DEV Community: Hemapriya Kanagala

Dev Opportunity Radar #12: $10K+ Magnificent Grants, Free CodePath Courses, AI Societal Impact Lab Fellowship, and Interview Prep 101

Hemapriya Kanagala — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:48:56 +0000

TL;DR

Welcome back to Dev Opportunity Radar.

This is a weekly series where I share opportunities, resources, communities, and interesting finds that I come across, with the goal of helping people discover things they might otherwise miss.

This week's edition features Magnificent Grants, the AI Societal Impact Lab Autumn 2026 Fellowship, CodePath's Fall 2026 Courses, and Interview Prep 101, a free workshop recording from CodePath's Emerging Engineers Summit packed with practical advice for technical interviews.

If you're new to the series, you can also browse previous editions, search past opportunities, and explore Community Finds, Reader Updates, and Resources Worth Checking Out on the Dev Opportunity Radar website. I've also written a short post about why I built it. You'll find links to both at the end of this article.

This week's 🌟 Community Finds section features an opportunity shared by Konark Sharma (@konark_13). Thank you, Konark, for recommending the Zero Downtime Hackathon. I always enjoy seeing readers help others discover opportunities they might otherwise have missed, and I hope this section continues to grow.

If you've discovered something through the radar, I'd love to hear about it. Whether you applied to an opportunity, attended an event, joined a community, completed a program, built something, or found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd be happy to feature your experience in a future 💙 Reader Updates section (with your permission).

And if you've come across an opportunity, resource, community, program, event, or anything else you think deserves more attention, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature one of your 🌟 Community Finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

⚡ Quick Scan
🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions
📍 This Week's Opportunities
- 📌 Magnificent Grants
- 📌 AI Societal Impact Lab Autumn 2026 Fellowship
- 📌 CodePath Fall 2026 Courses
📚 Resources Worth Checking Out
- CodePath: Interview Prep 101
🌟 Community Finds
- Zero Downtime Hackathon
💙 Reader Updates
👋 Until Next Friday
🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

⚡ Quick Scan

Opportunities

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Format	Deadline
Magnificent Grants	Magnificent Grants	Grant & Fellowship	Hybrid	Rolling
AI Societal Impact Lab Autumn 2026 Fellowship	AI Societal Impact Lab	Fellowship	Remote	September 4
CodePath Fall 2026 Courses	CodePath	Technical Education Program	Virtual	August 23

Resource Highlight

Resource	Why Check It Out
CodePath: Interview Prep 101	A free workshop recording covering practical interview strategies, communication, structuring answers, and techniques to help you perform more confidently in technical interviews.

Community Finds

Shared By	Find	Type	Format
Konark Sharma (@konark_13)	Zero Downtime Hackathon	AI Hackathon	In Person (San Francisco)

📝 A quick note: I spend a lot of time researching and verifying every opportunity before featuring it in Dev Opportunity Radar. However, deadlines, eligibility, program details, and application requirements can change after publication. Before applying, please take a few minutes to visit the official program page, review the latest information, and confirm that you're eligible.

🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions

Before we get into this week's opportunities, here are a few from previous editions that are still accepting applications.

I've already covered these in detail, so I won't repeat everything here. If any of them catch your attention, you can find the full overview, eligibility details, and application links in the original edition.

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Format	Deadline	Featured In
FR8	FR8	Builder Residency	In Person	Rolling	Edition #2
Anthropic Fellows Program	Anthropic	AI Research Fellowship	In Person	Rolling	Edition #4
Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program	Sentient Foundation	AI Grant & Investment	Remote	Rolling	Edition #6
Solo Grants	Solo Grants	Microgrant for Solo Builders	Remote	Rolling	Edition #7
Claude for Open Source	Anthropic	Open Source Program	Remote	Rolling	Edition #7
AIAF Fellowship 2026	AIAF × AE Studio	AI Research Fellowship	Remote	August 17	Edition #8
The Bridge	Entrepreneurs First	Founder Residency	In Person	August 30	Edition #9
Develop for Good Winter 2027	Develop for Good	Student Volunteer Program	Remote	August 31	Edition #10
Claude Community Ambassadors	Anthropic	Community Ambassador Program	Hybrid (Local Events)	Rolling	Edition #11
Z Fellows	Z Fellows	Founder Fellowship	Hybrid	Rolling	Edition #11

📍 This Week's Opportunities

Here are a few opportunities I came across this week that I thought were worth sharing.

📌 Magnificent Grants

Who it's for: Builders, founders, researchers, creators, and ambitious young people aged 25 or younger who are working on ambitious ideas, side projects, startups, or other high-impact work. You don't need to have a company or drop out of school to apply, although showing meaningful progress on what you're building will strengthen your application.

What stands out: Magnificent Grants awards $10,000+ grants to a small group of young builders each year, along with two years of mentorship from experienced founders and investors. Unlike many startup programs, the grant comes with no equity requirement, allowing recipients to continue building independently while receiving ongoing support.

I wanted to include this because it's refreshing to see a program that's willing to support people at a very early stage. Many fellowships expect applicants to already have traction, funding, or a well-established company. Here, the focus seems to be on identifying exceptional people with ambitious ideas and helping them move faster.

Another thing I like is that the support extends well beyond the grant itself. Fellows become part of a two-year community where they receive mentorship, meet other grantees, and continue building relationships with experienced founders and investors. The fact that you don't need to drop out of school or leave your job also makes it accessible to more people who are still exploring their ideas.

Grant: $10,000+ (no equity required)

Program Duration: Two years

Who can apply: Anyone aged 25 or younger from anywhere in the world.

Application Deadline: Rolling

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 AI Societal Impact Lab Autumn 2026 Fellowship

Who it's for: Recent graduates, early-career researchers, and people interested in exploring how AI is shaping society. While the fellowship is primarily aimed at applicants from the social sciences and humanities, people from STEM, the arts, and other backgrounds are also encouraged to apply. Previous AI experience is welcome but not required.

What stands out: The AI Societal Impact Lab Autumn 2026 Fellowship is a remote 8 to 10-week program that brings together people interested in the societal and political implications of AI. Fellows participate in weekly discussions, receive mentorship, work on a collaborative group project, attend workshops and seminars, and write their own analytical piece that will be published on the AI Societal Impact Lab website.

I wanted to include this because most AI fellowships focus on building models or developing technical skills. This one takes a different approach by exploring the broader questions around how AI is changing society and encouraging thoughtful discussions from people with different backgrounds.

Another thing I like is that you don't need to be an AI expert to apply. The fellowship welcomes people from a variety of disciplines and creates a space where different perspectives can come together. If you've been curious about AI governance, ethics, public policy, or the social impact of emerging technologies, this looks like a great place to learn and contribute.

Program Duration: Approximately 8 to 10 weeks (starting in mid to late September 2026)

Time Commitment: Around 4 hours per week

Format: Fully remote

Benefits: Mentorship, workshops and seminars, collaborative group project, publication on the AI Societal Impact Lab website, and a community of fellows.

Who can apply: Recent graduates, early-career researchers, and applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, including humanities, social sciences, STEM, and the arts.

Application Deadline: September 4, 2026 (rolling until filled)

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 CodePath Fall 2026 Courses

Who it's for: Students and recent graduates in computer science or software-related programs who want to strengthen their technical skills, prepare for internships and full-time roles, and learn in a structured, instructor-led environment. Some pathways have additional prerequisites, so be sure to review the requirements before applying.

What stands out: CodePath is offering its Fall 2026 cohort of free, instructor-led technical courses in Applied AI Engineering, Technical Interview Prep, Cybersecurity, and Web Development. Each pathway runs virtually for around 10 weeks, combining live classes, hands-on assignments, projects, and mentorship from engineers at leading technology companies.

I wanted to include this because I've personally completed two CodePath courses: Intermediate Cybersecurity (with Honors) and Intro to Technical Interview Prep. They were genuinely some of the most valuable learning experiences I've had. The courses aren't passive video lectures. Every week includes live, interactive sessions, breakout discussions with peers and teaching assistants, and practical assignments that push you to apply what you've learned.

One thing I also appreciate is that CodePath expects commitment. Getting accepted isn't the final step. Every applicant is required to complete pre-work as part of the admissions process, and it takes real time and effort. It's one of the reasons the community stays so engaged. Everyone begins the course having already demonstrated they're willing to put in the work.

Another thing I like is that the experience continues well beyond the classroom. After completing a course, students gain access to career services, a large network of students and alumni, industry mentors, recruiting events, career fairs, workshops with leading technology companies, and an active Slack community where people continue learning and helping one another.

Available Pathways:

Applied AI Engineering
Technical Interview Prep
Cybersecurity
Web Development

Duration: Approximately 10 weeks

Format: Virtual, instructor-led

Cost: Free

Who can apply: Students aged 18+ who will be enrolled in a U.S. college or university during Fall 2026 in a computer science or software-related degree program. WEB101 and CYB101 are open to students from all majors. Recent computer science graduates are also eligible. Individual courses may have additional prerequisites.

