Application Deadline: December 31, 2013.
The Thiel Fellowship brings together some of the world’s most creative and motivated young people, and helps them bring their most ambitious ideas and projects to life. Thiel Fellows are given a no-strings-attached grant of $100,000 to skip college and focus on their work, their research, and their self-education. They are mentored by our network of visionary thinkers, investors, scientists, and entrepreneurs, who provide guidance and business connections that can’t be replicated in any classroom. Rather than just studying, you’re doing.
The Thiel Fellowship (originally named 20 under 20) is a fellowship created by Peter Thiel through the Thiel Foundation. The fellowship is intended for students under the age of 20 and offers them a total of $100,000 over two years as well as guidance and other resources to drop out of college and pursue other work, which could involve scientific research, creating a startup, or working on a social movement. Selection for the fellowship is through a competitive annual process, with about 20-30 Fellows selected annually.
During the two-year fellowship, the Thiel Foundation and its network of mentors provide guidance and support to help the Thiel Fellows build their scientific, technical, and entrepreneurial ideas. While fellows are expected to work on their innovative ideas full-time, they determine their specific paths; this often means starting a company, but could also entail doing freelance work, developing a social movement, interning at another company, or pursuing research and development independently.
Since the Thiel Fellowship began in 2011, more than sixty young people have been awarded Thiel Fellowships and pursued projects to push back the boundaries of fields such as nuclear and alternative energy, mobile health, robotics, biotechnology, 3D printing, synthetic biology, public health, education, finance, scientific equipment, gaming, network security, data storage, electrical transmission and software.
Who is eligible to apply?
- Candidates must be 19 years old or younger as of December 31st of the application year.
- The ideal candidate has ideas that simply cannot wait.
- She or he wants to change the world and has already started to do it in some fashion.
- Thiel Fellowship wants fellows who dream big and have clear plans, who take risks and learn from mistakes, who think long-term and like to tinker. Inspire us.
- Applicants must be able to submit their application in English.
- Applicants must submit their application by midnight on December 31st of this year.
Benefits of the Thiel fellowship
- The application process will encourage you to move forward with your ideas, help you to think deeply about your future, set goals, and pursue your dreams.
- Through applicant events like the Under 20 Summit, and virtual connections on Facebook, we’re building a robust community rallying around young visionaries. Anyone who enters into the second round of application review is invited into this group automatically. If you are interested in the Thiel Fellowship and want to start meeting other young visionaries now, apply to join us at the Under 20 Summit.
- New Offering: Thiel realize that the fellowship is a very small group and that there is a lot of young talent out there. Through the review process fellows and mentors can let us know if they would be interested in having an applicant intern or be hired by their company. As each round progresses you will hear from us if an internship or hiring opportunity arises.
- Applicants who receive a phone interview get one-on-one support from a mentor and can choose to stay in touch with their interviewer for continued guidance and support.
- Finalists are flown out to San Francisco where they meet other young visionaries and develop friendships with likeminded peers. They also meet with the Thiel Fellowship Community of fellows, mentors, and staff. We encourage finalists to connect with as many people as possible so that, even if they are not a fellowship recipient, they can still leverage our community. Some finalists have chosen to stay in touch with the Thiel Foundation as well to get advice and encouragement along the way.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the Thiel Fellowship 2014
Apply Now for the 2014 Thiel 20 under 20 Fellowship