Bison Fellowship.
Second cohort · Mentoring program
A mentoring program for school and university students and recent graduates aged 18–26 who want to develop as engineers and build startups.
You don't need a startup idea to apply.
Applications extended to November 11, 2026
Meet other engineers, founders and researchers from OpenAI and other leading labs.
Work with an experienced mentor who will help you develop as an engineer.
We'll help you develop your startup and connect you with people in the This is the World network.
Spend 8 weeks working with your team on a project for one of Poland's largest companies. Your solution will go into production.
A mentorship program that teaches product thinking to the most outstanding young engineers — people with a passion for technology and science — through 8‑week projects in AI, ML and physics, with real-world deployment at our partners. Every participant is paired with a mentor from the world’s top universities.
All fellows will take part in Spring School in late April and early May 2027. Top participants will have the chance to spend two weeks in San Francisco in June or July 2027 to meet startup founders, investors and AI researchers.
Alumni receive lifetime access to the This is the World and This is IT network, plus support for their next projects.
Second-edition partners
To Be Revealed
In July 2025 we met hundreds of people who wanted to build. We couldn’t leave it without a sequel.
In July of last year we hosted an event for olympiad winners, engineers and startup builders, named — at Wojtek Zaremba’s suggestion — Being Human in the Age of AI.
Bison Fellowship was born from that day. We want to help you walk the same path that Wojtek, Piotr and Rafał walked, building startups that are changing the world today — through LLMs, voice models and microsatellites.
We believe that today the era of talent has arrived. A small group of people, given the right support and AI tools, can build products that change the world. The best engineers are right here in Poland. Today, more than ever, we have the potential to build 10× more unicorns that change the world for the better.
— Bison Fellowship, April 2026
Faster, better, with more support. They don’t wait for a diploma — and they don’t wait for permission.
Mathematics, computer science, the sciences. A proven ability to solve hard problems.
Who don’t wait for a diploma to start building.
GitHub projects, shipped apps, open-source contributions? This is your place.
You don’t wait for permission. You see a problem, you build the solution.
Prepare your CV, a project or portfolio link, written answers and a two-minute video. Explain a problem you explored and show something you built.
Round one: November 1–15. Round two: November 16–23. Selection committee: November 24–29. Results: November 30.
Meet the partners and explore the project challenges. Partners will prepare the data needed for your project by the end of December.
Project work starts on January 10–15. With your team and mentors, progress from understanding the partner’s problem to building and testing a solution.
Present your solution, test results and lessons learned to the partners and the Program Council.
A spring school for all fellows after the project phase.
Top participants have the chance to spend two weeks in San Francisco and meet founders, investors and AI researchers.
01 / Mentoring
Mentors who help you grow academically and professionally — from the world’s best universities.
02 / Network
A community of exceptional engineers and founders. Relationships from the program last for years.
03 / Events
Workshops, hackathons, demo days and meetings with investors. You learn from the people building Europe’s most interesting companies.
04 / Project
We match you to a team working on a real challenge from one of our partners. You build software that ships to production — and, if you choose, you can keep working with the partner or with a startup from our network afterwards.
The Program Council guides the direction of the program and — together with our partners — evaluates the fellows’ projects on demo day.
First Lady of Poland, 1995–2005
CEO, InPost
CEO, Grupa Pracuj
Educator · Stanford University
CEO, This is the World
CEO, Group One
Poles with global success who personally guide the fellows — from top universities and labs.
Professor of Mathematics · University of Cambridge
CEO · Pathway AI
Professor of Mathematics · University of Oxford
Professor of Neuroscience · Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń
Co-founder, Ataraxis AI · NYU
AI Researcher · Carnegie Mellon University
AI & Astrobiology Expert · MIT
AI Researcher · University of Warsaw
Vice President · Oracle
Co-founder · Pathway AI
CTO · Omniviser
Competitive programmer
Co-founder · Ecobean
…and more — the list of mentors keeps growing.
The team that walks you through the program — from application to demo day.
Co-founder, This is the World
Project Manager
Bison Fellowship
Advisor & Ambassador
The answers we hear most often. If your question isn’t here — write to us.
The first cohort brought together 15 young engineers and scientists. Explore their projects, interests and achievements in the fellows’ profiles.
PKP Intercity
Machine learning to forecast demand for rail travel.
BLIK
A language-model router designed around data privacy.
Grupa Pracuj
Skill trees to help people plan their professional development.
Kombud Group
Predictive maintenance for critical infrastructure.
Second cohort · October 5 – November 11, 2026
A real partner challenge, mentoring and Spring School. Prepare your CV, portfolio, written answers and a two-minute video.
Complete the application form for the second cohort.