Application Deadline: August 23, 2026

💡 Tip: Don't wait until the last minute. After submitting your application, you'll need to complete the required pre-work before your application can be reviewed. The pre-work takes time, so applying early gives you the best chance of completing everything before the deadline.

🔗 Learn More & Apply

📚 Resources Worth Checking Out

Not every useful find comes with an application deadline.

Here's one resource worth checking out this week.

CodePath: Interview Prep 101 (Free Workshop Recording)

Who it's for: Students, new graduates, internship applicants, and anyone preparing for software engineering interviews.

What stands out: This free session from CodePath's 2024 Emerging Engineers Summit focuses on the parts of interviewing that people often overlook. Instead of diving straight into coding problems, it covers how to make a strong first impression, communicate your thought process, structure your answers, and approach technical interviews with more confidence.

I wanted to include this because interview preparation isn't just about solving LeetCode problems. Being able to clearly explain your thinking, communicate with your interviewer, and approach questions in a structured way can make a huge difference. I found this session practical and easy to follow, especially for people preparing for internships or new graduate roles.

Another thing I like is that it's only around an hour long, making it an easy resource to watch before interview season. If you're already practicing coding problems, this is a nice complement that focuses on the communication side of technical interviews.

Format: Free recorded workshop

Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Topics Covered: Technical interview preparation, communication, structuring answers, interview tips, and best practices.

🔗 Watch the Session

🌟 Community Finds

One of my favorite things about this series has been seeing people share opportunities, communities, and resources that others might not have discovered otherwise.

Zero Downtime Hackathon

Shared by Konark Sharma (@konark_13).

Konark shared the Zero Downtime Hackathon, and I thought it would be worth passing along for anyone interested in building AI applications.

The hackathon focuses on building resilient AI systems rather than just prototypes. Participants will use Port for project organization, Bright Data Scraper Studio for web data extraction, and SigNoz for observability to create an end-to-end application, pipeline, or AI agent. Projects will also be judged by engineers from Anthropic.

I wanted to feature this because it encourages participants to think beyond simply getting an AI application to work. It emphasizes planning, monitoring, and building systems that can continue running even when things change, which are skills that become increasingly important as AI projects move into production.

There are also some exciting prizes, including an NVIDIA DGX Spark AI Supercomputer for the overall winner, along with track prizes for the best integrations with each sponsor tool.

Who it's for: Developers, students, builders, and AI enthusiasts interested in building production-ready AI applications.

Format: In-person hackathon (San Francisco, California)

Event Date: August 22, 2026

Team Size: 1 to 4 participants

🔗 Learn More & Register

Thank you to Konark Sharma (@konark_13) for thinking of the radar and sharing this with the community. It really means a lot 💙

I'd love for this section to keep growing.

If you've come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature it in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

One small request: If you're sharing an opportunity, please avoid posting raw URLs directly in the comments. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see them.

A short description alongside the link makes it much easier for me to review and potentially feature it in a future edition.

💙 Reader Updates

I'm looking forward to this section gradually growing over time, and I'd still love to hear from you.

One of my favorite parts of writing Dev Opportunity Radar has been hearing from people who discovered something they otherwise might have missed.

If you discovered an opportunity through the radar, applied to something, joined a community, attended an event, or simply found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd genuinely love to hear about it.

You don't need to have been accepted or have a big success story to share. Sometimes simply discovering the right opportunity at the right time is already a win.

If you'd like to share an update, feel free to leave a comment on this edition. With your permission, I may feature it in a future 💙 Reader Updates section and tag you so other readers can celebrate your journey too.

I hope this section gradually becomes a place where we can celebrate those stories together, one update at a time.

👋 Until Next Friday

Before I go, I just want to say thank you.

Every week, I spend time searching for opportunities, resources, and communities that I think deserve a little more attention. But one of my favorite parts of this series isn't the research. It's seeing what happens after an edition is published.

Seeing someone discover an opportunity, apply to a program, share a resource, suggest a Community Find, or come back to tell us what they learned reminds me why I started Dev Opportunity Radar in the first place.

The goal has always been simple:

Help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

Thanks to all of you, it feels like we're doing exactly that.

Whether you've been reading since the very first edition or this is your first time here, thank you for being part of the journey. Every comment, suggestion, and shared opportunity helps make this series better than I could build on my own.

If you ever come across an opportunity, resource, event, community, or anything else you think deserves more attention, I'd love for you to share it in the comments. And if Dev Opportunity Radar helped you discover something exciting, I'd love to hear that too.

Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for helping make this our radar, not just mine.

I'll be back next Friday with more opportunities, resources, and Community Finds.

Until then, take care, and I hope you discover something amazing this week 💙

🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

If this is your first time discovering the series, you can explore every edition, browse opportunities by category, discover Community Finds, and catch up on Reader Updates on the Dev Opportunity Radar website.

👉 Website

I also wrote a short post about why I built the website and the journey behind it.

👉 Website Launch Post

What Would You Tell Someone Early in Their Career?

Hemapriya Kanagala — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:42:18 +0000

📌 TL;DR

I'm still early in my own career, and lately I've been thinking about how much advice we hear when we're starting out.

Learn this. Build that. Get certified. Network more. Specialize. Don't specialize too early. Work harder. Protect your work-life balance.

Sometimes it feels like everyone has an answer 😄

But careers are long, and I think some lessons only really make sense after you've lived through them.

That's what made me think about this community.

DEV has people at so many different stages of their careers, with completely different experiences. Some are just starting. Some have been working for a few years. Others have decades of experience. Some have changed careers entirely, managed teams, built companies, made mistakes, started over, burned out, found work they love, or discovered that what they thought they wanted wasn't actually right for them.

That's a lot of experience in one place.

So this post is a little different. I'll share some of what I'm learning while being early in my own career, but mostly, I want to listen to you.

What would you tell someone early in their career?

And there's no limit here 😄 If one thing comes to mind, share one. If you have five, ten, or a whole list of things experience has taught you, I'd genuinely love to hear them all. They don't have to be about the same topic either.

Talk about whatever you feel is worth passing on. It can be technical, personal, or somewhere in between: work, money, learning, managers, communication, confidence, health, work-life balance, mistakes, opportunities, relationships, or something completely different.

And if you're early in your career too, you're absolutely part of this conversation. Share something you've already learned, something you wish you'd known when you started, or something you're still trying to figure out.

And if you have a question, ask it. There might be someone here who's already been through exactly what you're wondering about and can share what they learned. And if it's something I happen to know or have experienced too, I'll be happy to share what I can.

My hope is that we can turn the comments into a place where people at different stages of their careers can ask questions, share experiences, and learn from each other 💙

📚 Table of Contents

This Post Is a Little Different
I'm Learning That There Probably Isn't One Correct Way to Build a Career
There's So Much About a Career That Doesn't Fit on a Resume
Some of You Have Already Lived the Years the Rest of Us Are Just Beginning
So... What Would You Tell Someone Early in Their Career?
It Doesn't Have to Be Career Advice in the Traditional Sense
Why I'm Asking the Community Instead of Writing an Advice Post
I Have a Feeling the Best Part of This Post Might Be the Comments

This Post Is a Little Different

I had a slightly different idea for this post.

Usually when I sit down to write something, I have a topic I want to explore, an experience I want to share, or, apparently lately, a technical report that sends me down a rabbit hole for several hours 😄

But this time, I want to write a little less and listen a little more.

I'm still early in my own career. There are things I understand much better today than I did a few years ago, but I'm also pretty sure there are things I'll look back on five or ten years from now and think, “I really wish I had understood that earlier.”

Maybe someone has already told me some of those things and I haven't had enough experience yet to understand why they matter. Or maybe they're lessons I'll only learn by going through something myself.

Either way, it made me think about something I really like about communities like DEV: we're all at completely different points in our careers.

Some people here are just figuring out what they want to do, while others have been working for years or even decades. And even within that, no two paths look exactly the same. People change fields, become managers, go back to being individual contributors, build companies, take career breaks, start over, or watch their carefully planned career go somewhere completely unexpected.

Every one of those paths comes with lessons.

And that's what made me wonder:

What could those of us who are early in our careers learn from everyone else's experiences?

I'm Learning That There Probably Isn't One Correct Way to Build a Career

When you're early in your career, it's surprisingly easy to feel like you're doing something wrong.

You look around and someone seems to be learning faster than you, someone else just got promoted, and another person landed an opportunity you'd love to have. Some people already seem to know exactly what they want to specialize in, while others have incredible portfolios or somehow sound completely confident about where their careers are going.

And meanwhile, you might still be sitting there thinking, “I don't even know exactly what I want to be doing three years from now” 😄

I've definitely spent time worrying about things like that myself. But I'm slowly realizing that careers probably aren't as linear as they sometimes look from the outside.

