# Who should apply

This program isn’t for everyone, and that’s by design.  \
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Below are some key traits of ideal candidates:

* **You already have a project started or a clear idea you want to launch;** this isn't about finding you a project; it's about funding the one you're already passionate about.
* **AI agents struggle with your codebase**: when you try to use LLMs to assist, they hallucinate, produce broken logic, or require 10+ iterations to get anything usable. (If your features get built in “one-shot” with autocomplete, your project is likely too simple for this program.)
* **You code primarily by hand**, using AI only for minor autocompletion, not as a co-pilot for core logic or architecture. The goal is human-original reasoning, not synthetic data.
* **You’re committed to 10–15 hours per week** over the next 6–12 months to advance your project. Not as a freelancer-for-hire but as a passionate builder solving a problem you deeply care about.
* **You retain full ownership of your code,** but are willing to grant a license so we can turn your work into rigorous, private benchmarks for top AI labs  
* **Your project is closed source (for now),** you can open source it later but it needs to stay private during the grant period
* **You’re not in it just for the money**: the €30k/year grant (paid quarterly) is meant to *enable* your vision, not replace a salary. We fund builders, not contractors.

{% hint style="info" %}
If this sounds like you, or if you’re unsure but your code regularly makes AI “give up”, apply anyway. Many of our strongest candidates initially thought, *“My project isn’t hard enough.”* \
Spoiler: it probably is. Don't self-reject. 
{% endhint %}