TL; DR: EPF concluded The third regiment Preparing for the fourth batch. Applications will open soon. Sign up here to be notified when they open.
The Ethereum Protocol Fellowship recently completed its third successful cohort in February 2023. Its completion saw 4 months of learning, research, and contribution to the core Ethereum ecosystem from a talented and dedicated group of fellows. Before we look at the third group, let’s recap what Ethereum core development is and how EPF fits into its landscape.
Protocol development
At the heart of the Ethereum ecosystem lies the core development, work on research and code that powers the Ethereum network, which includes client applications, specifications and other foundational aspects.
Maintaining a healthy flow of core developers is critical to the continued success of Ethereum. These developers and researchers collaborate to shape the direction of the evolving Ethereum roadmap, address its various challenges, and implement solutions. Their efforts ensure that the protocol remains up-to-date and can handle the increased demands placed on it by its growing user base.
However, jumping into core protocol development is not an easy task. There is no official organization managing the development of the protocol. The rapid progress in improving the Ethereum protocol, coupled with sparse information, can make it hard for people to keep up. There are many areas and road map Targets being worked on, each with their own rabbit holes to dive into.
The Ethereum Protocol Fellowship is designed as a solution to make core contribution easier with the goal of helping developers join different teams working on the protocol.
Protocol Fellowship
The Ethereum Protocol Fellowship (EPF) is a 4-month permissionless fellowship program that helps streamline the process of becoming a core developer.
The program is designed to give Fellows the independence and autonomy necessary to serve as a primary developer. Participants choose their area of interest, propose a project, and work on it for the remainder of the programme. They receive valuable feedback from existing core developers and become part of a community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about learning by doing.
EPF’s projects are diverse and contribute to various areas, including customer research, compliance, implementation, testing, and protocol security. The EPF is completely open and without permission, allowing anyone to follow and participate in the program. Part of the budget is reserved for awarding outstanding contributions from unauthorized participants. Many EPF Fellows have made valuable contributions to the Ethereum core ecosystem, and some have landed long-term positions in core teams such as Lighthouse, Teku, Prysm, Ethereum Foundation Research, Flashbots, Optimism, and more.
The third regiment
Applications For the third group, it opened on September 1, 2022. After reviewing more than 600 applications and conducting many interviews, 23 participants were selected to join the official group. However, due to it being unauthorized software, the group ended up with a total of 36 contributors.
During a 4-month period, the fellows had the opportunity to work with 27 core developer mentors from various clients and research teams. Their work has been reported regularly in more than 300 countries Weekly updates. Fellows also participated in weekly and hourly conference calls to share updates, discuss projects, and participate in AMA interview sessions with mentors and core developers.
In all, 20 colleagues have proposed and contributed projects, and some are still receiving contributions. Not only do these projects represent a valuable learning experience, but they are also meaningful contributions to the Ethereum ecosystem.
Projects of the third cohort EPF
| project | a description |
|---|---|
| 4337 Bundler in Rust | Implement the collector for the EIP-4337 AA as a standalone entity that can work alongside any implementation client |
| 4337 portfolio | Modular 4337 Browser extension Wallet |
| 4844 CL client | Contribute to the implementation of EIP-4844 at Lighthouse |
| Ultra-light client for the gateway network | Building subprotocols for the Ultralight client |
| Customer reward APIs compatibility | A set of RESTful APIs to improve interoperability across beacon node applications |
| ETH monitor | Monitoring system for tracking network data and on-chain events |
| Helios CL P2P | Helios peer-to-peer networking service |
| Holon | Cumulative analytics suite |
| CL Light Client | Teku APIs for the light client |
| MEV in open games | MEV mechanisms in the open game engine for the analysis of MEV strategies |
| DAS model | Rust implementation of secure Kademlia DHT overlay over discv5 protocol |
| Compliant Prysm Beacon API validator | Rewrite the Prysm Validator code to be compatible with the standard Beacon API |
| Reducing confidence in relaying | A mechanism to reduce confidence in PBS migration |
| The signature revocation key validator | Override mechanism to allow auditors to improve operational security |
| Exploring Fairkley Tree Migration | Research and Development for Migration from Merkle Patricia Tries to Verkle Tries |
| Staking Pool Validation Analysis | Perform validation analysis for large storage pools |
| Improve censorship resistance | Dashboard to track network health and prevent usage |
| P2P cell tests | Increasing the scope of ethereum, discv4 and discv5 tests and adding new tests for Ethereum execution clients |
| Geth DoS attack mitigation | Implementation of the DoS defense scheme proposed in the DETER paper |
EPF project details
All program resources can be found in a file Store. You can follow all the activities in the cohort there, pull in project resources, development updates and peer feedback. The projects are not only contributions to FOSS but all work done within the group is completely open, being an actual part of the research and open resources on Ethereum.
But it’s not just about work and contributions. A critical aspect of the EPF is the opportunity to meet the many inspiring people who are involved in core development. During EthDenver, more than half of the group gathered to take part in EPF Day, a full day of programming with Project presentationspanel discussions and social timing.
Next group coming soon™️
After the success of the third cohort, we are eagerly preparing to start the fourth cohort of the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship. For anyone interested in diving deeper into Ethereum core development, stay tuned for an implementation announcement in the coming weeks. To get notified, join Google EPF group.
In the meantime, you can prepare your application by ensuring a basic understanding of the Ethereum protocol, contributing to open source projects through your GitHub account, especially contributions to existing projects in the Ethereum ecosystem, and giving some thought to what kind of project you might like to work on.
Join us in shaping the future of Ethereum. Join the EPF.
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