People change roles, discover that something they thought they'd love isn't actually for them, or become interested in something they never planned to pursue. They take breaks, make mistakes, change their minds, and sometimes start again. An opportunity that looks perfect might teach you what you don't want, while something that feels like a complete detour might end up being useful years later in a way you couldn't possibly have predicted at the time.

I think that's part of what makes comparing career paths so difficult. We usually see where someone is now, but we don't necessarily see all the changes, uncertainty, mistakes, and unexpected turns that happened along the way.

I'm still figuring out my own path, so I'm definitely not going to tell anyone exactly how they should build theirs. But one thing I'm trying to become more comfortable with is not having the entire map yet.

Maybe knowing where I want to go next is enough for now.

There's So Much About a Career That Doesn't Fit on a Resume

When we're starting out, a lot of our attention naturally goes toward the things we can show: the skills we're learning, projects we're building, certifications we're earning, our education, experience, and eventually the achievements we can point to.

And of course those things matter.

But the longer I think about careers, the more I wonder whether some of the lessons that shape them the most are things we'll never put on a resume.

Things like knowing when to ask for help instead of spending another five hours trying to solve something alone. Learning how to disagree with someone without turning that disagreement into a fight. Being able to say “I don't know” without immediately worrying that everyone will suddenly think you don't belong there.

Then there are decisions that don't always have an obvious right answer. How do you know whether an opportunity is genuinely good for you or just looks impressive from the outside? When should you negotiate, and when should you walk away? How do you deal with a bad manager, or eventually learn to become a good one yourself?

And some of the questions go beyond work itself. How much of your identity should your career take up? How do you stay ambitious without feeling like every free hour needs to become another opportunity to be productive? How do you take care of your health while still trying to build the future you want?

I don't think there's one course we can take that neatly teaches all of that.

A lot of it seems to come from living through things, making choices, getting some of them wrong, watching other people go through their own experiences, and slowly figuring out what matters to us along the way.

And that's exactly why I wanted to write this post.

Some of You Have Already Lived the Years the Rest of Us Are Just Beginning

That's something I think is pretty amazing when you really stop and think about it.

Someone reading this might be preparing for their very first interview, while someone else might be three years into their career. Another person might have fifteen or twenty years of experience, and someone else might have spent decades doing one thing only to eventually decide they wanted to start over in a completely different direction.

And all of that experience means much more than knowing different technologies or having different job titles.

People have worked with managers they loved and managers who taught them exactly what they wouldn't want to do if they ever became one themselves. They've made career decisions that worked out beautifully and others they probably wouldn't make again. They've negotiated salaries, accepted opportunities, turned others down, stayed somewhere too long, left somewhere too early, found mentors, and maybe eventually became mentors for someone else.

They've also had time to discover which worries actually mattered. Some of the things that felt incredibly important at the beginning of their careers might barely matter to them now, while things they hardly thought about back then may have turned out to matter much more than they expected.

And that's the kind of knowledge I'm curious about.

I'm not looking for another perfect career roadmap or a formula that says, “Do these seven things and you'll be successful.”

I'm much more interested in what people learned from actually going through it: the good decisions, the mistakes, the unexpected turns, and the things they understand now that they couldn't have understood when they were just beginning.

So... What Would You Tell Someone Early in Their Career?

This is the part where I hand the post over to you 😄

If you've been working for a while, I'd love for you to think back to the beginning of your career and everything you've experienced since then.

What do you know now that you wish you'd understood earlier? And what would you want someone early in their career to know?

Please don't feel like you have to choose just one thing either. You might have something to say about technical skills and something completely different to say about work-life balance. Your lessons might be about managers, communication, money, confidence, networking, changing jobs, burnout, asking for help, choosing opportunities, dealing with mistakes, knowing when to walk away, or something I haven't even thought to mention.

Maybe there's something you spent far too much time worrying about early on that you now realize wasn't nearly as important as it seemed. Or perhaps there's something you barely thought about at the beginning that you now wish you'd taken much more seriously.

And if your advice completely contradicts someone else's advice here, that's okay too. I'd actually love to see those different perspectives. What worked beautifully for one person might have been completely wrong for someone else.

You also don't need twenty years of experience to contribute. If you're early in your career too, you're just as much a part of this conversation. You might already have learned something from your first job, an opportunity you took, a mistake you made, a difficult experience, or simply something that's helped you along the way.

And if you feel like you're still figuring everything out, you don't need to have advice at all.

You can ask instead.

What do you wish you could ask someone further along in their career?

There might be someone reading this who remembers having exactly the same question and has already lived through the experience you're wondering about.

That's really what I'm hoping this discussion can become: not experienced people talking at people who are just beginning, but people at different stages of their careers learning from each other.

It Doesn't Have to Be Career Advice in the Traditional Sense

When we hear “career advice,” it's easy for the conversation to immediately become about what skill to learn next, which certification to get, or which technology to master.

And those conversations can absolutely be useful. But I think a career is much bigger than the technical skills required to do a job.

Maybe experience taught you to protect your weekends, start saving money earlier, ask more questions, find mentors, document your work, take your health seriously, make sure you have a life outside work, or stop comparing your entire career with the small part of someone else's life you see online.

Maybe it's something completely unexpected that I haven't even thought to mention.

Actually, those unexpected answers might be the ones I'm most curious to read.

Because sometimes the advice that stays with us isn't the advice we went looking for in the first place.

Why I'm Asking the Community Instead of Writing an Advice Post

I could have written an article called “Things You Should Know Early in Your Career.”

But that wouldn't feel quite right coming from me.

I'm early in my own career too. I have things I've learned so far and experiences that have changed how I think, but I also know there are situations I simply haven't lived through yet.

Instead of pretending otherwise, I'd rather ask people who have lived through them.

And experience doesn't only mean years worked.

Someone with twenty years of experience might share something that helps someone with two. Someone with two years might remember the uncertainty of starting out much more clearly. And someone entering the workforce today is experiencing things around AI, remote work, learning, and hiring that didn't exist in quite the same way ten or twenty years ago.

Different stages of a career teach us different things, and that's what makes this much more interesting to me than trying to write a career guide myself.

I Have a Feeling the Best Part of This Post Might Be the Comments

And honestly, that's what I'm hoping for 😄

I've had conversations here where someone left a comment that made me look at something completely differently, introduced me to an idea I hadn't considered, or brought years of experience to something I had only recently started thinking about.

That's one of my favorite things about writing in a community like DEV. You don't just publish something and walk away. Sometimes what you write starts a conversation, and that conversation ends up teaching you just as much as the article itself.

So maybe this post can become a little collection of experiences.

Not a definitive career guide.

Not a roadmap everyone is supposed to follow.

Just people at different stages of their lives and careers sharing what they've learned along the way.

Someone might come across a comment and think, “I really needed to hear that.” Someone else might discover an idea they hadn't considered before, or read a perspective that stays with them until they encounter that situation themselves.

And I fully expect to be taking notes too 😄

So I'll leave this one with all of you:

What would you tell someone early in their career?

Share as much or as little as you'd like. If you have one lesson, I'd love to hear it. If years of experience have given you five or ten things you wish you'd known earlier, please share those too.

And if you're early in your career too, I'd love to hear from you just as much. Tell us what you've already learned, what you're struggling with, or what you wish you could ask someone who's been where you are now.

There isn't one correct way to build a career, and I don't expect there to be one correct answer here either.

In fact, I think the different answers are what could make this discussion useful.

So, what has your career taught you that you'd pass on to someone who's still near the beginning? I'd really love to hear it 💙

Transparency note: The banner image for this article was generated using DEV Community's built-in AI image generation feature. I wrote the prompt, generated multiple variations, and selected the final image used in this post.

I also used AI to help check my grammar and make sure I was expressing my thoughts clearly. English isn't my first language, so sometimes I know what I want to say but need a little help making sure the wording comes across correctly. The ideas, experiences, and perspectives in this article are my own.

Dev Opportunity Radar #11: Claude Community Ambassadors, YC Startup Internship Expo, Z Fellows, and Stanford's AI Agents Course

Hemapriya Kanagala — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:52:30 +0000

TL;DR

Welcome back to Dev Opportunity Radar.

This is a weekly series where I share opportunities, resources, communities, and interesting finds that I come across, with the goal of helping people discover things they might otherwise miss.

This week's edition features the Claude Community Ambassadors Program, the YC Startup Internship Expo, Z Fellows, and CS329A: Self-Improving AI Agents, a free graduate-level Stanford course exploring the latest research behind modern AI agents.

If you're new to the series, you can also browse previous editions, search past opportunities, and explore Community Finds, Reader Updates, and Resources Worth Checking Out on the Dev Opportunity Radar website. I've also written a short post about why I built it. You'll find links to both at the end of this article.

