Encode Fellows can work with partners as mentors, collaborators, or colleagues. Partners can express interest, even if they have never had contact with an Encode Fellow or Pillar VC team member before. We will reach out if we believe a collaboration is possible. To express interest, please go to 'Apply' and click 'Interested in being an academic or industry partner to an Encode Fellow?'.

Apply anyway. Most Fellows will start in September, however, we understand that current funding or academic programmes may restrict this. Our operating principle is that contract details will never get in the way of supporting great talent.

High-intensity. Cross-disciplinary. Build-in-public. Fellows can embed directly in world-class faculty labs, rapidly integrating AI into scientific research. Each lab has its own culture. The best fellows adapt fast while keeping their delivery focus sharp. Regular cohort co-working (travel stipend included) keeps you connected with peers across the UK. Your environment will reflect how you choose to engage.

The maximum length of your Fellowship is 12 months. We hope Encode Fellows will build open-source tools that transform fields, novel systems that unlock impossible discoveries, or early ventures that scale beyond labs. If they do, and it no longer makes contractual sense to be an employee, you can end your contract early. Access to our support, advisors, workshops, workspace and community can continue.

No. We evaluate with equal measure applicants who submit scoped projects and partners, and applicants who want the freedom and support to figure both out during the 12-month Fellowship. When you apply, you will be asked to disclose whether you have a clear idea, an early idea, or no idea at all. If you are looking for a particular dataset, model, tool or partnership but have not yet obtained one, we will work with you to scope a collaboration with the hundreds of academic and industry partners who have expressed interest in partnering with an Encode Fellow.

The Encode Fellowship is not just a one-year program, it’s a launchpad. Pillar VC and ARIA will work with Fellows where there are opportunities to continue their research or launch startups to best advance their scientific impact. For those wishing to start ventures, we provide support for company formation and fundraising, funder and investor introductions, as well as hiring and talent recruiting. This is a self-driven journey, we'll do all we can to support you on it.

The Encode Fellowship is fellow-first. We find people with the skill and ambition to lead a fast-paced build within one-year. Encode Fellows can choose academic and/or industry partners - particularly if they bring hard challenges that AI can solve. These partners can act as mentors, collaborators, or colleagues. Typically they'll be domain experts who want to work alongside a Fellow on real science challenges, building new tools, systems, and ventures that matter. Where necessary, we'll help the Fellow set up research agreements that protect IP, equity, and so on, so they can focus on building.

ARIA & Pillar VC will not own or have rights to IP created. Intellectual property generated through the programme belongs to you. If you're working independently, you retain full ownership. If you're based at a university or working with a collaborator, we'll work with you to establish a tech transfer agreement tailored to your situation (one that's structured in your favour so you can build sustainably without IP becoming a blocker). Our approach follows ARIA's standard framework, but agreements are always customised to fit your circumstances.