Polymarket is creating a new academic research arm to study the growing role of prediction markets in forecasting and information discovery, Fortune reported Wednesday. The Polymarket Institute will fund independent research exploring whether event markets can outperform traditional polls and projection systems.
The initiative will be fully funded by Polymarket but structured around academic independence. With the institute, Polymarket wants to provide the infrastructure and resources needed to evaluate prediction markets at scale.
Kai Brusch, Polymarket’s head of data, will lead the institute as managing director, and Brian Jabarian, an economics and technology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, will serve as scientific director without personal compensation.
The launch follows a surge in popularity for prediction markets, with Polymarket and Kalshi becoming major platforms for contracts tied to elections, sports outcomes, monetary policy and other real-world events.
Polymarket Institute will introduce the Polymarket Science Fellowship, a one-year program supporting doctoral researchers in information economics, market design, forecasting and related fields. Twelve researchers will join the first cohort and receive $10,000 grants, with applications opening on Aug. 18.
