We are Non-Trivial Ventures, a registered company with company number 16279238. Our registered office address is Third Floor, 20 Old Bailey, London, United Kingdom, EC4M 7AN.
2.1 The Non-Trivial Fellowship (the “Fellowship”) is an eight-week program that enables talented young people to tackle crucial social issues. The Fellowship takes part entirely online, and provides participants with expert guidance, peer support, and learning materials.
2.2 To be eligible to apply for the Fellowship you must be between 14 and 20 years of age (inclusive) and must not be currently studying at university or in tertiary education. If you are taking a gap year before starting university or tertiary education you can apply to the Fellowship, and if you have started at university or tertiary education but have left your course you can apply to the Fellowship.
2.3 The Fellowship is open to applicants from almost anywhere in the world. However you cannot be part of the Fellowship if you are based in a country which is subject to UK sanctions, or if you personally are subject to UK sanctions. While we aim to accept applicants from all other countries there are certain countries which are difficult for us to make payments into. If we think this will be a problem we will let you know. If you have any questions on this please contact us using the email below.
2.4 To apply to the Fellowship you must fill in the application form on our website by the deadline stated on our website. We will select participants for the Fellowship based on the application forms we receive, and participants will be chosen at our discretion. If your application is not successful we encourage you to apply again for the next cohort, provided you still meet our criteria in paragraph
2.5 You cannot apply to the Fellowship if you are an employee of Non-Trivial Ventures, or a family member of an employee of Non-Trivial Ventures.
3.1. All participants who successfully complete the Fellowship by meeting the requirements set out in these terms will receive a certificate of completion from Non-Trivial Ventures.
All participants must at least meet the following requirements for successful completion:
3.2. If you do not meet the criteria set out in Section 3.1, you will need to complete an extenuating circumstances form and send it to us. We will consider any extenuating circumstances and make a decision fairly and reasonably whether or not to award a certificate of completion.
3.3. All participants who complete the Fellowship will be notified by email about their certificate of completion.
3.4. At the end of the Fellowship, we will invite select Fellows who completed the program to become Research Scholars based on our judges' project rankings of progress made, potential impact, and presentation quality.
4.1 Overview. Non-Trivial offers two forms of financial support to Fellows:
(a) Project Grants — need-based grants, applied for during the Fellowship, to cover project-related expenses and/or to compensate Fellows for paid work they forgo in order to participate (Section 4.2); and
(b) Scholar Scholarships — competitive awards made to selected Research Scholars at the end of the Fellowship (Section 4.3).
All financial support is awarded at Non-Trivial's discretion and subject to available funding. Fellowship participation, mentorship, learning materials, and community access are provided to all accepted Fellows regardless of whether a Grant or Scholarship is awarded.
4.2 Project Grants.
4.2.1 Fellows may apply for a Project Grant of up to $1,000 (or equivalent in local currency) to cover reasonable project-related expenses and/or to compensate for paid work the Fellow would otherwise be undertaking during the Fellowship period.
4.2.2 Applications for Project Grants will open in mid-May and close in mid-July of the Fellowship cycle. Exact dates will be communicated to Fellows by email. Late applications will not normally be considered.
4.2.3 Project Grants are normally paid upfront on approval. Non-Trivial may at its discretion pay all or part of a Grant as a reimbursement against receipts, particularly for larger project expenses.
4.2.4 Eligible uses. A Project Grant may be used for any of the following:
Project-related expenses:
(a) journal, database, or paywalled-publication access fees;
(b) compute costs, API credits, and cloud-hosting services;
(c) software licences and subscriptions (e.g., statistical, survey, or research tools);
(d) data acquisition or dataset-purchase costs;
(e) books, textbooks, and reference materials;
(f) specialist equipment or hardware necessary for the project (e.g., sensors, lab consumables where permitted under Section 6.3);
(g) printing, publication, or preprint-posting fees;
(h) reasonable costs of attending a directly relevant academic or professional event (registration fees only; travel and accommodation are not normally covered);
(i) other reasonable project expenses approved by Non-Trivial in advance; and
(j) Lost-wage compensation: partial or full compensation for paid work the Fellow would otherwise have undertaken during the Fellowship period, where the income is relied upon by the Fellow or their immediate family.
A single Project Grant may combine both types of use, provided the total does not exceed the $1,000 cap.
4.2.5 Demonstrating need. Project Grants are need-based. In your application you must set out:
(a) the uses you are seeking to fund and why they are necessary — for project expenses, why the expense is necessary for your project; for lost-wage compensation, the paid work you would otherwise be doing and why participating in the Fellowship would cause material financial hardship to you or your household without this support; and
(b) why you cannot reasonably meet these costs or forgo this income from other sources.
Non-Trivial may request supporting information in order to assess need. We will handle all such information in accordance with our privacy policy and use it only to assess Grant applications.
4.2.6 Project Grants are awarded at Non-Trivial's discretion. We may award less than the amount requested, prioritise applications by assessed need where total demand exceeds available funding, or decline an application without providing detailed reasons.
