded testing ground for new technical solutions. There are, however, an increasing number of universities that have been opening groups, centers and laboratories dedicated to research into cryptocurrencies, and despite being young themselves, these promise to significantly advance the evolution of cryptocurrencies and blockchains. Yet, pure research …

The world-renowned Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examination has added cryptocurrency and blockchain to its curriculum, Bloomberg reports today, July 16. The exam, run by the CFA institute, has reportedly prepared over 150,000 financial sector professionals through its intensive 3-tiered program, which is now set to include crypto and blockchain as part of its Level I and II curricula. According to Bloomberg, CFA said that a “surging interest” across surveys and focus groups was behind its decision. Stephen Horan, managing director for general education and curriculum at the CFA Institute in Virginia, USA, told Bloomberg: “We saw the [crypto and blockchain] …

Knowledge is power, particularly in the Information Age, where an understanding of ‘the new’ can provide an edge over the competition. This is why, barely a year since crypto exploded into mainstream awareness — and long before it's likely to enjoy blanket adoption — it’s already been the object of a growing number of university courses. While a minority of these have focused on the actual coding, computer science and cryptography lying behind cryptocurrencies, most others have sought to provide a detailed introduction to crypto, so that a more business-focused audience will have the basis for deciding whether — and …

The London School of Economics (LSE) will be offering an online course on cryptocurrency investing, starting in August 2018, Financial Times reports Monday, July 9. According to the announcement, the new course dubbed “Cryptocurrency Investment and Disruption,” will help students learn some “practical skills to interact with cryptocurrency exchanges,” including how to use cryptocurrency wallets, as well as “evaluate the analytics” of initial coin offerings (ICOs). The LSE, which is alma mater to 36 “world leaders” and 18 Nobel Prize laureates, claims it is known for its motto to “understand the causes of things.” By introducing the course, the university …

Blockchain cloud computing platform Oasis Labs announced July 9 that it has raised $45 mln from major investors as part of its plan to help companies adopt blockchain. In a press release, Oasis, which has University of California professor Dawn Song as its CEO and co-founder, described its plans to build a “decentralized internet” by resolving businesses’ “concerns” about implementing the technology. “Blockchains are poised to revolutionize much of the way we live, but many developers and organizations have understandable concerns about performance and privacy limitations that are currently hindering their ability to embrace the technology,” Song said. Oasis’ investors, …

One of the seven members of Switzerland’s collective head of state stated that blockchain will someday “penetrate our entire economy,” according to a transcript published by the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research today, June 21. Swiss Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann stated during a speech at the Crypto Valley Conference in Bern today that: “Hardly anyone still doubts that blockchain will penetrate our entire economy.” However, Schneider-Ammann added that at this point, Switzerland does not know enough about the new technologies, “their potential and their risks,” noting that the “decisive factor” will be a push for tech …

Stanford has created the Center for Blockchain Research, supported in part by the Ethereum Foundation, Stanford Engineering’s website posted yesterday, June 20. The university reportedly established the center in order to examine how blockchain technology can transform traditional business interactions, according to their official announcement. Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin tweeted about his, and evidently his Foundation’s, support for the blockchain initiative June 20: Excited to be supporting this initiative!https://t.co/CmaVpBxjrf https://t.co/RJHm1pVbWX — Vitalik "Not giving away ETH" Buterin (@VitalikButerin) June 21, 2018 In addition to the Ethereum Foundation, the Center for Blockchain Research has received contributions from Protocol Labs, the …

A group of Oxford professors are seeking full-degree granting powers in the EU for the world’s first “blockchain university”, according to an email shared with Cointelegraph today, June 14. According to the team of academics behind Woolf Development, led by Joshua Broggi from the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford, blockchain tech and smart contracts can help democratize the traditional structure of higher education. The proposed “blockchain university” will adopt the traditional Oxbridge course and collegiate structure by focusing on individual tutorial-led modules that will be available to students either on- or offline. The project’s design is “geographically agnostic,” prioritizing a …