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The RIL Fellowship

Leave with proof of what you can do.

  • Startups
  • Products
  • Research
  • Leadership

The Fellowship exists for people who are ready to stop talking about ideas and start building them.

Join a guided programme shaped around the work you want to launch, publish, present or share with the world.

Choose your Fellowship route
Four people reviewing project work together around a laptop
Serious work develops faster when it is shared.
Upcoming Fellowships

Choose your Fellowship route.

We conduct recurring cohorts across two clearly defined programmes: Career helps you build credible professional experience; Business helps you decide whether an opportunity is worth pursuing.

01 · Career FellowshipRecurring cohorts

Build proof for the work you want next.

For people changing direction, returning to work or ready to turn an area of interest into recent, relevant experience.

  • Complete a substantial project grounded in real practice
  • Create work you can discuss with employers and collaborators
  • Leave with a clearer and more credible professional next step
Programme rhythmFocused live sessions and project work
Included supportMentorship, project profile and recognition
Ready to build professional proof?Route 01
Choose this routeView Career Fellowship
02 · Business FellowshipRecurring cohorts

Find out whether your idea is worth building.

For aspiring founders and early builders who need better evidence before investing more time, money or energy.

  • Investigate the customer, problem and market
  • Test important assumptions through practical experiments
  • Leave with a stronger proposition and a justified decision
Programme rhythmFocused live sessions and project work
Included supportMentorship, project profile and recognition
Ready to test a business opportunity?Route 02
Choose this routeView Business Fellowship
What you leave with

Proof of what you can do.

Success looks different for each fellow. What does not change is the expectation that you complete one substantial output and create a clear public record of the work.

Every Fellow Leaves With

  • Fellowship project brief
  • Documented progress record
  • Public fellow profile
  • Project or portfolio page
  • Final presentation
  • Structured feedback
  • Completion recognition
  • Next-stage roadmap

Your Principal Output

  • Startup proposition
  • MVP or prototype
  • Research paper
  • Whitepaper
  • Open-source project
  • Policy brief
  • Public report
  • Dataset
  • Strategic proposal
  • Professional portfolio

You are not expected to complete everything listed here. You select one principal output, supported by a project record, presentation and public profile.

Founding community

Your peers matter.

The projects are important. The people are often more important.

Many fellowships are remembered not for the curriculum, but for the relationships they create.

Fellows work alongside founders, researchers, developers, designers and emerging leaders who are all committed to moving meaningful work forward.

What can begin here

A conversation during the Fellowship can become…

  • 01 / Your nextCo-founder
  • 02 / Your nextEmployer
  • 03 / Your nextCollaborator
  • 04 / Your nextResearch partner
  • 05 / Your nextOpportunity
The longer view

The Fellowship culminates in a release. The relationships and opportunities can continue long after it.

Who the Fellowship is for

For people ready to move from intention to evidence.

You do not need a polished proposal or the title “innovator.” You need a meaningful starting point and the willingness to develop it seriously.

You may be a…

  • Founder or indie hacker testing a venture.
  • Builder developing a product, tool or open-source project.
  • Researcher preparing a serious public contribution.
  • Student or graduate building beyond formal assignments.
  • Professional or career changer proving a new direction.
  • Emerging leader moving an initiative into action.

This is not for…

  • People seeking only recorded lessons or a certificate.
  • Applicants unable to make consistent time or show unfinished work.
  • People expecting RIL to build the entire project for them.
  • Applicants without a genuine area of interest.
ChooseOne meaningful project or question.
CommitApproximately 8–10 hours each week.
ShareWork before it feels finished.
ContributeOffer useful attention to other fellows.
ReleaseComplete and present one principal output.
How to join

Apply individually or with a group.

Applications are assessed for seriousness, project suitability, ability to commit and the contribution an applicant can make to the working group.

01

Individual applications

Apply directly and, if accepted, join the next suitable working group.

02

Teams

Co-founders, research collaborators and small project teams may apply together.

03

Sponsored places

Employers, universities and partner organisations may sponsor individual fellows.

04

Dedicated groups

Institutions may discuss a focused or regional Fellowship group with RIL.

Apply at any time. Accepted applicants begin with the next suitable working group, subject to capacity and project fit.

Applications

Turn committed time into evidence.

Bring the idea, question, product or problem you are ready to develop seriously.

The Fellowship provides the structure. You bring the ambition and the work.

Build. Publish. Launch. Lead.

Apply for the Fellowship Discuss a Sponsored Group