This week's 🌟 Community Finds section features opportunities shared by Francis (@francistrdev) and Konark Sharma (@konark_13). I always love seeing readers help others discover opportunities they might otherwise have missed.

If you've discovered something through the radar, I'd love to hear about it. Whether you applied to an opportunity, attended an event, joined a community, completed a program, built something, or found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd be happy to feature your experience in a future 💙 Reader Updates section (with your permission).

And if you've come across an opportunity, resource, community, program, event, or anything else you think deserves more attention, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature one of your 🌟 Community Finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

⚡ Quick Scan
🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions
📍 This Week's Opportunities
- 📌 Claude Community Ambassadors
- 📌 YC Startup Internship Expo
- 📌 Z Fellows
📚 Resources Worth Checking Out
- CS329A: Self-Improving AI Agents
🌟 Community Finds
- CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
- JPMorganChase Code for Good Singapore & Software Engineer Program
💙 Reader Updates
👋 Until Next Friday
🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

⚡ Quick Scan

Opportunities

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Format	Deadline
Claude Community Ambassadors	Anthropic	Community Ambassador Program	Hybrid (Local Events)	Rolling
YC Startup Internship Expo	Y Combinator	Startup Career Expo	In Person (San Francisco)	August 15 (Event)
Z Fellows	Z Fellows	Founder Fellowship	Hybrid	Rolling

Resource Highlight

Resource	Why Check It Out
CS329A: Self-Improving AI Agents	A free graduate-level Stanford course covering modern AI agent research, including constitutional AI, tool use, planning, reinforcement learning, memory, and evaluation frameworks.

Community Finds

Shared By	Find	Type	Format
Francis (@francistrdev)	CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Remote
Konark Sharma (@konark_13)	JPMorganChase Code for Good Singapore & Software Engineer Program	Hackathon & Internship	In Person (Singapore)

📝 A quick note: I spend a lot of time researching and verifying every opportunity before featuring it in Dev Opportunity Radar. However, deadlines, eligibility, program details, and application requirements can change after publication. Before applying, please take a few minutes to visit the official program page, review the latest information, and confirm that you're eligible.

🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions

Before we get into this week's opportunities, here are a few from previous editions that are still accepting applications.

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Format	Deadline	Featured In
FR8	FR8	Builder Residency	In Person	Rolling	Edition #2
Anthropic Fellows Program	Anthropic	AI Research Fellowship	In Person	Rolling	Edition #4
Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program	Sentient Foundation	AI Grant & Investment	Remote	Rolling	Edition #6
Solo Grants	Solo Grants	Microgrant for Solo Builders	Remote	Rolling	Edition #7
Claude for Open Source	Anthropic	Open Source Program	Remote	Rolling	Edition #7
AIAF Fellowship 2026	AIAF × AE Studio	AI Research Fellowship	Remote	August 17	Edition #8
The Bridge	Entrepreneurs First	Founder Residency	In Person	August 30	Edition #9
Develop for Good Winter 2027	Develop for Good	Student Volunteer Program	Remote	August 31	Edition #10
OpenAI Student Collective	OpenAI	Campus Leadership Program	In Person (Campus-Based)	August 10	Edition #10

📍 This Week's Opportunities

Here are a few opportunities I came across this week that I thought were worth sharing.

📌 Claude Community Ambassadors

Who it's for: Developers, community organizers, meetup hosts, technical educators, and active Claude users who enjoy bringing people together and helping others learn. You don't need to be a professional developer, but you should have meaningful experience using Claude and a track record of community involvement.

What stands out: The Claude Community Ambassadors program gives community builders the opportunity to grow local Claude communities with support from Anthropic. Ambassadors can host meetups, workshops, hackathons, and other community events while receiving event funding, monthly API credits, ready-to-use event materials, swag, and promotion through Anthropic's channels.

I wanted to include this because most ambassador programs are focused on students. This one is different. It's designed for people who are already active in their local tech communities or online communities and want to help others explore Claude while building a stronger local developer ecosystem.

Another thing I like is that the program goes beyond hosting events. Ambassadors get early access to selected features, opportunities to participate in Builders Council sessions, and a direct way to share feedback from their communities with Anthropic's product teams. If you enjoy teaching, organizing events, or building developer communities, this could be a great opportunity to make an impact while connecting with other community leaders around the world.

Program Duration: Ongoing

Cost: Free

Benefits: Event sponsorship, monthly Claude API credits, exclusive swag, access to a private Ambassador Slack, pre-release features, and opportunities to provide product feedback.

Who can apply: Community builders and experienced Claude users from anywhere in the world. Professional developer experience is not required.

Application Deadline: Rolling

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 YC Startup Internship Expo

Who it's for: Students looking for internships, co-ops, semester internships, or new graduate roles who will be in the San Francisco Bay Area on August 15. YC is also encouraging applications from exceptional high school builders.

What stands out: The YC Startup Internship Expo is a one-day, acceptance-only event where students can meet founders, engineers, and hiring teams from 50+ Y Combinator startups. Rather than browsing job boards, attendees get the chance to explore what it's actually like to work at early-stage AI startups, participate in coding and AI challenges, network with startup teams, and even interview onsite with more than 40 YC companies.

I wanted to include this because opportunities like this don't come around very often. Instead of applying online and hoping someone sees your resume, you get to meet founders and engineers face-to-face, ask questions, and learn how some of today's fastest-growing AI startups actually build products.

Another thing I like is that it's more than just a career fair. Alongside the startup expo, there will be coding and AI challenges, giveaways, food trucks, and onsite interviews happening throughout the day. If you're already spending the summer in San Francisco or studying in the Bay Area, this could be a great opportunity to explore internships while connecting with people building at the forefront of AI.

Event Date: August 15, 2026

Location: San Francisco, California

Cost: Free (application required)

Who can apply: Students interning in San Francisco, students attending Bay Area colleges or universities, and exceptional high school builders who will be in the Bay Area on the event date.

Application Process: Acceptance only

Travel Support: No travel sponsorship is provided.

🔗 Learn More & Apply

📌 Z Fellows

Who it's for: Technical builders, aspiring founders, students, recent graduates, researchers, engineers, and anyone working on a side project or startup. You can apply solo or with a team, and you don't need to have a company yet.

What stands out: Z Fellows is a one-week founder program that brings together a small group of ambitious builders with founders and investors behind companies like Figma, Vercel, Instacart, Netflix, DoorDash, and AngelList. The week is designed to help early builders learn from experienced founders, connect with other ambitious people, and accelerate whatever they're working on. The support doesn't stop after the program. Z Fellows continues helping founders throughout their journey.

I wanted to include this because most startup programs expect you to already have a company, traction, or funding. Z Fellows takes a different approach. It's built for people who are still early and simply have the ambition to build something meaningful. Whether you're working on a side project, exploring an idea, or already building a startup, the focus is on backing people with potential before everyone else notices them.

Another thing I like is how flexible the program is. You don't need to quit your job, leave school, or even have a co-founder to apply. The program is mostly virtual, with the final day taking place in San Francisco or New York City, making it accessible to builders from around the world. Applicants can also choose to participate without funding or accept an optional $10,000 investment through a SAFE agreement if it makes sense for their company.

Program Duration: One week (multiple cohorts each year)

Format: Mostly virtual, with the final day held in San Francisco or New York City

Funding: Optional $10,000 investment through a SAFE agreement

Who can apply: Builders from anywhere in the world. No age restrictions. You can apply as an individual or as a team, and you don't need a company to get started.

Application Deadline: Rolling

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📚 Resources Worth Checking Out

Not every useful find comes with an application deadline.

Here's one resource worth checking out this week.

CS329A: Self-Improving AI Agents

Who it's for: Developers, AI engineers, researchers, graduate students, and anyone who already has a basic understanding of large language models and wants to dive deeper into modern AI agent research.

What stands out: CS329A: Self-Improving AI Agents is a graduate-level course from Stanford University that explores how AI agents can continuously improve through interaction with themselves and their environment. The lecture recordings cover many of the ideas shaping today's AI landscape, including constitutional AI, reinforcement learning, test-time scaling, tool use, memory, planning, multimodal agents, and evaluation frameworks for agentic systems.

I wanted to include this because there's a lot of discussion about AI agents right now, but it can be difficult to separate hype from the underlying concepts. This course is taught by researchers working in the field and provides a structured way to understand many of the techniques behind modern agent systems.

Another thing I like is that the course doesn't focus on a single framework or API. Instead, it explores the research ideas that are driving the next generation of AI agents, making it a resource that's likely to stay useful even as tools continue to evolve.

Format: Free online lecture recordings

Level: Graduate / Advanced

Topics Covered: Self-improving LLMs, Constitutional AI, reinforcement learning, test-time scaling, tool use, memory, planning, multimodal agents, and AI evaluation.

