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Forge the future of Web3

The Polkadot Blockchain Academy

Applications for the upcoming in-person Polkadot Blockchain Academy wave in Singapore from May 20th to June 20th, 2024, are now closed. Alongside the traditional in-person experience, we're excited to introduce PBA Remote, offering a hybrid learning approach for selected students. If you want to find out more and apply, click below.

PBA Remote
Academic partners for the Singapore wave
NUS Enterprise
NUS AIDF

Academic excellence.
Innovative approaches.
Authentic community.

The Polkadot Blockchain Academy is the first of its kind — a classroom-based educational program covering the conceptual underpinnings and the hands-on application of blockchain technology, using Polkadot and Substrate as its foundations. Founded by Gavin Wood, the Academy is run by leading engineers, researchers, and project founders from the Polkadot ecosystem, Parity Technologies, and the Web3 Foundation.

The Academy’s goal is to equip developers with all the necessary knowledge to build blockchains and give Web3 entrepreneurs practical guidance for project founding and growth within the Polkadot ecosystem.

The curriculum is split into two tracks: a Core Developers Track and a Founders Track. The Core Developers Track covers theoretical modules on economics, governance, game theory, and cryptography, and has students apply their new-found knowledge of Polkadot-specific technologies: Substrate, FRAME, and XCM.

The Founders Track aims to develop prospective and early-stage entrepreneurs to progress with their contribution to Polkadot. The Founders Track curriculum builds upon the success and theoretical material established in the Core Developers Track by providing students with the practical information, know-how and connections to found, lead, and build Polkadot projects.

Who is the Academy for?

The Academy is for curious minds. It’s for people who want to become significant contributors to Polkadot and blockchain technology. If you’re passionate about working towards this goal, the Academy is for you.

Students are provided with high-intensity, high-value, in-person teaching and support. We provide you with the necessary information and support to move on after the Academy to fuel your innovation in the Polkadot ecosystem.

Software, systems, and blockchain developers

You do not need any prior blockchain knowledge to enrol. The Academy is an excellent entry point for passionate software developers of any experience level who are eager to move from Web2 to Web3. The Academy is also appropriate for experienced Web3 developers who want to learn the economic and cryptographic fundamentals of blockchain, deep dive into Polkadot’s architecture and associated technologies, and learn more about the architectural principles of the blockchain industry.

Early-stage and prospective Polkadot founders

Our program is also suitable for those interested in acquiring knowledge and connections to pursue entrepreneurial ventures on Polkadot. This includes enterprising developers as well as established founders and business leaders from different backgrounds. We welcome those completely new to Web3, as well as those who have experience building projects on other networks. The Academy is open to students founding Polkadot-based projects of various types, including dapps, parachains, infrastructure, and novel technical initiatives.

Curriculum overview

MODULE 1

Cryptography

Communicating securely in the presence of an adversary facilitates everything from civil disobedience to online shopping. It is foundational for blockchains.

MODULE 2

Economics and Game Theory

Financial and political systems are under constant threat of attack. By understanding the strategic interactions of rational actors, such systems can be designed securely through proper incentives.

MODULE 3

Core Blockchain Concepts

A blockchain consists of P2P networking, distributed consensus, and many other constituents. In this module, we look at these subsystems, explore how they fit together, and understand why a blockchain may be desirable to begin with.

MODULE 4

Smart Contracts

By allowing users to deploy executable code, smart contracts allow individuals to have arbitrary interactions with one another without requiring trust.

MODULE 5

Substrate

Learn the architecture and design of Substrate, the production-ready modular framework for building blockchains, and get hands-on experience working with it.

MODULE 6

FRAME and Pallets

Learn the ins and outs of building Substrate blockchains using FRAME, the Rust-based DSL that makes it easy to compose discrete pieces of logic into a meaningful application.

MODULE 7

Polkadot, Parachains, and Cumulus

Polkadot is the heterogeneous multichain network. Learn about the rights and responsibilities of the various chains, how they operate together to share security, and how it is all governed.

MODULE 8

Cross-Consensus Messaging (XCM)

Explore how bespoke blockchains and smart contracts can exchange messages in the Polkadot network and beyond, and understand the associated security guarantees.

