title: OpenAI Scholars 2018: Meet our Scholars
contenttype: article
publication: OpenAI
published: 2018-07-25T00:00:00
sourceurl: https://openai.com/index/openai-scholars-2018-meet-our-scholars
word_count: 273
OpenAI Scholars 2018: Meet our Scholars
Our first class of OpenAI Scholars is underway, and you can now follow along as this group of experienced software developers becomes machine learning practitioners.
Our first class of OpenAI Scholars(opens in a new window) is underway, and you(opens in a new window) can(opens in a new window) now(opens in a new window) follow(opens in a new window) along(opens in a new window) as(opens in a new window) this(opens in a new window) group(opens in a new window) of experienced software developers becomes machine learning practitioners. We had over 700 applicants for the 8 OpenAI Scholars slots and reviewed each application on a standardized list of criteria for maximal fairness. We hope this group inspires many other developers to make the transition to machine learning too.
OpenAI Scholars began their studies on June 1st, blogging weekly about their progress and culminating in an open-source final project. The scholars have written about model-based RL(opens in a new window), audio classification with softmax(opens in a new window), deep learning in simple English(opens in a new window), the k-nearest neighbors algorithm(opens in a new window), and attention(opens in a new window).
Meet the scholars:
We selected Scholars with strong technical aptitude, interesting personal stories, and demonstrated self-starter initiative - important for a self-directed program like this one. They are all entering the field as newcomers, and we hope their progress shows how accessible machine learning is. After this first round of the Scholars program is complete, we’ll share their final projects, in addition to a case study about the program.