🔗 Watch the Lecture Playlist

🌟 Community Finds

One of my favorite things about this series has been seeing people share opportunities, communities, and resources that others might not have discovered otherwise.

CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities

Back in Edition #6, I featured CALEC's remote volunteer and internship opportunities after Francis (@francistrdev) shared them with the community. If you missed it, you can find the full overview and all the details in Edition #6.

Since sharing this opportunity with the community, Francis has also published a dedicated DEV post about the Full-Stack Developer volunteer role at CALEC. If that role interests you, it's worth checking out for his perspective and some additional information about what the team is looking for.

🔗 Francis' post

🔗 CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities | 🔗 Edition #6

JPMorganChase Code for Good Singapore & Software Engineer Program

Shared by Konark Sharma (@konark_13).

Konark shared two opportunities from JPMorganChase that I thought would be worth passing along for students interested in software engineering.

The first is Code for Good Singapore, a two-day social impact hackathon where participants work alongside JPMorganChase engineers to build technology solutions for nonprofit organizations. Besides the experience itself, the event also serves as a pathway to the company's 2027 Early Careers Software Engineer Program in Singapore.

He also shared the 2027 Software Engineer Program - Summer Analyst (Singapore). Interns work on real software engineering projects, collaborate with experienced engineers, receive mentorship and training, and may be considered for a full-time graduate role based on their performance.

I thought these were worth featuring because they offer more than just a hackathon or an internship. Together, they provide a chance to gain hands-on experience, connect with engineers, and potentially open the door to future opportunities at one of the world's largest technology employers.

Who it's for: Students pursuing a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field who are interested in software engineering opportunities in Singapore.

Application Deadlines:

Code for Good Singapore: September 18, 2026
Software Engineer Program - Summer Analyst (Singapore): October 29, 2026

🔗 Code for Good Singapore

🔗 Software Engineer Program - Summer Analyst (Singapore)

Thank you to Francis (@francistrdev) and Konark Sharma (@konark_13) for thinking of the radar and sharing these with the community. It really means a lot 💙

I'd love for this section to keep growing.

If you've come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature it in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

One small request: If you're sharing an opportunity, please avoid posting raw URLs directly in the comments. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see them.

A short description alongside the link makes it much easier for me to review and potentially feature it in a future edition.

💙 Reader Updates

I'm looking forward to this section gradually growing over time, and I'd still love to hear from you.

One of my favorite parts of writing Dev Opportunity Radar has been hearing from people who discovered something they otherwise might have missed.

You don't need to have been accepted or have a big success story to share. Sometimes simply discovering the right opportunity at the right time is already a win.

I hope this section gradually becomes a place where we can celebrate those stories together, one update at a time.

👋 Until Next Friday

Before I go, I just want to say thank you.

The goal has always been simple:

Help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

Thanks to all of you, it feels like we're doing exactly that.

Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for helping make this our radar, not just mine.

I'll be back next Friday with more opportunities, resources, and Community Finds.

Until then, take care, and I hope you discover something amazing this week 💙

🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

👉 Website

I also wrote a short post about why I built the website and the journey behind it.

👉 Website Launch Post

We’re Giving AI Agents More Tools. What Happens When the Boundaries Fail?

Hemapriya Kanagala — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:34:05 +0000

📌 TL;DR

AI agents are becoming useful because we're giving them the ability to do more than just answer questions. They can run commands, browse the web, use APIs, read and modify files, install packages, and interact with other systems.

But the more an agent can do, the more the boundaries around it matter.

I started thinking about this after reading Anthropic's July 30 report about three incidents discovered during its cybersecurity evaluations. Claude models were supposed to be working inside simulated environments and were explicitly told they had no internet access.

Except internet access was actually available because of a problem with how the evaluation environment was configured.

While trying to complete their assigned cybersecurity exercises, the models reached real systems and initially treated them as part of the simulation. In one incident, a Claude model even published a malicious Python package to the real PyPI registry while believing it was still operating inside the exercise.

This came shortly after a separate OpenAI incident involving Hugging Face. The two stories might sound similar at first, but the models reached the real internet in importantly different ways.

And that brings this back to a pretty familiar software engineering idea:

A prompt is not a security boundary.

Telling an agent “you don't have internet access” isn't the same as actually removing internet access. Telling it “only use these files” isn't the same as restricting its permissions to those files.

The model is also only one part of the system. The tools we connect, the permissions and credentials we give it, the environment it runs in, and the monitoring and safeguards around it can all affect what happens.

So when something goes wrong, I don't think it's enough to stop at “the AI did it.” The model's behavior matters, but so do the systems and boundaries we build around it. As we give agents more ability to act, we also have to be thoughtful about what we're actually allowing them to do.

I'm not a cybersecurity researcher. I just enjoy reading research and technical reports like these and trying to understand what we, as developers, can learn from them. That's what I wanted to explore here.

No “AI escaped and we're doomed” take 😄 Just an interesting real-world incident and some surprisingly familiar engineering lessons.

The Report That Sent Me Down This Rabbit Hole
Before We Get Into What Happened...
So... What Actually Happened?
The PyPI Incident Is Where It Got Really Interesting
When the Instructions and Reality Don't Match
A Prompt Is Not a Security Boundary
Wait, Wasn't There an OpenAI Incident Too?
What Does Any of This Mean for Developers?
- 1. Give an Agent What It Needs, Not Everything You Have
- 2. Think About What Happens When Your Assumptions Are Wrong
- 3. If an Agent Can Act, We Need to Know What It's Doing
- 4. One Safeguard Probably Isn't Enough
- 5. The AI Model Isn't the Whole AI System
What I'm NOT Taking Away From This
The Bigger Question
Final Thoughts
I'd Love to Hear Your Thoughts
Sources
🤝 Let's Stay Connected

The Report That Sent Me Down This Rabbit Hole

On July 31, I was reading Anthropic's newly published report about three incidents it had discovered during cybersecurity evaluations.

I enjoy reading reports like this every now and then. It's something I became much more interested in while working on a survey paper during my master's, and even now, I occasionally find myself opening a technical report out of curiosity and suddenly realizing I've spent much longer reading it than I planned 😄

This was definitely one of those times.

The report started with a pretty surprising finding. Anthropic had reviewed 141,006 cybersecurity evaluation runs and found three incidents where Claude reached the internet and gained unauthorized access to real systems belonging to three different organizations.

That sentence alone sounds alarming, but I kept reading, and the details made the story much more interesting than the headline.

This wasn't simply a case of “Claude was told not to access the internet and decided to do it anyway.” And it wasn't “Claude suddenly decided to hack random companies.” The models were participating in cybersecurity exercises where their job was essentially to find and exploit weaknesses in order to retrieve a hidden piece of information.

They were told the environment was simulated, and they were also told something else that becomes extremely important to everything that happened next: they had no internet access.

Except that assumption didn't match the environment they were actually operating in.

And that's what really sent me down the rabbit hole. I wanted to understand how an AI model participating in a simulated cybersecurity exercise could end up interacting with real systems while still believing it was completing the task it had been given.

The more I read, the more this started to feel like a much broader question than just one unusual cybersecurity incident.

Before We Get Into What Happened...

Most of us have probably come across AI agents by now, so I won't spend too much time explaining what they are. The part that matters for this story is that an agent doesn't necessarily stop at generating an answer. Give it the right tools and it can take actions too, whether that's reading and modifying files, running commands, calling APIs, browsing the web, or interacting with other systems.

That's what makes agents so useful, but it's also what makes the boundaries around them important. The more tools and access we give an agent, the more we have to think about what it can actually reach and what it's allowed to do.

And that's exactly where this story gets interesting, because Claude was given a task, an environment, and an understanding of where those boundaries were.

The problem was that the real boundaries didn't quite match what it had been told.

So... What Actually Happened?

Anthropic regularly runs cybersecurity evaluations to understand what its models are capable of. Some of these involve capture-the-flag challenges, or CTFs, where a model is placed in a controlled environment and given a target, usually some hidden piece of information called a “flag,” to find.

If you've never come across a CTF before, the basic idea is pretty simple. The environment is intentionally designed to be attacked. Finding the flag might involve discovering a vulnerability, finding credentials, or getting access to another machine. It's a way of testing cybersecurity capabilities without putting real systems at risk.

Claude was participating in exercises like these, and there were two details about the setup that become really important to what happened next. The models were told that they were operating inside a simulation and that they didn't have internet access.

So from the model's perspective, anything it could reach should have been part of that simulation.

The problem was that this wasn't actually true.

According to Anthropic, because of a misunderstanding between the company and its third-party evaluation partner, some of the evaluation machines had access to the real internet when they weren't supposed to.

That created a pretty unusual situation. Claude had been given a task where finding and exploiting weaknesses was part of the exercise. It had also been explicitly told that the internet wasn't available. So when it managed to reach systems outside the intended environment, it initially treated them as another part of the challenge.

