Fellowship application form

A fellowship application should ask what the person will do during the fellowship, what they've done that shows they can, and why this is the right moment. This template asks exactly that, keeps it under ten minutes, and scores against your criteria.

The questions, and why they're asked

In this order: the name first, the substance next, contact details and links last.

1. 1

   Full name

   In the chat: “First, what's your name?”

   Asked first and alone, so the chat can greet people properly before anything else.

2. 2

   What would you work on during the fellowship?

   In the chat: “What would you work on during the fellowship?”

   The plan comes first. Fellowships fund what people will do, not their CV.

3. 3

   What have you done that shows you can do it?

   In the chat: “What have you done before that shows you can pull this off?”

   Evidence over adjectives.

4. 4

   Why now?

   In the chat: “Why is now the right time for you?”

   Separates people who need the fellowship from people collecting them.

5. 5

   Where are you based?

   In the chat: “Where are you based?”

   For time zones and travel.

6. 6

   GitHub profileoptional

   In the chat: “Got a GitHub profile? A username is enough.”

   A username is enough: the chat turns it into the full link and checks the profile exists.

7. 7

   Email address

   In the chat: “What's the best email to reach you?”

   Asked near the end, once people are invested. The chat confirms it and catches typos like gmial.com.

Scoring rubric

Each response is scored once on these, with a reason for every score. The weights set the total; you can change them.

Scores are advice for the people deciding. Nobody is accepted or rejected automatically.

Common mistakes

• Asking for a personal statement with no prompt. You get essays about passion instead of plans.

A good answer and a weak one

For “What would you work on during the fellowship?”