Announcement: A World-Changing Opportunity
Open Source Ecology (OSE) is excited to introduce the OSE Fellowship, a four-year, a $100,000 work-study grant to empower young people to re-imagine and re-build civilization.
About the OSE Fellowship
The OSE Fellowship is a unique opportunity for individuals aged 18-24 who are seeking a radical alternative to traditional education and career paths. Fellows will dedicate themselves full-time to OSE’s on-site campus in the Kansas City area, working to reinvent civilization and create a world that works for everyone – a collaborative, open society known as the open civilization.
This program is designed for those with an exceptional desire to:
- Change the world through open collaboration.
- Promote a collaborative and open society based on abundance, rather than artificial scarcity.
- Develop essential skills in learning, design, and personal growth.
- Cultivate character and leadership abilities.
- Unleash their innovative potential.
The OSE Fellowship, introduced in 2025 to accelerate the shift towards a sustainable future, supports young people in gaining the skills and experience to become effective change agents. We are currently offering four (4) OSE Fellowships grants, and are actively fundraising to offer at least four more in 2025. The first cohort of Fellows begins on September 1, 2025. We are recruiting a total of 24 Apprentices and Fellows. See more about the Apprenticeship here.
Program Structure (Fellowship and Apprenticeship)
Both the OSE Fellowship and the OSE Apprenticeship programs involve:
- Two days of work-study per week, combined with a curriculum focused on:
- Learning how to learn.
- Designing a wide range of systems and technologies.
- Developing integrated personal skills.
- A competency-based pay scale for work-study, both during and after the program, that rewards student initiative.
- The option to build a micro-house for on-campus living after six months (contingent on meeting required competencies), as part of a micro-civilization experiment to gather feasibility and replicability data.
- A two-week humanitarian service trip abroad each year.
- Two hours of community service each week.
- The option to participate in special projects or work opportunities for six weeks during the summer.
OSE Fellowship Details
In addition to the core program structure, OSE Fellows receive:
- A $100,000 grant over four years.
- Free tuition.
- Compensation for any work-study time that exceeds the $100,000 grant amount.
- Placement in the Leadership/Enterprise Track.
- A course load of 12-15 curriculum credits per semester.
OSE Apprenticeship Details
The OSE Apprenticeship offers a similar immersive experience, with the following details:
- Tuition ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on the chosen track.
- Work-study compensation ranging from $14 to $40 or more per hour, based on competency.
- A course load of 9-12 curriculum credits per semester.
- Open to all age groups, with a preference for college-age individuals.
- Our Vision
OSE is committed to providing radical re-skilling to empower individuals to rebuild the world through open, collaborative approaches. Both the Fellowship and Apprenticeship programs offer a pathway to participate in an “accelerator for accelerators,” equipping participants with the vision and skills to establish startup cities focused on creating universal basic assets. This includes learning how to perform a 5-day swarm-build of affordable eco-homes.
We recognize that our approach is unconventional. We’ve seen nothing quite like it, and we believe it represents a necessary step towards a more sustainable and equitable future.
Apply Today
The application process for the OSE Fellowship is the same as for the OSE Apprenticeship. Please begin the five-step application process by submitting your Video of Interest, and be sure to mention your interest in the Fellowship in your introduction.
Get Involved: Sponsor Additional Fellowships
OSE is a 501(c)(3) federally-recognized nonprofit organization in the USA. We are soliciting funding for additional Fellowships. You can sponsor a Fellowship and bring this work to your community. Please email marcin at opensourceecology dot org for more information.
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Facts Only
* The OSE Fellowship is a four-year, $100,000 work-study grant.
* It is for individuals aged 18-24.
* Fellows will work on-site at the OSE campus in the Kansas City area.
* The program aims to create an "open civilization."
* The Fellowship supports changing the world through open collaboration and promoting abundance over scarcity.
* The core structure involves two days of work-study per week.
* Curriculum focus areas include learning how to learn, designing systems/technologies, developing personal skills, and cultivating leadership.
* Fellows may build a micro-house after six months based on competencies.
* Fellows participate in an annual two-week humanitarian service trip abroad.
* OSE is currently offering four Fellowships and actively fundraising for at least four more in 2025.
* The first cohort begins on September 1, 2025.
* There are 24 Apprentices and Fellows being recruited.
* Apprenticeship tuition ranges from $5,000 to $20,000.
* Work-study compensation for Apprentices ranges from $14 to $40+ per hour.
Executive Summary
The Open Source Ecology (OSE) Fellowship is a four-year, $100,000 work-study grant designed for individuals aged 18 to 24 who seek alternatives to traditional education and careers. Fellows will dedicate full-time to OSE's on-site campus in the Kansas City area, aiming to work toward creating an open civilization. The program targets those motivated to promote collaborative societies based on abundance, develop skills in learning and design, cultivate leadership, and unleash innovation.
The program structure includes two days of work-study per week combined with a curriculum focused on learning how to learn, designing systems and technologies, developing personal skills, a competency-based pay scale, the option to build a micro-house after six months, an annual two-week humanitarian service trip, and two hours of weekly community service. Fellows also receive a $100,000 grant over four years, free tuition, compensation for work-study exceeding the grant, placement in the Leadership/Enterprise Track, and a course load of 12-15 curriculum credits per semester.
In addition to the Fellowship, the OSE Apprenticeship offers an immersive experience with tuition ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, work-study compensation between $14 and $40+ per hour based on competency, and a course load of 9-12 credits per semester. Both programs aim to equip participants with skills to become change agents, including learning how to establish startup cities focused on universal basic assets through methods like the 5-day swarm-build of eco-homes. The organization is seeking funding for additional fellowships.
Full Take
The narrative positions the OSE program as a radical alternative rooted in collaboration and material abundance, framing traditional education and career paths as inherently flawed. The appeal relies on a potent fusion of idealism—rebuilding civilization through open systems—and tangible, actionable skills (learning design, system building). This creates an implicit tension between utopian vision and practical execution.
The pattern observed is the use of aspirational language ("re-imagine and re-build civilization," "open society," "universal basic assets") to mask or frame a highly structured, intensive, skill-based training regimen. The mechanism for achieving this shift relies on appealing to an exceptional desire within the applicant, suggesting that only those with profound internal motivation are worthy of this path. This functions as a form of Authority Game by equating personal fulfillment and world-changing potential directly with participation in OSE’s specific framework.
The system's implication is that true agency lies not in conforming to existing structures but in creating entirely new, open systems. The focus on "swarm-build" and micro-civilization experiments suggests a direct attempt to operationalize abstract philosophical goals into reproducible, demonstrable outputs. A critical question arising is whether the emphasis on external collaboration (open society) remains sustainable when the training itself demands intense, full-time commitment and specialized skill acquisition. Furthermore, the promise of leadership skills must be rigorously assessed against the actual mechanisms for ensuring those skills translate into real-world impact outside the campus environment. What specific metrics will be used to measure success beyond the demonstration of feasibility in a micro-house experiment?