Except some of those systems were real.

Anthropic's review eventually found three separate incidents involving three different Claude models. The circumstances were different in each case, and the models didn't all respond the same way once there were signs that they might be interacting with real systems.

But one of those incidents in particular is where this story gets really interesting.

The PyPI Incident Is Where It Got Really Interesting

If you've worked with Python, you've probably typed something like pip install something before. That package often comes from PyPI, the public Python Package Index.

During one of the evaluations, Claude found what appeared to be setup instructions for developers at a fictional company. The instructions told employees to install a particular Python package, but that package didn't actually exist.

Claude realized that if it created a package with the same name, the fictional company's systems might download and run its version instead. Within the context of a cybersecurity challenge, that gave it a possible way to reach its target.

So the model created a malicious package and tried to publish it.

The problem was that it wasn't interacting with a fake version of PyPI created for the evaluation. It was interacting with the real PyPI.

What happened next is probably the part of the report that surprised me most. To publish the package, Claude needed to create an account, which meant it needed an email address and, at one point, a phone number. It tried several different approaches, including unsuccessfully looking for ways to obtain a phone number, before eventually finding a free email provider it could use to register an account.

It then successfully uploaded the malicious package to PyPI.

According to Anthropic, the package remained publicly available for roughly an hour and was downloaded and run on 15 real systems during that time. One of those systems belonged to a security company that automatically installed Python packages to scan them for malware. When the scanner installed the package, Claude's code executed and exposed credentials, which the model then used to access additional infrastructure belonging to that company.

There's an important detail here, though. Claude wasn't intentionally targeting that security company. Anthropic says the model didn't even know the company existed when it uploaded the package. The company was affected because its scanner happened to install something Claude had unknowingly published to the real internet.

And somehow, the story gets even more interesting.

Earlier in the process, Claude had actually considered the possibility that it might be interacting with the real internet. Its own reasoning recognized that if this were real, publishing the package would amount to a real-world attack and wouldn't be okay.

You might expect that realization to be where the attempt stopped, but it didn't. The model instead found reasons to convince itself that it was still inside the simulation. One of the things it used as evidence was the system date: 2026. It apparently interpreted that as another sign that the environment had been staged.

I have to admit, reading that particular detail in 2026 gave me a small “well...” moment 😅

It's a slightly funny detail in an otherwise serious incident, but I think there's something important underneath it. The model encountered information suggesting that its understanding of the environment might be wrong, yet still ended up reasoning its way back to the assumption it had started with: that this was all part of the simulation.

And that's the part of this incident I kept thinking about afterward.

When the Instructions and Reality Don't Match

After reading about the PyPI incident, one question seems pretty obvious: why didn't Claude realize it had reached the real internet?

But the more I thought about it, the more I started looking at that question from the other side.

How would it know?

The model had explicitly been told that it didn't have internet access. It had also been told that it was participating in a simulation where finding and exploiting weaknesses was part of the task. So when it encountered something that looked real, it was trying to make sense of that new information using what it had already been told about its environment.

There was a mismatch between those two things. The model was operating with something like:

Simulation → No internet → Everything reachable should be part of the exercise

But the environment actually looked more like:

Simulation → Internet available → Real systems reachable

That difference might look small on paper, but it completely changes the situation.

Of course, that doesn't explain away everything the models did. Anthropic itself points to moments where their behavior fell short of what it would want, including cases where signs appeared that the systems might actually be real.

But I think the mismatch still matters.

The models weren't making decisions in the environment everyone thought they were operating in. They were making decisions based partly on an understanding of that environment that turned out to be wrong.

And that's where this stopped feeling like something that only matters to people running cybersecurity evaluations.

Because once we start giving AI agents tools and the ability to take real actions, there's a bigger question underneath all of this:

What happens when the boundaries an agent has been told about aren't the boundaries that actually exist?

That leads to probably the simplest engineering lesson I took away from this whole story:

A prompt is not a security boundary.

A Prompt Is Not a Security Boundary

This is probably the simplest way I can explain what I took away from all of this: telling an agent not to do something and actually preventing it from doing that thing are not the same.

Imagine I'm building an AI coding agent and tell it to only access files inside /my-project. If the process running that agent still has permission to read my entire computer, I've given it an instruction about where it should go, but I haven't actually restricted where it can go.

The same applies to internet access. I can put “Don't access the internet” in the instructions, but if the environment still allows unrestricted network access, that sentence isn't what prevents the agent from reaching the internet.

And when I thought about it this way, it started to feel like a very familiar software engineering idea.

We don't build an admin dashboard and simply write, “Please only use this page if you're an administrator.” We implement authentication and authorization so that someone without the right access can't use it in the first place.

We don't give every application unrestricted access to a database and then ask it nicely to stay away from the tables it doesn't need. We use permissions to control what it can actually access.

The same thinking makes sense for AI agents too.

Prompts still matter. They tell the model how we want it to behave, what its task is, and what it should or shouldn't do. But when something is important enough that it must not happen, I don't think the prompt should have to carry that responsibility alone.

The system around the model matters too: what tools we've connected, what permissions those tools have, what credentials are available, whether the network is restricted, and what happens if one of our assumptions about the environment turns out to be wrong.

That's the distinction I keep coming back to:

A prompt can guide behavior. Infrastructure can limit capability.

And as AI moves from mostly giving us answers to actually taking actions, I think that difference becomes much more important.

Wait, Wasn't There an OpenAI Incident Too?

Yes, and the timing isn't a coincidence. Anthropic says it began its large-scale review after OpenAI disclosed a separate cybersecurity evaluation incident involving Hugging Face on July 21.

When I first read about both incidents, I wondered if essentially the same thing had happened twice. But once I looked into the details, there was an important difference in how the models reached the real internet.

In OpenAI's case, the models were running inside an evaluation environment where direct internet access was restricted. According to OpenAI, the models found and exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Artifactory, software that was being used as a proxy and cache for package registries. This kind of previously unknown vulnerability is commonly called a zero-day.

After exploiting it, the models were able to move through parts of OpenAI's research environment until they reached a system with internet access. From there, they eventually compromised Hugging Face's infrastructure while trying to obtain solutions for the cybersecurity evaluation.

So, very roughly, the OpenAI incident looked like this:

Restricted environment → Vulnerability discovered and exploited → Internet access reached → Hugging Face compromised

Anthropic's incidents were different:

Evaluation environment → Internet unintentionally available → Real systems reachable → Models initially treated them as part of the simulation

That difference matters.

In the OpenAI incident, the models found a way through a boundary that was supposed to restrict internet access. In Anthropic's case, that boundary wasn't actually there in the way everyone thought it was. Internet access was already unintentionally available.

Both incidents raise important questions about how increasingly capable AI systems should be tested, but I don't think putting them both under a headline like “AI escaped again” tells us very much.

If anything, reading the details made me think the engineering differences are the more useful part of the story. Two incidents can look very similar from the outside while pointing to different things that went wrong underneath.

What Does Any of This Mean for Developers?

Most of us aren't running cybersecurity evaluations on frontier AI models, so you might reasonably be thinking:

Interesting story, Hema... but what am I supposed to do with this? 😄

I had the same question while reading the reports. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that some of the lessons aren't limited to large AI labs at all. They apply to much smaller agents and AI-powered tools we might be building ourselves.

1. Give an Agent What It Needs, Not Everything You Have

If an agent only needs to read a few files, does it really need access to the entire filesystem? If it only needs to read from a database, does it need credentials that can also modify or delete data? And if it only needs one API, there's probably no reason to expose several others just because they're available.

This is really the familiar security principle of least privilege: give something only the access it needs to do its job.

And that's not because we should assume every agent is going to do something malicious. Mistakes happen. Instructions can be misunderstood. Our own configurations can be wrong. An agent can also encounter a situation we simply didn't anticipate.

Limiting access doesn't prevent every possible problem, but it can limit how far a problem can go.

2. Think About What Happens When Your Assumptions Are Wrong

One thing I found especially interesting here is that the problem wasn't only what the models assumed. The people running the evaluation had assumptions too.

The models had been told there was no internet access because that was how the environment was supposed to work. But the actual configuration didn't match that expectation.

I think there's a useful developer lesson in that. When we're building an agent, it's easy to think in terms of how the system should behave: this tool can only do this, these credentials only reach that service, this environment can't access the internet.

But how often do we actually verify those assumptions?

If something really matters, testing the boundary itself might be just as important as defining it. Because sometimes the unexpected behavior isn't caused by the agent ignoring the system we designed.

Sometimes the system isn't quite the one we thought we'd designed.

3. If an Agent Can Act, We Need to Know What It's Doing

We already rely on logs when ordinary software behaves unexpectedly. I think that becomes even more important when an agent can take a series of actions on its own.

If something goes wrong, we may need to understand which tools it used, what it accessed, what requests it made, where something failed, and what it tried afterward.