4.2.7 Tax and reporting. Fellows are responsible for understanding and complying with any tax, benefits, or reporting obligations that may apply to a Project Grant — including the lost-wage-compensation portion — in their country of residence. Non-Trivial does not provide tax advice and recommends that Fellows (or their parent/guardian) consult a local adviser where the amount involved is material.
4.3 Scholar Scholarships. Three Research Scholars will be selected to receive $10,000 scholarships; the remaining selected Scholars will be awarded Scholarships of at least $2,000, determined by judges' project rankings of progress made, potential impact, and presentation quality. Scholarship eligibility is determined during the Scholars Program admissions process and communicated at the time of acceptance.
4.4 General payment terms.
4.4.1 If we pay any money to you incorrectly, for example because of an administrative error, you will repay the money to us.
4.4.2 All financial support will be paid to the extent that we have the funds available. Any bank fees and/or foreign exchange fees will be deducted from the total amount paid. We will do what we can to keep these fees low, but cannot control how much these fees amount to.
4.4.3 Payment to under-18s. If you are under 18, we will pay any Project Grant or Scholarship to your parent or guardian rather than to you directly. As part of the application process, under-18 Fellows will be asked to provide a parent or guardian's name and email address so that we can arrange payment.
4.4.4 You (or your parent/guardian, where applicable) will be responsible for any tax, duties, or governmental fees payable on any financial support we pay to you.
4.5 Use and reporting.
4.5.1 Permitted use. Project Grants must be used for the purposes set out in your approved application (per Section 4.2.4), and Scholar Scholarships must be used for educational purposes, which include purchasing textbooks, paying for courses and tuition fees, purchasing technology which will assist your education, and supplementing unpaid internships. If you have any questions about whether a particular expense qualifies, please contact us in advance using the email address below.
4.5.2 Records. You should retain records of how you have spent a Project Grant or Scholarship for 12 months after receipt. Non-Trivial may request receipts or a short progress report at any point within that period, and you will provide these promptly on request. Routine submission of receipts is not required unless we ask.
4.5.3 Repayment. If we do not reasonably believe that a Project Grant or Scholarship has been used for its permitted purpose, or if you are removed from the Fellowship for non-compliance with Section 5, we may require you to repay it to us.
4.5.4 Scholarship-eligible participants will be notified by email if they have been awarded a Scholarship upon completing the program.
5.1. While you are a participant on the Fellowship you must comply with the following policies:
5.2. If we reasonably believe you have not complied with these policies, we will take appropriate action, which could include removing you from the Fellowship. If this happens, scholarship-eligible participants will not be eligible for the scholarship.
5.3. We expect all participants to complete all project work and submit weekly reflections.
5.4. You will need to submit your weekly reflections by Sunday each week. If you miss or are one day late submitting your reflections you can add a note to your reflections explaining why your submission was late. If you miss two or more weeks of reflections we may remove you from the program unless there are extenuating circumstances explaining why you missed your submission.
5.5. We expect each participant to dedicate at least 80 hours to the planning and execution of your project over the term of the Fellowship. We will not normally ask for evidence of this, but if we consider that your project is not making the progress we would expect, we may ask you to demonstrate how you have spent your time. We may remove you from the Fellowship if we do not consider you are dedicating sufficient time to the Fellowship and/or may not award you a scholarship if you were eligible.
5.6. Please do not identify other participants or include details of their projects without first getting their consent. Please also ensure that you are complying with our Digital Safety Policy where you post anything on social media.
5.7. If you are asked to make any statement about the Fellowship or Non-Trivial Ventures in the media (for example on TV or print media) please contact us first using the email address below.
6.1. We are responsible for any losses you suffer because we breached these terms, unless such loss is:
6.2. We may suspend the Non-Trivial Fellowship if:
6.3 The Fellowship takes place entirely online. Participants conduct their research independently and outside of Non-Trivial's supervision. Non-Trivial is not responsible for any physical injury, harm, or loss arising from a participant's own research activities, including any laboratory, fieldwork, or experimental work. By accepting these terms, participants (and their parent/guardian where the participant is under 18) acknowledge and accept the physical risks associated with their chosen research activities.
7.1. All intellectual property rights in your project and any materials provided to us by you will remain your intellectual property rights.
7.2. Your project and all materials provided to us by you must be your own original creation. You must not copy anyone else’s work.
7.3. You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual licence to publish your project (including your video presentation) and any other materials provided to us by you on our website. If for any reason you do not want us to publish your video presentation please let us know using the email below.
8.1. We will only process your personal information as set out in our privacy policy.
9.1. We may have to suspend the Fellowship if circumstances outside our control mean that we can no longer continue to provide the Fellowship. We will take reasonable steps to continue to provide the Fellowship, and we will let you know if we have to end or suspend the Fellowship.
10.1. These terms and conditions are governed by English law. If any participants want to take court proceedings, then they must do this within the courts in the United Kingdom, unless local law provides that you can take court proceedings in your own country.
10.2. If you have any questions or need to contact us please email ops@non-trivial.org.
