further completing, cleaning, and ordering

README.md

@@ -1,39 +1,34 @@
 # Flashbots Research
 
-## Spirit
+Flashbots is a research and development organization focused on the impact MEV has on state-rich blockchains such as Ethereum. MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) is a complex research topic involving multiple fascinating disciplines, stakeholders, and tradeoffs. Our research and development operate hand in hand, and have been designed to closely feed into each-other forming a dual engine that propels Flashbots forward. In line with our organization's values, all our research efforts are open to the public and highly collaborative.
 
-Flashbots is a research and development organization focused on the impact of MEV has on state-rich blockchains such as Ethereum. MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) is a complex topic at the cutting edge of cryptocurrency research that entails many (fascinating) interwoven disciplines, stakeholders and tradeoffs. As such, research is essential to our organization's existence.
-
-Our research and development operate hand in hand, and have been designed to closely feed into each-other forming a dual engine that propels Flashbots forward. Aligned with the rest of our organization's values, all our research efforts are accessible to the public, open to anyone to contribute to and highly collaborative with the community.
-
-MEV is a pervasive issue to all decentralized systems. We are building Flashbots Research as a research hub for MEV, tackling and uncovering questions relevant to the short, medium and long-term future of the industry. We view this research as essential to help the cryptocurrency industry better understand and deal with MEV. We are currently funded through venture capital but aim to build a sustainable self-funded independent research organization that can become a place where ambitious researchers can work amongst like-minded individuals on the most interesting research questions unencumbered from the traditional friction of academia.
+We are building Flashbots Research as a research hub for MEV, tackling and uncovering questions relevant to the short, medium and long-term future of the industry. We view this research as essential to help the cryptocurrency industry better understand and deal with MEV. We are currently funded through venture capital but aim to build a sustainable self-funded independent research organization that can become a place where ambitious researchers can work amongst like-minded individuals on the most interesting research questions unencumbered from the usual friction of academia.
 
 Read more about what we're building with Flashbots Research in our [manifesto](manifesto.md)
 
 ## Research Topics
-Flashbots research covers a wide array of topics centered about the MEV theme. Several of these topics are directly related to our auction system and are meant as initial explorations around problems that will eventually need to be solved for our project to ultimately succeed. Other topics are more loosely related, and are part of our wider effort to illuminate the MEV landscape to provide a more level playing field for all actors involved.
+Our research covers a wide array of topics centered about the MEV theme. Several of these topics are directly related to our auction system and are meant as initial explorations around problems that will eventually need to be solved for our project to ultimately succeed. Other topics are more loosely related, and are part of our wider effort to illuminate the MEV landscape to provide a more level playing field for all actors involved.
 
 A list of the research topics we are either currently working on, or on which we would like to advance our knowlegde can be found [here](topics.md).
 
-## Community
-The Flashbots Research community is fully virtual. You can interact with it in several ways:
-* join us on Flashbots' Discord #research channel for synchronous conversations with the Flashbots community
-* open an issue on this repository (eg.) for asynchronous conversations on an MEV-related topics
-* join our weekly research workshops by subscribing to the Flashbots Research calendar
-* join our monthly MEV-Roasts where we present new ideas and get roasted by the community
-* ad-hoc events such as research-a-thons
-
-We regularly collaborate with other research organizations. This can take many shapes such as a joint series of research workshops, a cross-organization team formation to work on a specific research question, or a joint grant program for questions that matter to both organizations. We encourage you to reach out if you'd like to discuss a collaboration.
+## Flashbots Research Proposals
+To fuel the collaborative nature of our research, we have a process in place for Flashbots Research Proposal (FRPs), where anybody can submit a research proposal for consideration. Upon community review, proposals will be considered for becoming part of our research, and might become eligible for a grant.
 
-## Join us
-While we see all our community members as part of Flashbots Research, there exists multiple ways to be more deeply involved in the organization. We are actively recruiting for full-time research positions such as a research data engineer and a research prototype engineer. Check out the full job descriptions [here]().
+Find out more about our research [process](process.md), ongoing [FRPs](FRPs/), and the [grants](grants.md) we issue.
 
