Applications for the 1 September 2018 fellowship are now open. The Shuttleworth Foundation offers fellowships to individuals to implement their innovative idea for social change. They are most interested in exceptional ideas at the intersection between technology, knowledge and learning, with openness being the key requirement.

The Shuttleworth Foundation is a small social investor that provides funding to dynamic leaders who are at the forefront of social change. They look for social innovators who are helping to change the world for the better and could benefit from a social investment model with a difference. They identify amazing people, give them a fellowship grant, and multiply the money they put into their own projects by a factor of ten or more.

The Shuttleworth Foundation Fellowship Program funding consists of two components for each Fellow – the fellowship grant and the co-investment project funding.

1. The fellowship grant covers the cost of the Fellow’s time for a year and is guaranteed to the fellow for that year. The grant amount varies and is determined by each Fellow’s salary equivalent outside of the fellowship.
2. The co-investment project funding is the most unique part of the Fellowship Program, as Fellows are rewarded for investing in their own ideas. An amount of $250,000 is set aside per Fellow per year as potential project funding. This funding is unlocked through a light weight project pitch process and the Foundation tops up the Fellow’s own investment by adding at least 10 times as much funding from their project funding pool.

Eligibility

• This Fellowship consists of anyone from college drop-outs to doctors (academic and clinical), students to professors, enthusiastic upstarts and seasoned veterans.
• They come from all over and work where they can make the most difference.
• The profile they share is one of openness, commitment and bravery.

Anyone can become a Shuttleworth Fellow.

• You do not have to have any specific level of education, or you could have a PhD.
• You do not have to have years of experience in the workplace or be an up and coming millennial.
• You do not have to be from any specific geography or nationality
• You do not have to have an organisation, but you can if you want to, and it can be for or not for profit.
• You do not have to be of any specific gender.
• You do not even have to be building software.

However:

• You should just be able to communicate fluently in English.
• You should have is a clear sense of how you can contribute to changing the world for the better.
• You should be able to articulate the problem, and your idea should offer a fresh approach to addressing that problem.
• You should be able to motivate why you are the best person to do this, and how this particular fellowship might help you do that.

Application

A full application comprises of

• the online application form
• your application video – not longer than 5 minutes
• your resume