Anthropic found these incidents by going back through its evaluation transcripts. Without records of what the models had actually done, understanding that sequence would have been much harder.

So as agents become capable of doing more, observability isn't just useful for debugging. It can also help us understand whether the system is behaving within the boundaries we expected.

4. One Safeguard Probably Isn't Enough

Anthropic talks about defense in depth in its response. It sounds very cybersecurity-ish, but the idea itself is pretty simple: don't depend on one thing going right.

Maybe an agent isn't supposed to have internet access. That's one boundary. But what if something is misconfigured and internet access becomes available anyway? Network restrictions could still limit where it can connect. Credentials with minimal permissions could limit what it can access. Monitoring could help detect unexpected activity.

Each one gives you another layer.

The goal isn't to build one perfect wall and assume it will never fail. It's to have other protections waiting if that wall does.

5. The AI Model Isn't the Whole AI System

This might actually be the biggest thing I've taken away from reading about these incidents.

When something goes wrong and we say “the AI did this,” it's very easy to picture the model as if it were the entire system. And I think it's also very easy to put all the blame there and stop looking.

But an AI agent is operating inside something much bigger:

model + prompt + tools + credentials + permissions + network + environment + monitoring

Change one of those pieces and you can change what the agent is capable of doing, even if the model itself stays exactly the same.

The Anthropic incidents are a good example. The models were told they didn't have internet access. But the environment didn't actually enforce that assumption, and suddenly the same task could lead somewhere it was never supposed to lead.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't examine what the models did. We absolutely should. There were moments in these incidents where the models' own decisions raise important questions too, especially when they encountered signs that the systems might be real.

But I don't think the conversation can end with “the AI did something it wasn't supposed to do.”

We build the environments these agents operate in. We choose which tools to connect. We decide what permissions and credentials they receive. We create the boundaries, and we have to make sure those boundaries actually exist.

I'm not saying that to move the blame somewhere else. I think that's the wrong way to look at it too.

For me, it's more about recognizing that we're part of this system as well. As we give AI more ability to act, we also take on the responsibility of being careful about the systems we're building around it.

That's why, when something goes wrong, I think understanding the whole system is much more useful than finding the easiest thing to blame.

What I'm NOT Taking Away From This

I think it's worth being a little careful with the conclusions here, because this is exactly the kind of story where the most dramatic version can easily become the one everyone remembers.

I'm not taking away that Claude suddenly developed its own goal and decided to attack companies. Anthropic says it found no evidence of the models pursuing a goal of their own. They were still working toward the capture-the-flag tasks they had been given, even though some of those actions ended up affecting real systems.

I'm also not describing these incidents as Claude deliberately “escaping” its evaluation environment. That's not what Anthropic says happened. The models were able to reach the internet because an access path was unintentionally available, while they had been told that no internet access existed.

There's another detail I think we should be careful with too. Of the three models involved, Anthropic's newest internal research model eventually recognized that it was interacting with a real system and stopped. That's certainly interesting, especially because the other models behaved differently, but three incidents involving different models and different circumstances aren't enough to conclude that newer models are simply safer. Anthropic is careful about making that conclusion too.

So I'm not reading these incidents as proof that AI “went rogue,” and I'm also not reading them as proof that the problem is solved because one model eventually stopped.

That's why I think it's worth being careful about what we conclude from these incidents while the investigations are still developing.

The Bigger Question

I think this is where the story goes beyond Anthropic, OpenAI, or even cybersecurity evaluations.

We're slowly moving from AI that mostly tells us, “Here's what you could do,” toward AI that can increasingly say, “I'll do it.” And honestly, I find that transition fascinating.

An AI assistant that suggests a terminal command is one thing. An agent that can actually execute that command is another. An assistant that drafts an email for you is one thing. An agent that can send it is another. And an assistant that suggests a database query is very different from an agent holding credentials that can actually run that query against a production database.

In each case, we're giving the model something it didn't have before: the ability to turn an answer into an action.

And with that comes access.

The more tools we connect to an agent, the more of the world around it becomes something it can interact with. A terminal gives it access to commands and whatever that environment can reach. An API gives it whatever permissions come with that API key. File access depends on which files the process can actually reach. Even something as ordinary as sending an email becomes a real action once the agent has permission to do it.

None of this means I think we shouldn't build agents. Quite the opposite. The fact that AI can increasingly do things instead of only telling us how to do them is one of the reasons I find this space so interesting.

But I think that also means we have to be more thoughtful about what comes with each new tool we connect. Every terminal, API, database, browser, or filesystem we give an agent access to expands the world it can interact with.

Maybe one of the questions worth asking before connecting the next tool is simply:

What happens if the agent uses this in a way I didn't expect?

Not because we should assume the agent is going to do something malicious. That's not really the point I'm trying to make.

It might misunderstand what we meant. It might encounter something we didn't expect. Our own configuration might be wrong. Or, as the Anthropic incidents showed, the environment itself might not work the way everyone believed it did.

And the more access we've given the agent, the more those unexpected situations can matter.

That's why I don't think the interesting question going forward is only how capable can we make these agents?

It's also how carefully can we build the systems around those capabilities?

Final Thoughts

I started reading Anthropic's report on July 31 because I was curious about what had happened. I ended up thinking much more broadly about how we're building AI agents and, especially, about the boundaries we put around them.

And strangely, a lot of what I took away from it doesn't feel particularly futuristic. Limit access. Verify assumptions. Monitor what's happening. Don't depend on a single safeguard.

These are ideas we've had in software and security for a long time.

What's changing is what we're connecting to AI.

We're giving agents terminals, browsers, APIs, files, credentials, and the ability to turn an answer into an action. That's incredibly exciting, but it also means the environment around the model becomes part of what we're responsible for building carefully.

So maybe the question isn't only:

What can this agent do?

We should probably be asking just as often:

What should this agent actually be allowed to do?

Because if there's one thing I'll remember from this whole rabbit hole, it's this:

The boundary we describe to an agent and the boundary that actually exists aren't necessarily the same thing.

And as exciting as it is to see what AI agents can increasingly do, I think we have to be just as thoughtful about the world we're giving them access to.

I'd Love to Hear Your Thoughts

This was one of those rabbit holes where I started with one question and ended up thinking about something much bigger. So I'd really love to know what you took away from it too.

You don't have to be working in cybersecurity or building AI agents to join the conversation. Even if this is your first time reading about incidents like these, did anything change the way you think about AI agents and the access we're giving them?

And if you are experimenting with agents or giving models access to tools, I'm especially curious about this:

Where do you think the real boundary should live: in the prompt, the permissions, the environment, or some combination of all three?

Or maybe you came away with a completely different question or perspective after reading this. I'd love to hear that too.

Sources

I based this article primarily on the companies' own incident disclosures. Both investigations are still developing, so some of what we know may change as more information becomes available.

Anthropic: Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations - published July 30, 2026.
OpenAI: OpenAI and Hugging Face partner to address security incident during model evaluation - published July 21, 2026, with additional updates on July 28 and July 29.

Anthropic has said it plans to release a lightly redacted transcript from the PyPI incident, while OpenAI says a more detailed technical report will follow.

I'll definitely be interested to read both when they're available 😄

🤝 Let's Stay Connected

Place	Find me here
GitHub	building things → hemapriya-kanagala
LinkedIn	resources & updates → hemapriya-kanagala
X	random dev thoughts → @KanagalaHema

Transparency note: I used AI (Gemini) to create the banner image for this article.

Dev Opportunity Radar #10: OpenAI Student Collective, Develop for Good, MLH Global Hack Week & Learning How to Learn

Hemapriya Kanagala — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 16:02:04 +0000

TL;DR

Welcome back to Dev Opportunity Radar.

This is a weekly series where I share opportunities, resources, communities, and interesting finds that I come across, with the goal of helping people discover things they might otherwise miss.

This week's edition features Develop for Good, MLH Global Hack Week: Agents, the OpenAI Student Collective, and Learning How to Learn, a free Coursera course that has helped millions of people become more effective learners.

If you're new to the series, you can now browse previous editions, search past opportunities, and explore Community Finds, Reader Updates, and Resources Worth Checking Out on the Dev Opportunity Radar website. I've also written a short post about why I built it. You'll find links to both at the end of this article.

If you've discovered something through the radar, I'd love to hear about it. Whether you applied to an opportunity, joined a community, completed a program, or found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd be happy to feature your experience in a future 💙 Reader Updates section (with your permission).

