The development of the core Solana protocols is one of the most impactful things you can do in this young and fast moving ecosytem.
The Solana protocol is going through the most significant updates and upgrades since genesis and there is much to do. We need more talented and dedicated people to be part of this process. If you are interested in joining this effort the doors are open. You just have to walk through them.
The *Solana Protocol Fellowship * is a program designed to onboard developers to the process through which the protocol development happens. It is an opportunity to dive deep into the protocol and learn while also working closely with others on the same learning trajectory as well as the core development community.
This program will not teach or focus in any way on smart contract development or creating blockchain applications.
Over the course of the _ month program, fellows will receive project support and mentorship as well as a monthly stipend while working on a project of their choosing.Project ideas and domains could be wide ranging from starting a research area to building a protocol. Fellows can expect
- a weekly call with participants
- selected mentorship with applicable devs
- monthly demo days
- optional In-person meetups
- project documentation guidance
We are looking for hyngry minds who love tech and maths to build on one of the most performant blockchains.
These skills are good to have but its open cause Inclusiviy >>> Exclusivity
- have strong verbal and written communication skills
- be self-directed and self-motivated
- have a technical foundation
- Being a High agency person
- are able to write code
Core development requires you to be able to write your ideas down in a manner that is clear and easy to understand. In addition, you will need to be able to discuss your ideas in person and over voice and video calls. The majority of protocol development happens in English.
Core development requires the ability to tackle a problem in a self-directed way. You will have a community of knowledgeable people to support you, but the ultimate responsibility for figuring things out is yours. The program will operate in much the same way. While mentorship is an important part of this program, mentors are there to unlock doors and remove barriers. There will be near-zero "teaching".
Core development is deeply technical. You will consistently be required to learn and understand new things. We don't expect you to have a deep understanding of the domain-specific knowledge, but you should have a solid technical foundation. This could be things like experience with software development, a computer science or math background, or being able to read and very loosely understand the Ethereum yellow paper. You should be confident in your ability to learn and understand complex technical things.
You don't have to be a seasoned software engineer. But almost everyone who is successful in core development has some ability to use code to implement and validate their ideas.
This is probably the most important one. You need a strong inherent desire to do this work. Working on open source and open protocols. Building decentralized peer to peer networks. Improving client architecture. Developing and improving low-level EVM mechanics. Contributing to the public good.
You are not expected to have expert-level skills in all of these areas, but you should expect to spend time improving on any weak areas.
Candidate selection will take the following things into account.
- Your application and areas of interest
- Your history of open source contributions
- The drive to build on solana
There are life situations which may result in a capable candidate not being able to easily demonstrate their ability. An example would be a long career in private industry working in a closed-source environment. If this is your situation, you are encouraged to explain your situation and make as compelling a case as possible for why you should be considered.
- Initial meeting with individual participants, interviewing and providing program orientation.
- Initial group session, presenting the introduction to the program and areas of focus.
- Learn about chosen problems, form teams and create a write up of a topic they are interested in based on input from mentors.
- Deep dive into identified areas. Learn and familiarize with previous work and current solutions.
- Connect with chosen mentors and work towards defining a deliverable project.
- Write and submit a report on the selected problem(s), suggested solutions, and a roadmap for working on the issue throughout the program.
- Report presentation to other participants and select mentors to gather final feedback.
- Execute project roadmap to complete deliverables
- Publish weekly progress updates.
- Weekly group calls (stand up) with participants and mentors.
- Project wrap up and looking forward to further contributing to the Ethereum ecosystem
- Project showcase to group and mentors
During the entire process, participants will have access to mentors and the core developer community for things like answering questions and getting feedback on ideas. Participants should not expect the core developers to actively guide them.
A common weekly "stand up" meeting will be held for all teams during which they will go over
- What they've been working on
- What they are working on next
- Anything that is blocking their work.
It is an open question right now
Fill this form if you are interested in the Fellowship
