Spring Update on Micro-Grants
Grant Announcement Schedule + Specific Project Ideas
Applications remain open!
Interviews have been underway over the last month, and grant applications remain open until the end of September 2024. At that point, I’ll announce the names and projects of grantees who have completed their grant milestone.
Maximising your chances
Here are two specific tips:
Financial sustainability. It should be clear you have put thought and effort towards making your project financially sustainable. You should have a specific plan for how you will make your first $100.
Proof of tinkering. I turn down many applications because the applicant has little online presence. This makes it hard for me to evaluate if this person has curiosity and can build projects. You don’t have to have any or all of these, but having one or some certainly helps: A personal website; an active GitHub page; a paper/publication/article that you wrote; anything else online showing what you have done. What you link doesn’t have to be related to this grant, in fact, I want to see a breadth and depth of your projects and interests.
Specific Ideas
You can apply for a micro-grant with any project. However, if you really want a specific topic to work on, I can suggest two:
Build a small scale Nuclear Magnetic Resonance device, inspired by this video. This can allow for low cost diagnostic tools.
Figure out how to get more information on whether there is geologic hydrogen available on the island of Ireland (or, pick any other country where geologic hydrogen resources are not known). Geologic hydrogen refers to natural hydrogen stores underground. These could potentially be used as a clean and cheap fuel source.