-Another way is to become a Flashbots Research grant recipient by submitting a Flashbots Research Proposal and working alongside the full-time team at Flashbots and your collaborators in leading the exploration of a question of your choice. Flashbots Research Proposals (FRPs) are research proposals submitted as pull requests on this repository and reviewed by a 3-person commitee composed of Alejo Salles, Alex Obadia and Phil Daian. Upon discussion with the submitter and a review of the proposal, and within a maximum of 2 weeks from the latest submission, the submitter is informed whether their proposal will be funded.
-Find out more information about the [grants](grants.md) we issue, our research [process](process.md) and [FRPs](frps) (oingoing & template).
+## Community
+Flashbots Research is community-centric and fully virtual. You can interact with us in several ways:
+* join us on our Discord #mev-research channel for conversations with the Flashbots community
+* open an issue on this repository to gather input on specific MEV-related topics
+* join our monthly MEV-Roasts where we present new ideas and get roasted by the community
+* join our reserch [workshops](workshops.md) and other ad hoc events such as research-a-thons, announced in our Discord
 
+We regularly collaborate with other research organizations. This can take many shapes such as a joint series of research workshops, a cross-organization team formation to work on a specific research question, or a joint grant program for questions that matter to both organizations. We encourage you to reach out if you'd like to discuss a collaboration. We are also actively recruiting for full-time research positions, check out the full job descriptions [here](https://github.com/flashbots/pm/tree/main/jobs).
 
-## Resources:
+## Resources
+Find out more about Flashbots and our research in this repository and our publications:
 </br> [Flashbots Research publication](https://hackmd.io/@flashbots?tags=%5B%22research%22%5D)
 </br> [Flashbots Medium publication](https://medium.com/flashbots)
-</br> [Flashbots EthResearch post](https://ethresear.ch/t/flashbots-frontrunning-the-mev-crisis/8251)
-</br> [Research Fellowship](https://github.com/flashbots/mev-research/grants.md)
+</br> [Original Flashbots EthResearch post](https://ethresear.ch/t/flashbots-frontrunning-the-mev-crisis/8251)
+
+A selection of research papers and posts about MEV-related topics can be found [here](resources.md).

grants.md

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#  grants
+#  Flashbots Grants
 
 The Flashbots fellowship is a grants program to support research on questions related to topics outlined in [topics.md]((https://github.com/flashbots/mev-research/topics.md).
 
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ We expect the research questions to evolve over time and to most likely lead to
 - a short article published in our [HackMD research publication](https://hackmd.io/@flashbots?tags=%5B%22research%22%5D)
 - a presentation given at one of our community events
 
-
 **How much is the grant?**
 The grant is a total of $15k sent in two instalments. The first instalment of $10k is sent upfront, the second instalment of $5k is sent once the deliverables have been completed.  
 

process.md

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Flashbots Research Process
+
+Flashbots Research is an open, transparent and iterative collective creation process taking inspiration from both academic and applied research, and modelled upon Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) process. Anyone can contribute to Flashbots Research through opening or answering a Github issue in this repo, or writing a Flashbots Research Proposal (FRP).
+
+## Flashbots Research Proposals (FRPs)
+FRPs stands for Flashbots Research Proposal and consists in a markdown document describing the approach to one of our suggested research [topics](topics.md). Similar to an academic research proposal, it should introduce what the research strives to explore or prove, incorporate a systematic breakdown of the research question, and providee an account of the methodologies, approaches or theories that will be used to support the hypothesis within the project, including a review of the relevant literature.
+
+The different stages of an FRP are as follows:
+![FRP Workflow Diagram](/assets/Flashbots_frpWorkflow.png)
+
+- **Draft:** the first formally tracked stage of an FRP in development. An FRP is merged by an FRP editor into the FRP repository when properly formatted. At this stage the draft may be iterating and undergoing rapid changes.
+- **Review:** an FRP author marks an FRP as ready for and requesting peer review.
+- **Accepted:** accepted FRPs are work in progress until incorporated into the research papers.
+- **Withdrawn:** the FRP author(s) have withdrawn the proposed FRP. This state has finality and can no longer be resurrected using this EIP number. If the idea is pursued at later date it is considered a new proposal.
+- **Completed:** the work associated with the FRP has been merged into Flashbots Research Paper and/or published independently, or otherwise deemed as completed by the FRP editors.
+- **Stagnant:** an FRP in Draft or Accepted if inactive for a period of 6 months or greater is moved to stagnant. An FRP may be resurrected from this stage by Authors through moving it back to Draft, Withdrawn, or by FRP editors through moving it to Draft or Completed.
+
+FRPs are expected to deliver a blog post summarizing the work completed, independent of other deliverables like research papers or presentations in workshops or conferences, and will be reviewed by the Flashbots Research arm.
+
+If you'd like to create a new FRP, follow the instructions in the FRP [template](FRP-template.md).
+
+## Issues
+If you would like to raise a new Research Question to be incorporated into the Flashbots Research Roadmap, or you are a (prospective) MEV Fellow who would like to breakdown a particular Research Question into addressable sub questions to seek community contributions, we invite you to open an Issue in this repository and link it to the relevant FRP Draft. Issues will be closed by FRP editors if the newly proposed Research Question has been reviewed and acted upon, an FRP has been completed, or when they are no longer relevant.
+
+## MEV Research Fellows
+An MEV Research Fellow (or MEV Fellows) is one whom FRP has been accepted upon review and has been allocated a research [grant](grants.md). In addition to delivering the FRPs, MEV fellows (either indiviuals or organizations) are expected to participate in research workshops and regular progress check-ins with the Flashbots research team.
+
+## MEV Research Contributors
+If you are interested in contributing but do not want to commit to the responsibility of drafting and getting the necessary alignment for an FRP, you can become a MEV Research Contributor. A contributor is anyone who is not an MEV Fellow but contributes meaningful artifacts to FRPs. Contributors can be either invited by respective MEV Fellows for particular FRPs throughout their lifecycle, or request to join an MEV Fellow to work on a particular FRP before its review. Opening or answering issues in this repository are ways to signal interest and demonstrate qualification as a contributor. Contributors will be recognized in eventual papers or research post for their contributions.
+

