Wikimedia Fellowships

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The Wikimedia Foundation Community Fellowships Program offers an opportunity for members of the Wikimedia community, academic researchers, and industry professionals to partner with the Wikimedia Foundation in order to move mission-critical projects forward. Fellowship projects are intended to help scale and increase sustainability of the work of volunteers in the Wikimedia movement by providing intensive, time-limited support focused on key areas of risk and opportunity.

2011/2012 Fellowships Theme: Participation and Retention

In line with WMF's strategic plan and strategic priority to increase participation, and in light of the 2010 Editor Trends Study's findings on editor retention, Community Fellowships for the remainder of the 2011/2012 fiscal year are encouraged to focus on improving editor retention and increasing participation across Wikimedia Projects.

Submit / Apply

WMF is seeking fellowship candidates and ideas for fellowship projects to be completed in 2012.

• Learn about the application/submission process
• Apply for a fellowship
• Submit a project idea
• Browse open project ideas
• Endorse a project idea

Fellows

Our fellows are currently experimenting, researching, building tools and piloting innovative programs to support the Wikimedia movement.

• Learn more about current fellows and their projects, as well as completed fellowships

About the Program

What a Fellow is...

• Fellows spearhead community projects, undertake research, or run other specific and time-limited activities that require financial and logistical support to succeed.
• Fellows bring a set of existing skills and experience to their projects, and the outcome of the fellowship should include some amount of professional development or growth of new skills.
• Fellows may lead projects alone or may be paired up to work in small teams to accomplish their goals. Fellows may also be paired with a staff member for mentorship or project assistance. Team configuration is determined by the specific needs of the project.
• A fellowship is a temporary position at the Wikimedia Foundation in order to work on a specific project or set of projects. Fellowships can be awarded for periods as short as 2 months and as long as 12 months. Duration is determined by the scope of the fellow's project.
• Fellows may work out of the Foundation's San Francisco office or be based in other locations around the world. Fellows could be relocated to San Francisco or other locations depending on the project and expected level of interaction with WMF staff or other team members.

What a Fellow is not...

• A fellow works on time-limited projects, so a fellow is not a permanent staff role at the Foundation.
• A fellow is not a paid volunteer. Fellowship projects that describe work that is being done, can be done, and should always be done by volunteers will not be considered.
• A WMF Fellowship is not a traditional academic research fellowship. In the academic model, a fellow might take a stipend to support research on a topic of their choice for publication. In the WMF model, even if a fellowship project is primarily research-oriented, the research questions are targeted to solve specific problems of strategic importance to the Wikimedia Foundation and community, and most findings should be actionable.

Benefits for Fellows

• Funding to support work on an innovative project to address goals they are passionate about. Compensation may cover full-time or hourly work, travel, training, or other necessary activities that wouldn't otherwise be possible without funding
• Opportunities for professional development and project leadership experience
• Access to Foundation resources, staff, and organizational/logistical support

Benefits for the Wikimedia Foundation

• An efficient way to address strategic goals and experiment in new areas.
• Access to a constantly evolving stream of Wikimedians, academics, and professionals, with exposure to fresh perspectives and priorities that emerge organically from the community.
• The ability to fulfill its mission, while keeping volunteer work central to the movement.