Founder of the Polkadot Blockchain Academy

Gavin Wood

Gavin Wood

Founder
Polkadot and Parity Technologies

Faculty of past Academies

Aurora (Harshner) Petracca

Aurora (Harshner) Petracca

Startup Advisor
Christine Lee

Christine Lee

Ecosystem Development Lead
Moondance Labs
Shunfan Zhou

Shunfan Zhou

Lead Researcher
Phala Network
Dakota

Dakota

Founder
InvArch Network
Rob Habermeier

Rob Habermeier

Founder
Polkadot
Shawn Tabrizi

Shawn Tabrizi

Polkadot Fellow
Kian Paimani

Kian Paimani

Polkadot Fellow
Parity Technologies
Joshy Orndorff

Joshy Orndorff

Blockchain Chef
Unaffiliated
Jonas Gehrlein

Jonas Gehrlein

Research Scientist
Web3 Foundation
Andrew Burger

Andrew Burger

Technical Educator / Content Developer
Web3 Foundation
Derek Yoo

Derek Yoo

CEO
Purestake
Eliott Teissonniere

Eliott Teissonniere

CTO
Nodle
Chrissy Hill

Chrissy Hill

General Counsel
Parity Technologies
Bradley Olson

Bradley Olson

Rust Core Developer
Academy Alumni
Piotr Mikołajczyk

Piotr Mikołajczyk

Blockchain Developer
Aleph Zero
Filip Bielejec

Filip Bielejec

Head of Ecosystem Development
Moonbeam
Alex Bird

Alex Bird

Polkadot Ecosystem Success Manager
Parity Technologies
Mario Altenburger

Mario Altenburger

Head of Growth
Centrifuge
Max Rebol

Max Rebol

Founder & CEO
Kilt Protocol
Angela Dalton

Angela Dalton

CEO & Founder
Signum Growth
Kasper Joergensen

Kasper Joergensen

Co-Founder
Polimec
Joshua Cheong

Joshua Cheong

Ecosystem Success
Parity Technologies
Jaskirat Singh Chhabra

Jaskirat Singh Chhabra

CEO & Founder
Polkassembly
Gabriel Facco de Arruda

Gabriel Facco de Arruda

Co-Founder & Head of Development
InvArch
Nikolaos Kontakis

Nikolaos Kontakis

Lead Engineer
Polkadot Blockchain Academy
Tyrone Pan

Tyrone Pan

Product Manager
Bifrost
Vincent Di Giambattista

Vincent Di Giambattista

Chief Information Security Officer
Parity Technologies
Junius Zhou

Junius Zhou

Developer Advocate
Parity Technologies
Maciej Żyszkiewicz

Maciej Żyszkiewicz

Parity Technologies
Ross Bulat

Ross Bulat

Software Engineer
Parity Technologies
Ankan Anurag

Ankan Anurag

Rust Core Developer - Runtime
Parity Technologies
Alexander Mitrovich

Alexander Mitrovich

CEO
Unique Network
Joseph Xu

Joseph Xu

CTO, Technical R&D Advisor
Quantstamp
Shaun Wang

Shaun Wang

CTO
Astar Network
Tommy Enekel

Tommy Enekel

Growth Lead
Mangata Finance
0xBrainjar

0xBrainjar

Founder, Core Contributor, Research Director
Composable Finance
Monin Ung

Monin Ung

Managing Partner
MUNG Legal
Bette Chan

Bette Chan

Co-Founder
Acala Network
Charu Sethi

Charu Sethi

Chief Marketing Officer
Unique Network
Seraya Takahashi

Seraya Takahashi

Technical Grants Evaluator
Web3 Foundation
Phil Lucsok

Phil Lucsok

Co-Founder
Lastic
Radha Dasari

Radha Dasari

Technical Education Lead
Web3Foundation
Syed Hosseini

Syed Hosseini

Research Scientist
Web3 Foundation
Bryan Xiliang Chen

Bryan Xiliang Chen

Co-Founder & CTO
Acala
Aurora (Harshner) Petracca

Aurora (Harshner) Petracca

Startup Advisor
Christine Lee

Christine Lee

Ecosystem Development Lead
Moondance Labs
Shunfan Zhou

Shunfan Zhou

Lead Researcher
Phala Network
Dakota

Dakota

Founder
InvArch Network
Rob Habermeier

Rob Habermeier

Founder
Polkadot
Shawn Tabrizi

Shawn Tabrizi

Polkadot Fellow
Kian Paimani

Kian Paimani

Polkadot Fellow
Parity Technologies
Joshy Orndorff

Joshy Orndorff

Blockchain Chef
Unaffiliated
Jonas Gehrlein

Jonas Gehrlein

Research Scientist
Web3 Foundation
Andrew Burger

Andrew Burger

Technical Educator / Content Developer
Web3 Foundation
Derek Yoo

Derek Yoo

CEO
Purestake
Eliott Teissonniere

Eliott Teissonniere

CTO
Nodle
Chrissy Hill

Chrissy Hill

General Counsel
Parity Technologies
Bradley Olson

Bradley Olson

Rust Core Developer
Academy Alumni

Polkadot Blockchain Academy Partners

Berkeley
UBA
Cambridge
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Department of Computing
Research Centre for Blockchain Technology
Moonbeam
Polkahaus
Robonomics
Nodle
Oak
Rmrk
Kilt
Eluv
Pendulum
Gensyn
Invarch
Watr
Alpha Zero
Astar
Polimec
Scytale Digital

