Brains
A new pathway for ambitious research
Brains works with individuals and organizations to start and run ambitious research programs at the vanguard of 21st century science. Coordinated research programs — efforts like FROs, ARPA programs, and other programs that are beyond the scope of individual academic labs or startups — depend on empowered, visionary, and competent individuals with a critical balance of skills.
Despite growing interest in new kinds of research institutions, the path to leading a coordinated research program remains opaque and largely driven by luck. Brains is working to change that by establishing a pathway and training for scientists to become leaders of coordinated research programs.
The core of the program is a four-month fellowship that jump-starts scientists starting coordinated research programs. The fellowship helps talented scientists build the skills, plans, and networks to start coordinated research programs. Fellows might go on to become program managers in a government ARPA or other research agency, run a program within an established nonprofit, or raise money to create their own focused research organization.
55
Fellows across 4 cohorts
$73M
of ambitious coordinated research programs run by alumni
The fellowship
What fellows get out of Brains
Training
We help fellows choose the right scope and level of ambition, develop their ideas into a coordinated research program, and help them communicate their ideas persuasively to potential donors, collaborators, and end-users.
Mentorship
Experienced mentors from DARPA and beyond help rapidly refine fellows' ideas for execution and impact. Fellows receive extensive one-on-one coaching from their mentors and program staff.
Networks
The team and our community connect fellows to funders, partners, and peers; helping them find the organizations and people they need to execute on their idea — whether that is a funder for an FRO or a role in an ARPA organization.
Community
Brains fellows join an incredible community of fellows, alumni and mentors. It's hard to blaze new pathways alone. Brains connects you to others who are figuring everything out right along with you and people who've been in your shoes.
“You get support, encouragement, cheerleaders who are genuinely excited about you changing the world. A lot of times when you start, it's just an idea and you're by yourself trying to figure things out.”
Tim McGee · 2024 Cohort
What fellows built after Brains
2024 Cohort
Beck Brachman
Cofounder & CEO of IMPRINT, an FRO developing AI tools to read and analyze immune memory signatures, providing a new approach to identify hidden causes of chronic disease.
imprint.org2024 Cohort
Tim McGee
Founder & CEO of Impossible Fibers, where he's building nature-inspired manufacturing infrastructure to unlock a new class of advanced materials.
impossiblefibers.com2024 Cohort
Aaron Tohuvavohu
Founder of Cosmic Frontier Labs, where he is building a fleet of high-performance space telescopes.
cosmicfrontier.org2026 Cohort
Thomas Teisberg
Lead for the Englacial Program at Astera, where he's developing open-source tools to make studying melting ice sheets faster, cheaper, and more accessible.
englacial.orgAll Brains fellows and their programs
Search the full directory by name or field — a program summary and links for every fellow, in every cohort.
How Brains works
Brains is a remote, 4-month, part-time program, bookended by two in-person events — a 2-day kickoff workshop and end-of-program showcase.
Every week fellows will:
- Meet with their mentor who has experience in the trenches at DARPA, ARPA-E or other coordinated research organizations to work through their questions on their program.
- Spend several hours developing their program idea and putting together a written brief and a presentation to effectively communicate their idea.
- Attend a small group meeting to discuss the week's work with their peers.
- Attend Storytime — our closed-door fireside chats with FRO founders, ARPA leaders, and philanthropists.
The program culminates in an in-person Showcase, where fellows will have the opportunity to present their ideas to an audience of potential funders and employers.
There is no cost for fellows to participate in Brains and we don't take equity (many fellows' programs are not-for-profit anyway). We will also reimburse travel costs to the kickoff event and showcase.
Format
Remote, part-time
Time commitment
~10 hours per week
Program length
4 months
Cohort size
16 fellows
Fields
Any scientific field
Join the next cohort
The next cohort will run from January to May 2027
If you're someone with a deep technical background and an ambitious idea, we encourage you to apply!
The ideal candidate:
- Has a deep technical background, a PhD or has done PhD-level research, and several years of work experience.
- Has one or more ambitious ideas that don't fit into existing institutions.
- Has worked both inside and outside of academia.
- Has a strong bias towards action.
- Is comfortable with acting under uncertainty.
- Is interested in pursuing their ideas by getting a new role and/or starting a new (not-vc-funded) organization to pursue their ideas.
You can learn more about what coordinated research is and what kind of ideas make good coordinated research programs here.
Applications for our 2027 cohort will open October 5, 2026. We will make the link to the application very easy to find on this page and announce applications on our newsletter and our social media so follow us for updates.
The application consists primarily of six short answer questions about your idea loosely based on DARPA's Heilmeier catechism.
For more information, check out our FAQ or contact us at brains@spec.tech.
Key dates for the 2027 cohort
October 5, 2026
Applications open
October 2026
Online Q&As for prospective applicants
Exact dates TBD
October 26, 2026
Application deadline
December 2026
Admission decisions finalized
January 2027
In-person kickoff workshop
May 2027
Brains Showcase
Application alerts
Two emails: one when applications open, one before the deadline. Nothing else.
The team behind Brains
Ben Reinhardt
Director
Jessica Alfoldi
Operations Lead
Eileen Nakahata
Program Manager
Daniel Aziz
Project Manager
FAQ
If you have any questions that aren't answered on the FAQ, please email us at brains@spec.tech
Turn the impossible into the inevitable
Subscribe for essays, roadmaps, and program updates — or help fund the next program. Speculative Technologies is a registered 501(c)(3).