The Refugee Learning Accelerator supports engineers and computer scientists from the Middle East to create technologies for refugee learners.

They  provide access to learning, mentorship, and funding. The Accelerator is a project of the Media Lab Learning Initiative. The Media Lab is an antidisciplinary research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that designs technologies for people to create a better future.

The Refugee Learning Accelerator is a six month program, lasting from October 2017 to April 2018.

The purpose of the accelerator is to create a community of innovators who can collaborate to build technologies which address some of the Middle East's biggest challenges, rather than launching the next billion dollar company. This is an opportunity to learn alongside some of the most interesting work happening at the MIT Media Lab.

Ideal candidates would be computer scientists, electrical engineers and designers from Syria (not residing in Syria), Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine, who want to use their tech skills to support refugee learners.

Also, the accelerator would be most suitable for participants who are active on Stack Overflow, know their way around GitHub repositories, or have build things at a hackathon or two.

Eligibility requirements:

• You must apply in a team of 2-5 people. If you don't have people to team up with head over to our Facebook Marketplace to find other prospective participants with complementary skills.

• You must have a working knowledge of Arabic and English.

• You must have a valid passport/travel documents. Successful participants will be invited to a workshop in Amman or Beirut during the Prototype phase.

• You don’t need to have an idea to apply; the Ideate phase is designed to get you up to speed on what’s already happening in the field of digital education for refugees and to help you start thinking about what your team might be able to contribute.

Deadline to apply September 10

Make sure to apply here