Become a DeSciWorld Fellow
Whether you’re a builder, scholar, artist, or activist—curious minds from all backgrounds are welcome.
Global Cohort
Global Cohort
The 8 fellows selected are tasked with collaborating on a shared mission: to open knowledge and discover new ways of knowing together.
This inherently implies a diverse and distributed group of fellows, united not by location or culture, but by their desire to advance the our knowledge ecosystems through the application of decentralised technologies.
Selection is based on many factors, location is not one. We encourage people of all interests, skills or backgrounds to apply.
Co-Creating DeSci
Co-Creating DeSci
At its heart, the DeSci Fellowship is about co-creating the future of science by weaving community, imagination, and shared responsibility into the fabric of the DeSci movement.
The DeSci space is nascent and the toolset is in its early stages of research and development. With few tangible usecases, we anticipate the experiences and requirements of this fellowship will inspire the creation of what will become foundational DeSci tooling.
Year-Long Engagement
Year-Long Engagement
The fellowship requires approximately 6 hours of your time each month (there is opportunity for much more engagement if you wish) for seminars and workshops.
The initiative is split into 4 phases over the year, with distinct topic areas and varying degrees of collaboration with other fellows.
Inaugural Cohort and Thematic Information
This inaugural cohort of the DeSciWorld Fellowship will explore the following theme – Opening Knowledge: Emergent Epistemologies and New Ways of Knowing Together.
As the global landscape grows increasingly complex, confronting crises across climate, health, and information systems demands knowledge that transcends narrow disciplines and institutional boundaries. This year’s theme asks: What might knowledge do if it were free to move—across fields, cultures, and communities? What structures, rituals, and relationships are needed to support collaborative, open-ended inquiry in a decentralized future?
We’ll explore these questions not only through independent research, but through pedagogical experiments, shared protocols, and community co-creation.
To read more, please see the Fellowship Information Packet by clicking More Info below.
Goals and Mission
Shared Experiment in Community
DeSci is still being imagined—and we’re building it together. This fellowship is a shared experiment in how we might collaborate, research, and make meaning differently. We invite fellows not just to participate, but to co-create.
Diversity of Experiences
We believe breakthroughs come from the margins as much as the center. Our cohort welcomes researchers, builders, artists, and organizers from all disciplines, backgrounds, and geographies. No one perspective is privileged here.
Robust and Caring Web3 Learning
We approach Web3 as a space full of possibility, not prerequisites. Fellows receive thoughtful onboarding into key concepts, tools, and protocols tailored to their interests and research needs. Whether you're new or seasoned, there’s room to explore at your own pace.
Platform for Feedback
Fellows engage directly with emerging DeSci tools—not just as users, but as co-designers. Your insights help shape the protocols and platforms that power this space. Feedback is a core contribution.
Emergent Thinking
We make space for the messy, the unfinished, and the surprising. By bringing together diverse ways of knowing and doing, we hope to unlock insights that can’t be planned for. Serendipity is part of the method.
Shared Ownership & Open Source Ethics
Knowledge created here belongs to everyone. We’re committed to open access, collective authorship, and transparent process. The ideas born in this fellowship should live beyond it—and be free to evolve.
FAQ
Mentors
Marcus Khoo
Academic Community Organiser
Former fellow at Wesleyan University, focused on the future of knowledge; especially knowledge commons, transdisciplinary learning, and archival practices.
Dr. Jelani Clarke
PhD Neuroimmunologist
Experienced in biotech, turned scientist relations and business development in DeSci. Co-creator of DeSciWorld.
Carolina Menchaca
msc. biologist
Practicing marine biologist, working on the frontline of marine conservation in Uruguay. Co-creator of DeSciWorld. Mother.
Joshua Bate
Founder @ DeSciWorld
Dedicated to healing information asymmetry through the local and global applications of decentralised technologies.
at0x.eth
chief nerd @ nerd labs
MD-turned-builder, interested in knowledge management systems in AI, emergent coordination structures and Ethereum.
Guest Mentor
Someone special @ tba
Throughout the fellowship we will be joined by many guest mentors and speakers from across the spectrum of knowledge.