resources.md

@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
-## Resources Vault
+# Resources Vault
 
 The research vault is a collection of resources related to MEV research. We encourage you to contribute to this vault by submitting a PR with your own suggestions for additions to this list!
 
-### New to MEV?
-
+## New to MEV?
 Below is a selection of resources from our vault to get you started on your MEV journey:
 
 [Ethereum is a Dark Forest by Dan Robinson](https://medium.com/@danrobinson/ethereum-is-a-dark-forest-ecc5f0505dff)
@@ -18,10 +17,8 @@ Below is a selection of resources from our vault to get you started on your MEV
 
 [MEV and Me by Charlie Noyes](https://research.paradigm.xyz/MEV)
 
-
-### Vault
-
-</br> [Flash Boys 2.0: Frontrunning, Transaction Reordering, and Consensus Instability in Decentralized Exchanges by Daian et. al.](https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.05234)
+## Vault
+[Flash Boys 2.0: Frontrunning, Transaction Reordering, and Consensus Instability in Decentralized Exchanges by Daian et. al.](https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.05234)
 
 [Quantifying Blockchain Extractable Value: How dark is the forest? by Qin et. al.](https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.05511)
 
@@ -69,7 +66,7 @@ Below is a selection of resources from our vault to get you started on your MEV
 
 [SoK: Algorithmic Incentive Manipulation Attacks on Permissionless PoW Cryptocurrencies](https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/1614.pdf). Financial Crypto 21 [video](https://youtu.be/Fa2DsZE99DM?t=1453)
 
-### Miscellaneous Gems
+## Miscellaneous Gems
 [Ethereum is a Dark Forest by Dan Robinson](https://medium.com/@danrobinson/ethereum-is-a-dark-forest-ecc5f0505dff)
 
 [Escaping the Dark Forest by Sam Sun](https://samczsun.com/escaping-the-dark-forest/)

workshops.md

@@ -1,15 +1,10 @@
 ## Flashbots Research workshops
 
-We hold public bi-weekly research workshops to addresses any questions related to the topics outlined in the [topics.md document]((https://github.com/flashbots/mev-research/topics.md). These research workshops are held to encourage community discussions around important research questions, update the community on the research Flashbots has been working on (eg. FRPs), set directions for resolving open issues and collaborate with other projects on topics we both share an interest in.
+We hold frequent workshops to addresses any questions related to the research areas outlined in the topics [page](topics.md). These workshops are held to encourage community discussions around important research questions, update the community on the research Flashbots has been working on (e.g. FRPs), set directions for resolving open issues, and collaborate with other projects on topics we both share an interest in.
 
-Anyone can propose a topic to be discussed in a Research Workshop by opening a github issue in Flashbots' [/mev-research repo](https://github.com/flashbots/mev-research/) and/or labeling an outstanding issue "workshop", and linking it to related FRPs and github issues or research questions yet to be addressed (Example: [Issue 24](https://github.com/flashbots/mev-research/issues/24) on MEV taxonomy).
+Anyone can propose a topic to be discussed in a Research Workshop by opening a github issue in this repository, labeling an outstanding issue "workshop", or by suggesting it over Discord. All research workshops are recorded and published shortly after the call.
 
-All research workshops will be recorded and published shortly after the call.
-
-### Upcoming
-
-
-### Past
+### Past Workshops
 
 | No. |Date | Topic | Agenda | Notes | Recording |
 |:---|:---|:---|---|---|:---|