The Fellowship · Founding Phase · San Diego, California

An invitation to build the institution.

A Fellowship at SDIT is not a degree, a bootcamp, or a credential. It is an invitation to serious work — on real questions and real projects — in the company of people figuring out what it means to think and build well in the age of AI.

We are in our earliest days. Fellows shape the institution as much as it shapes them.

Anyone is welcome to visit, stay, and contribute. Your place here is earned, not decided. Show up, put in the work.

Begin the Application →

The FellowshipWhat it is

Not a program. A commitment.

A Fellowship is an invitation to work — on real questions, real projects, and the real labor of figuring out what it means to think and build well in the age of AI. It is not measured in credits or credentials.

Because we are at the beginning, Fellows are not students passing through a finished curriculum. They are founders of one. What a Fellow builds becomes part of how the institution is built. Four things are held in common:

Curriculum

Access to everything SDIT builds — philosophy, systems thinking, AI ethics, technical fluency — as it is developed and released, free and open.

The Company

Fellows come from different disciplines and take ideas seriously. You will work with them, argue with them, and build with them.

The Record

The work Fellows do becomes part of SDIT's open record — curriculum, research, projects — available to everyone who comes after.

The Support

Fellowships stay open regardless of financial circumstance. If support is a factor, say so plainly; it will not work against you.

Fellowships are not awarded to those likeliest to produce the greatest things. They are reserved for those who are most driven — the ones whose presence, commitment, and energy pull others forward. The question is not what will you make? but who will you move?

The ApplicationHow to apply

Every application is read personally.

We use no automated scoring and no keyword filters. Every application is read by a person. Write honestly — we are looking for genuine curiosity and real commitment, not a polished résumé.

Write to us at brandon@sandiegotech.org and answer four questions:

One

Who are you? Your background — personally, professionally, intellectually. Don't summarize a résumé. Tell us something true.

Two

Why SDIT? What draws you here? What are you looking for that you haven't found elsewhere?

Three

What do you want to build, explore, or contribute? Be specific — a project, a question, an idea you keep returning to. This is the most important part.

Four

Portfolio or work sample. Optional. A personal site, a GitHub profile, published writing — anything that shows your work.

The Details Free to apply · Rolling admission · Response within 2–3 weeks · Questions to brandon@sandiegotech.org

Open Email to Apply →

What FollowsAfter you apply

What happens next.

First

Your application is read. Every application is reviewed by a person on our team — not an algorithm. We read what you wrote, not merely whether you wrote it.

Then

A conversation, if it is a fit. If we think there is something here, we will reach out to talk. It is not an interview — it is a chance to actually speak.

Either way

A decision, plainly given. If it is a yes, we will work out what your Fellowship looks like. If not this time, we will tell you why, and what might change.

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