Currently enrolled in a Master's or PhD program.
Active enrollment at an accredited university for the duration of the award period.
- Full-time or part-time enrollment
- Letter of standing required
- International students welcome
02Eligibility
Who should apply.
We're looking for committed graduate scholars whose technical practice is already public — people who'd write the code anyway, and who'd benefit from the time and resources to write it well.
Focused in CS, Computer Engineering or Data Science.
Adjacent disciplines (HCI, applied math, info-systems) considered with strong technical evidence.
- Computer Science
- Computer / Electrical Engineering
- Data Science & ML
Verifiable record of open-source engagement.
Public artifacts that show how you collaborate, ship and maintain — quality over volume.
- Commits & pull requests
- Project authorship or co-maintenance
- Specifications, RFCs or standards work
03The Award
Scholarship details & research focus.
The PGF scholarship is a year-long, renewable award structured around a single proposition: give serious researchers the runway to do serious work in the open.
Eligible Research Disciplines
- Privacy & applied cryptography
- Distributed systems & P2P networks
- Funding mechanisms & economic models
- ML & data infrastructure
04Selection
Path to selection.
Four stages, transparent at every step. Every applicant who meets the eligibility bar gets a substantive read by a member of the technical review committee.
i
May 1 — May 29
Application Window
Submit your proposal, CV, and a portfolio of public open-source work via Tally.
ii
June 1 — June 12
Eligibility Screening
PGF staff verify enrollment, discipline, and the public artifacts you submit.
iii
June 15 — June 29
Technical Review
Two-reviewer rubric scoring by working researchers; structured interviews for finalists.
iv
June 30 — Aug 30
Award & Onboarding
University agreements signed; cohort kickoff convening hosted in late August.
05Rubric
How applications are scored.
A 100-point rubric, used by every reviewer. We publish it in advance because we believe the bar is part of the offer — you should know exactly what you're being read against.