Thank you for your interest in applying to the Activate Fellowship. Before beginning your application, please read the following instructions.
How to Apply
Determine applicants (up to 2 per application)
Determine project
Begin preparing application materials
Register in SurveyMonkey Apply, take the eligibility quiz, and begin application (and add co-applicant if relevant)
Step 1. Determine applicants
You can apply solo or with a co-applicant, and individuals working together on a project are required to apply together as a team (vs in two separate applications). We take up to two co-applicants from the same project on a single application, as long as both meet all eligibility requirements. The Principal applicant is the individual who began the application by completing the eligibility quiz, and optionally adds a co-applicant to the application. You cannot swap the Principal and co-applicant.
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 2. Determine project
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
In order to submit your application, you must answer a number of written questions, upload a blinded resume (one for each applicant), and upload a technical details document. 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, take eligibility quiz, and begin application (and add co-applicant if relevant)
Before creating an application, you must register to create an account in SurveyMonkey Apply and take the eligibility quiz. When registering your account, please use the email from which you’d like to receive Activate emails. After passing the eligibility quiz, you may start your application. There are instructions in Task 1 of the application that guide you through adding an optional co-applicant.
More on co-applicant teams:
You can apply with a co-founder, and individuals working together on a project are required to apply together as a team (vs in two separate applications). We take up to two co-applicants from the same project on a single application, as long as both meet all other eligibility requirements. The Principal applicant is the individual who began the application by completing the eligibility quiz, and optionally adds a co-applicant as a collaborator to the application. You cannot swap the Principal and co-applicants. However, our default funding model is for a single funded fellowship per project, and our default is to fund the Principal applicant on your application. Funded fellowships for co-applicants are considered based on availability. In the case where we only have the funding for the Principal applicant, co-applicants who would otherwise be invited as fellows will have the potential to become "Activate Affiliate Fellows." These individuals are fully recognized as part of the fellow community but do not receive funding.
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.
Activate Fellowship (C25)
Thank you for your interest in applying to the Activate Fellowship. Before beginning your application, please read the following instructions.
How to Apply
Determine applicants (up to 2 per application)
Determine project
Begin preparing application materials
Register in SurveyMonkey Apply, take the eligibility quiz, and begin application (and add co-applicant if relevant)
Step 1. Determine applicants
You can apply solo or with a co-applicant, and individuals working together on a project are required to apply together as a team (vs in two separate applications). We take up to two co-applicants from the same project on a single application, as long as both meet all eligibility requirements. The Principal applicant is the individual who began the application by completing the eligibility quiz, and optionally adds a co-applicant to the application. You cannot swap the Principal and co-applicant.
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 2. Determine project
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
In order to submit your application, you must answer a number of written questions, upload a blinded resume (one for each applicant), and upload a technical details document. 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, take eligibility quiz, and begin application (and add co-applicant if relevant)
Before creating an application, you must register to create an account in SurveyMonkey Apply and take the eligibility quiz. When registering your account, please use the email from which you’d like to receive Activate emails. After passing the eligibility quiz, you may start your application. There are instructions in Task 1 of the application that guide you through adding an optional co-applicant.
More on co-applicant teams:
You can apply with a co-founder, and individuals working together on a project are required to apply together as a team (vs in two separate applications). We take up to two co-applicants from the same project on a single application, as long as both meet all other eligibility requirements. The Principal applicant is the individual who began the application by completing the eligibility quiz, and optionally adds a co-applicant as a collaborator to the application. You cannot swap the Principal and co-applicants. However, our default funding model is for a single funded fellowship per project, and our default is to fund the Principal applicant on your application. Funded fellowships for co-applicants are considered based on availability. In the case where we only have the funding for the Principal applicant, co-applicants who would otherwise be invited as fellows will have the potential to become "Activate Affiliate Fellows." These individuals are fully recognized as part of the fellow community but do not receive funding.
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.