Thank you for your interest in applying to the Activate Fellowship and/or Cyclotron Road Program. Before starting your application, please read the following instructions

Steps to Apply

1. Determine number of applicants (up to 2 per application)
2. Determine project eligibility
3. Gather application materials
4. Register in SurveyMonkey Apply, and begin application

Step 1. Determine number of applicants (up to 2 per application)

You can apply solo or with a co-applicant / co-founder. Individuals working together on the same project are required to apply as a team (versus in two separate applications). Both applicants must meet all eligibility requirements.

To be eligible, you…

• Must have a bachelor’s degree and 4+ years post-baccalaureate scientific research, engineering, or technology development experience.
• Must be leading the commercial development of a hardware-based technology innovation for the first time if awarded the fellowship, i.e., not a repeat hard-tech founder.
• Must be committed full time to the proposed project or company if awarded the fellowship.
• Must be legally able to work in the U.S. for the duration of the fellowship.
• Must be able to communicate proficiently in English.

Step 1a. Determine who will apply as the Principal (if applying as a team)

The Principal applicant is the individual who completes the pre-application form and begins the application. Once you start the application, you may optionally add a co-applicant as a collaborator. Your collaborator will receive an e-mail inviting them to join your application. You cannot swap the Principal applicant and co-applicant. 

NOTE: Only the Principal applicant will receive funding if selected; the co-applicant may become an unfunded Affiliate Fellow. Affiliate Fellows are fully recognized as part of the Activate Fellow community but do not receive a stipend.

Step 2. Determine project eligibility

To be eligible, your proposed project or company…

• Must be based in the physical or biological sciences, or related engineering disciplines.
• Must be still be in development and not yet ready for full-scale product sales at the time of the application deadline.
• Must not have raised more than $2m in debt or equity funding from non-governmental sources at the time of the application deadline.

Step 3. Gather application materials

For the application, you must answer a number of written questions, upload a blinded resume (one for each applicant), and upload a Technical Vision document (2-3 pages) and a Technical Reality deck (3-4 slides). You will also be allowed to upload additional optional documents. More specific instructions about these materials can be found on the "Materials" page in the top navigation bar (under "Pages") and in the application itself. Begin gathering these materials now.

Step 4. Register in SurveyMonkey Apply, and begin application

Before starting an application, you must first register to create an account in SurveyMonkey Apply and complete the pre-application form. When registering your account, please use the email from which you’d like to receive emails from Activate. After completing the pre-application, you may start your application. Instructions to add an optional co-applicant are found in Task 1 of the application.

Please read our General FAQs on our website. Once you start your application, you can find additional FAQs about how to navigate the application portal.