TED is searching for the next class of TED Fellows

The TED Fellows Program - an international fellowship bringing entrepreneurs into the TED community - is looking for 20 young innovators to be a part of their 2011 TEDGlobal Fellows class. 

So what exactly is the TED Fellowship? 

The TED Fellows program handpicks world-changing entrepreneurs from around the globe, and brings them to the TED stage – literally and figuratively – to raise international awareness of their remarkable work. Unlike many fellowships, the TED Fellows program isn't discipline specific. Instead, the TED Fellows program seeks to reflect the discipline diversity of the TED stage and audience -- artists and musicians are selected alongside scientists and tech entrepreneurs.

All TED Fellows participate as full members of the TED or TEDGlobal conference, as well as a two-day pre-conference event where they collaborate with their peers and deliver their own TEDTalks. The Fellows will also participate actively in the TED community throughout the year, telling their ongoing stories on the TED Fellows blog, contributing to TEDx events, being featured in the online Fellows directory and participating in a private TED social network. There are no monetary awards associated with the TED Fellowship. 

What do we look for in a TED Fellow? 

We look for remarkable, multidisciplinary, and paradigm-shifting innovators from around the globe who have shown exceptional courage, moral imagination, and the potential to increase positive change in the world. We're looking for individuals who straddle multiple disciplines -- polymaths, if you will. Essentially, people who are doing insanely cool and unconventional things.

Some of our current Fellows include: an artist and fashion designer who "grows" clothing with bacteria, an evolutionary biologist working to catalog microbial diversity, an artist working with structural color, and an architectural scientist working on carbon “eating” paint. 

Know an inspiring entrepreneur? Want to apply yourself?

Applications are now open through March 11, 2011 at www.ted.com/fellows/apply. And you can nominate extraordinary individuals by emailing fellows@ted.com. For more information visit: www.ted.com/fellows, check out tedfellows.posterous.com, or watch the video below.

Simone Alexander is the Project Coordinator for the TED Community Team. In addition to managing the TED Book Club, Simone works to build community around the TED Fellows program and integrate Fellows into the larger TED community.