Media Partners

Cryptopolitan
Cointelegraph
The Cryptonomist

FAQ

What past students say about the Academy

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Every day, we immersed ourselves in training with the industry's top professionals. Connecting with fellow founders and developers within the ecosystem was truly a privilege. These memorable moments, including the opportunity to engage with leaders and founders of Polkadot will be cherished forever. Aside from the journey’s personal fulfilment, this has also been an exciting period for Cyborg Network as we began to lay down our foundations.

Barath Kanna
Founder & CEO, Cyborg Network

PBA - A chance to kick-start your Web3 career. Joining the Polkadot Blockchain Academy was an experience I would never want to miss. I can only recommend it to everyone considering joining the Polkadot ecosystem and wanting to kick-start their web3 careers. Not only does the academy convey knowledge that is otherwise hard to find, but it also does so comprehensively, with lectures and workshops given by the leading engineers in the ecosystem. The whole atmosphere is great because you are surrounded by like-minded people, and you can feel that everyone is trying to make the most of it with a good balance of social activities and knowledge-building.

Marcel Ebert
Blockchain Engineer, SatoshiPay

This academy took me from a mechanic to an architect. The month is intense, potent and enriching. You will get clarity on the design principles, trade-offs and considerations that go into building blockchains. If you have a desire to be a substrate engineer then it is highly recommended you go through this training. I’m grateful to have gone through it. I became better at what I do and met so many great people.

Ramsey Ajram
Founding technical steward, Kabocha parachain

During the last year I have participated in a couple of bootcamps and courses to increase my technical knowledge. This academy is very different from any of these other programs — you learn a very pragmatic knowledge that you will put into practice immediately. It has completely changed my way of understanding blockchain concepts. But the most important thing you should remember about the Polkadot Blockchain Academy is the interaction with the other students and the teachers that can help you to enter into the Polkadot ecosystem. So fill in the form and joins us — it will be one of your best life choices!

Léa Narzis
Rust developer, Intu

I'm 19 years old and I have a strong passion for Web3 technologies, hence the Polkadot Blockchain Academy was a perfect opportunity for me to properly learn all the underlying concepts behind blockchain. My advice is, don't even hesitate. Don't even blink, and apply! This is the greatest opportunity you might have in your life. The knowledge you're going to gain here is invaluable. One can only dream of such an experience.

German Nikolishin
Second year of bachelor's computer science & Rust Core Developer, ink!, Parity

It's been absolutely fantastic and it has surpassed my expectations. I learnt quite a bit of stuff that I didn't expect even existed in the first place, so that was really fantastic. What I like most about it is the in-depth technical explanations that Shawn gives, and Gav and Kian. They really went deep into the code base and were explaining all the macros and how things fit together. I think that was really helpful for me.

Mathis Wellmann
Protocol engineer building using Substrate, gensyn-ai

Listening to actual founders who are at different stages of their roadmap and how they have approached the challenges that being a parachain presents, has given me additional confidence and guidance / tools / areas of focus to be successful. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and found the educational content of a particularly high standard. I also thought the delivery of the Founders track by existing Founders and other key Polkadot players very valuable.

Richard Houldsworth
Co-Founder, Xcavate

Every day, we immersed ourselves in training with the industry's top professionals. Connecting with fellow founders and developers within the ecosystem was truly a privilege. These memorable moments, including the opportunity to engage with leaders and founders of Polkadot will be cherished forever. Aside from the journey’s personal fulfilment, this has also been an exciting period for Cyborg Network as we began to lay down our foundations.

Barath Kanna
Founder & CEO, Cyborg Network

PBA - A chance to kick-start your Web3 career. Joining the Polkadot Blockchain Academy was an experience I would never want to miss. I can only recommend it to everyone considering joining the Polkadot ecosystem and wanting to kick-start their web3 careers. Not only does the academy convey knowledge that is otherwise hard to find, but it also does so comprehensively, with lectures and workshops given by the leading engineers in the ecosystem. The whole atmosphere is great because you are surrounded by like-minded people, and you can feel that everyone is trying to make the most of it with a good balance of social activities and knowledge-building.

Marcel Ebert
Blockchain Engineer, SatoshiPay

Supercharge your blockchain career

Applications for the in-person program in Singapore are now closed. However, we are launching a new pilot - PBA Remote - which provides a remote learning approach for selected students - click below to learn more and apply.

PBA Remote