TL;DR: The EPF has concluded its third cohort and is preparing to join the fourth cohort. Applications will open soon. Sign up here to be notified when they open.
The Ethereum Protocol Fellowship recently successfully completed its third cohort in February 2023. Its completion marked 4 months of immersive learning, research, and contribution to the Ethereum core ecosystem from a talented and dedicated group of fellows. Before we look at the third cohort, let’s recap what Ethereum core development is and how the ETH fits into its landscape.
Development of the protocol
At the heart of the Ethereum ecosystem is core development, the work on research and code that powers the Ethereum network, which includes client implementations, specifications, and other fundamental aspects.
Maintaining a healthy stream of core developers is critical to Ethereum’s continued success. These developers and researchers collaborate to shape the direction of Ethereum’s cutting-edge roadmap, address its various challenges, and implement solutions. Their efforts ensure that the protocol remains up-to-date and can meet the growing demands of its growing user base.
However, getting started with core protocol development is not an easy task. There is no official organization that manages the development of the protocol. The rapid progress of Ethereum protocol improvements, coupled with scattered information, can make it difficult to keep track. There are many areas and roadmap goals in the making, each with their own rabbit holes to dive into.
The Ethereum Protocol Fellowship was designed as a solution to make grassroots contribution more accessible in order to help developers join the different teams working on the protocol.
Protocol Exchange
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 structured to give participants the autonomy and independence needed to work as a lead developer. Participants choose their area of interest, propose a project, and work on it for the remainder of the program. They receive valuable feedback from current lead developers and become part of a community of like-minded individuals eager to learn by doing.
EPF projects are diverse and contribute to a variety of areas, including research, consensus and execution clients, testing, and protocol security. EPF is fully open and permissionless, allowing anyone to follow and participate in the program. A portion of the budget is set aside to reward outstanding contributions from permissionless participants. Many EPF members have made valuable contributions to the core Ethereum ecosystem, and some have secured long-term positions on core teams like Lighthouse, Teku, Prysm, Ethereum Foundation Research, Flashbots, Optimism, and others.
Third cohort
Applications The third cohort opened on September 1, 2022. After reviewing over 600 applications and conducting numerous interviews, 23 participants were selected to join the official cohort. However, as this was an unsanctioned program, the cohort ended with a total of 36 contributors.
During this 4-month period, the fellows had the opportunity to work with 27 senior developer mentors from various clients and research teams. Their work has been regularly reported in over 300 weekly updatesFellows also participated in weekly meetings and office calls to share updates, discuss projects, and participate in AMA interview sessions with mentors and core developers.
In total, the fellows proposed and contributed to 20 projectssome of which continue to receive contributions. These projects represent not only a valuable learning experience, but also significant contributions to the Ethereum ecosystem.
Projects of the third cohort of the EPF
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| 4337 Bundler in Rust | Implement the bundler for EIP-4337 AA as a standalone entity that can work with any runtime client |
| Portfolio 4337 | Modular Browser Extension Portfolio 4337 |
| 4844 CL Client | Contribute to the implementation of EIP-4844 in Lighthouse |
| Ultra-light client for network portal | Building the Ultralight Client Subprotocols |
| Consensus Customer Reward API | Collection of RESTful APIs to improve interoperability between beacon node implementations |
| ETH Monitor | Monitoring system to track network data and chain events |
| Helios CL P2P | Peer-to-peer network service for Helios |
| Holon | A cumulative analysis software suite |
| CL Light Client | Teku Thin Client API |
| MEV in open games | MEV mechanisms in the Open Game engine to analyze MEV strategies |
| DAS Model | Rust implementation of a secure Kademlia DHT overlay on discv5 protocol |
| Prysm Beacon API Compliant Validator | Rewrite Prysm validator code to be compatible with standard Beacon API |
| Reduce trust in the relay | PBS Relay Trust Reduction Mechanism |
| Revocation of the validator’s signing key | Revocation mechanism allowing validators to improve their operational security |
| Exploring Verkle Trie Migrations | R&D for the migration from Merkle Patricia Tries to Verkle Tries |
| Staking Pool Attestation Analysis | Perform an attestation analysis of major staking pools |
| Improving censorship resistance | Dashboard to track network status and block usage |
| Hive P2P Tests | Increase the scope of eth, discv4 and discv5 tests and add new tests for Ethereum execution clients |
| Mitigating Geth DoS Attacks | Implement the DoS defense scheme proposed in the DETER document |
EPF Project Details
All program resources can be found in its deposit. There you can follow all the activities of the cohort, view project resources, development updates and fellows’ notes. The projects are not only FOSS contributions, but all the work done within the cohort is completely open, an integral part of Ethereum’s open research and resources.
But it’s not just about work and contributions. One of the most important aspects of EPF is the opportunity to meet many inspiring people who are involved in grassroots development. During EthDenver, over half of the cohort came together to participate in EPF Day, a full day of programming with project presentationsround tables and moments of conviviality.
Next cohort coming soon™️
Following the success of the third cohort, we are eagerly preparing to launch the fourth cohort of the Ethereum Protocol Exchange. For anyone interested in diving into Ethereum core development, stay tuned for the application announcement in the coming weeks. To stay informed, join the EPF Google Group.
In the meantime, you can prepare for your application by ensuring a fundamental understanding of the Ethereum protocol, contributing to open source projects through your GitHub account, especially contributing to existing projects in the Ethereum ecosystem, and thinking about what type of project you would like to work on.
Join us in shaping the future of Ethereum. Join the EPF.
