16 Scholarship Categories for 2024
Apply by April 30
Each year, the Linux Foundation awards 500 scholarships as part of its Shubhra Kar Linux Foundation Training (LiFT) Scholarship Program. The program aims to increase diversity in open source technology by providing access to training courses and certification exams for deserving individuals at no cost to the recipient.
This year’s application is now open. The deadline for applications to be completed is 11:50 p.m. PDT on April 30. There are 16 categories for applicants to choose from:
- Open Source Newbie: Full-time college student studying to be an IT professional, taking at least 4 college-level classes per semester, or an IT professional with less than two years experience, who has learned the basics and is looking to continue to expand their open source knowledge and skills through additional training and pursuit of certification.
- Open Source Tech Teen: Full-time student between the ages of 16 and 19 who has started using open source technology and wants to get a head start on a career in the field. NOTE: If you are under 18 years old, a legal guardian’s permission is required to take a certification exam.
- Woman in Open Source: A woman, working full-time as an IT professional with open source technology, seeking additional IT training and certification to advance her career.
- Open Source Girl: A girl, between the ages of 16 and 19, who is a full-time student and using open source technology, who wants to get a head start on an open source IT career. NOTE: If you are under 18 years old, a legal guardian’s permission is required to take a certification exam.
- Open Source Volunteer Developer: An open source developer who volunteers as an IT professional with a community-based organization, or NGO, working with and/or building open source software or technology to assist their local community, who wants to learn more to advance their volunteer work.
- SysAdmin Super Star: A systems administrator, employed full-time, seeking to take additional training in open source technology and earn a new certification to advance their career.
- Hyperledger Innovator: An IT professional, currently employed full-time, in a role using Hyperledger technologies who wants to take additional training and earn a new certification to advance their career.
- Cloud Champion: An IT professional, currently employed full-time, in a role using open source cloud native technologies, seeking to take additional training and earn a new certification to advance their career.
- Networking Innovator: An IT professional, currently employed full-time in a role using open source networking technologies, who wants to take additional training and earn a new certification to advance their career.
- Node.JS Innovator: An IT professional, currently employed full-time in a role using open source JavaScript software, who wants to take additional training and earn a new certification to advance their career.
- RISC-V Innovator: An IT professional, currently employed full-time in a role that includes working with RISC-V from a hardware or software perspective, who wants to take additional training and earn a new certification to advance their career.
- Cybersecurity Defender: An IT professional, currently employed full-time in a role that focuses on defending hardware and/or software from cyber attacks, who wants to take additional training and earn a new certification to advance their career.
- Linux Kernel Contributor: Anyone who has contributed to the Linux kernel. NOTE: Awardees in this category will receive a scholarship for an instructor-led course.
- Open Source College/University Professor/Researcher: A College/University professor and/or researcher whose course teaching and/or research are focused on open source technology, who seeks additional training and a new certification to keep their knowledge and skills current.
- Unemployed Open Source Professional: An unemployed IT professional currently seeking a new job, who was previously employed as a full-time IT professional, who wants to take additional training and earn a new certification to demonstrate they are a lifelong learner and committed to a career in open source technology.
- Public/Government Open Source Innovator: A public/government sector employee or member of the military, in a role using open source technology to build and maintain open source technology, who would like to learn more and earn a new certification to advance their career.
NOTE: Applications must meet all requirements for the scholarship category selected to be considered.
Since 2010, The Linux Foundation has awarded over 2,100 scholarships of specialized, technical training and certifications to those who may not have the ability to afford this opportunity otherwise. The program was renamed in memory of long-time Linux Foundation CTO Shubhra Kar, who we tragically lost in early 2022.