And if you've come across an opportunity, resource, community, program, or event that deserves more attention, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature one of your Community Finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

⚡ Quick Scan
🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions
📍 This Week's Opportunities
- 📌 Develop for Good Winter 2027 Student Volunteer Program
- 📌 MLH Global Hack Week: Agents
- 📌 OpenAI Student Collective
📚 Resources Worth Checking Out
- Learning How to Learn (Free Coursera Course)
🌟 Community Finds
- CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
💙 Reader Updates
👋 Until Next Friday
🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

⚡ Quick Scan

Opportunities

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Format	Deadline
Develop for Good Winter 2027	Develop for Good	Student Volunteer Program	Remote	August 31
Global Hack Week: Agents	Major League Hacking (MLH)	Online Hack Week	Remote	August 7 (Event Starts)
OpenAI Student Collective	OpenAI	Campus Leadership Program	In Person (Campus-Based)	August 10

Resource Highlight

Resource	Why Check It Out
Learning How to Learn	A free Coursera course that teaches practical learning strategies, memory techniques, and study habits that can help you learn technical subjects more effectively.

Community Find

Shared By	Find	Type	Format
Francis (@francistrdev)	CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Remote

📝 A quick note: I spend a lot of time researching and verifying every opportunity before featuring it in Dev Opportunity Radar. However, deadlines, eligibility, program details, and application requirements can change after publication. Before applying, please take a few minutes to visit the official program page, review the latest information, and confirm that you're eligible.

🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions

Before we get into this week's opportunities, here are a few from previous editions that are still accepting applications.

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Format	Deadline	Featured In
FR8	FR8	Builder Residency	In Person	Rolling	Edition #2
Anthropic Fellows Program	Anthropic	AI Research Fellowship	In Person	Rolling	Edition #4
Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program	Sentient Foundation	AI Grant & Investment	Remote	Rolling	Edition #6
Solo Grants	Solo Grants	Microgrant for Solo Builders	Remote	Rolling	Edition #7
Claude for Open Source	Anthropic	Open Source Program	Remote	Rolling	Edition #7
The Bridge	Entrepreneurs First	Founder Residency	In Person	August 30	Edition #9
Frontier AI Security Residency	ERA	AI Security Research & Engineering Residency	In Person	August 2	Edition #9
Figma Campus Leader Program 2026–2027	Figma	Student Leadership Program	In Person (Campus-Based)	August 2	Edition #9
AIAF Fellowship 2026	AIAF × AE Studio	AI Research Fellowship	Remote	August 17	Edition #8

📍 This Week's Opportunities

Here are a few opportunities I came across this week that I thought were worth sharing.

📌 Develop for Good Winter 2027 Student Volunteer Program

Who it's for: University students, bootcamp graduates, and recent graduates (with less than two years of full-time work experience) who want to gain real-world product, design, or engineering experience while contributing to nonprofit organizations. International students are welcome, and the program is fully remote.

What stands out: Develop for Good matches students with nonprofit organizations to work on real technology projects over a 16-week virtual program. Participants join cross-functional teams alongside designers, engineers, and product managers, receive mentorship from industry professionals, and build products that support causes like education, healthcare, sustainability, poverty alleviation, disaster relief, and more.

I wanted to include this because one of the biggest challenges early in your career is answering the question, "How do I get experience if every opportunity asks for experience?" Programs like this help bridge that gap. Unlike many volunteer programs, this one is intentionally structured to feel like working on a real product team. Instead of working on another tutorial or personal project, you get to collaborate with a real client, solve real problems, and build something that can become a meaningful portfolio piece.

Another thing I like is how closely the experience mirrors a real software team. Students work through project planning, stakeholder communication, technical collaboration, documentation, and product delivery over four months. Participants can also receive mentorship, recommendation letters, portfolio case studies, and opportunities to network with professionals during Demo Day. For eligible students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds, the Develop for Good Fellows program also provides $1,536 unrestricted cash grants upon successful completion.

Program Duration: 16 weeks (Winter 2027 Batch)

Time Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week

Format: Fully remote

Roles Available: Engineering, Design, Product Management, Technical Management, and Design Management

Who can apply: Applicants aged 18+ who are university students, bootcamp students, or recent graduates with less than two years of full-time work experience. International students are eligible.

Application Deadline: September 15, 2026

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 MLH Global Hack Week: Agents

Who it's for: Students, beginners, aspiring developers, experienced engineers, and anyone interested in learning about AI agents through hands-on challenges. You don't need prior hackathon experience to participate, and the event is open to people around the world.

What stands out: Global Hack Week: Agents is a free, week-long online event hosted by Major League Hacking (MLH) that combines workshops, technical challenges, community activities, and project building around the theme of AI agents. Throughout the week, participants can attend live coding sessions, complete challenges at their own pace, earn points, connect with other builders on Discord, and learn directly from the MLH community.

I wanted to include this because learning about AI agents is becoming increasingly valuable, but it can be difficult to know where to start. This event lowers that barrier by combining guided workshops with practical challenges, making it approachable whether you're experimenting with agents for the first time or looking to build on your existing skills.

Another thing I like is that you don't have to commit to building a full hackathon project over a weekend. Instead, you can participate throughout the week, choose the challenges that interest you, attend live sessions, and learn alongside thousands of developers from around the world. It's a great way to build new skills, meet other developers, and stay motivated without the pressure of a traditional hackathon.

Event Dates: August 7–13, 2026

Format: Fully online

Cost: Free

Who can apply: Anyone, anywhere. All experience levels are welcome, including beginners and non-students. Participants aged 13+ may join with parental permission.

Registration: Open

🔗 Learn More & Register

📌 OpenAI Student Collective

Who it's for: Undergraduate students who enjoy building communities and are excited to help others learn how to use AI tools like ChatGPT and Codex. Students from all majors are encouraged to apply. The program is open to students studying in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, Japan, and South Korea.

What stands out: The OpenAI Student Collective is a new campus leadership program where students work in pairs to build AI communities at their universities. Campus Leads organize workshops, host weekly Studio Hours where students can build projects together, run campus showcases, and help create an environment where anyone curious about AI can learn and experiment.

I wanted to include this because AI communities on campus are growing quickly, but they often depend on a few students taking the initiative to bring people together. This program gives students the support, resources, and funding to create those spaces while helping others become more confident using AI tools.

Another thing I like is that the focus isn't just on teaching ChatGPT or Codex. It's about helping students actually build projects together. Campus Leads receive training, event funding, a ChatGPT subscription, Codex credits, OpenAI swag, a semester stipend, and access to the OpenAI team and a global network of Campus Leads. There are also opportunities to visit OpenAI HQ and connect with other student leaders from around the world.

Program Duration: August 2026 – June 2027

Time Commitment: Approximately 4–6 hours per week

Who can apply: Undergraduate students aged 18 or older who expect to graduate after December 2027. Applicants should be studying in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, Japan, or South Korea.

Application Deadline: August 10, 2026 (11:59 PM PT)

🔗 Learn More & Apply

📚 Resources Worth Checking Out

Not every useful find comes with an application deadline.

Here's one resource worth checking out this week.

Learning How to Learn (Free Coursera Course)

Who it's for: Students, self-taught developers, career changers, and anyone who wants to become better at learning technical subjects like programming, AI, math, or computer science.

What stands out: Learning How to Learn, taught by Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski, is one of Coursera's most popular courses, with over 4 million learners. Instead of teaching a specific programming language or framework, it focuses on something even more valuable: how to learn effectively. The course covers topics like procrastination, memory, focused and diffuse thinking, chunking, learning strategies, and practical techniques you can apply no matter what you're studying.

I wanted to include this because I genuinely found it helpful. I first came across Barbara Oakley through her TEDx talk, which eventually led me to this course. It completely changed the way I thought about learning difficult subjects. Whether you're learning AI, web development, cybersecurity, or preparing for interviews, I think understanding how to learn is one of the best investments you can make.

One thing I especially wanted to share is that you don't have to pay to take the full course. Coursera has a partner-supported free version that gives you access to all the course content. The only thing you don't receive is the certificate, which I think is a great option if you're primarily there to learn.

Course Length: Approximately 2 weeks (around 10 hours)

Cost: Free (certificate optional)

💡 Free Access Tip: You can take the full version of this course for free (without the certificate). On the Coursera course page, scroll all the way down to the FAQ section. Under More Questions, click Partner-supported free access, then select Learn More followed by Continue to enroll. You'll get access to the complete course content without paying for the certificate.

Format: Self-paced online course

🔗 Course | 🔗 TEDx Talk (Optional)

🌟 Community Finds

One of my favorite things about this series has been seeing people share opportunities, communities, and resources that others might not have discovered otherwise.

CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities

🔗 Francis' post

🔗 CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities | 🔗 Edition #6

Thank you to Francis (@francistrdev) for thinking of the radar and sharing this with the community. It really means a lot 💙

I'd love for this section to keep growing.

If you've come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature it in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

One small request: If you're sharing an opportunity, please avoid posting raw URLs directly in the comments. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see them.

A short description alongside the link makes it much easier for me to review and potentially feature it in a future edition.

💙 Reader Updates

I'm looking forward to this section gradually growing over time, and I'd still love to hear from you.

One of my favorite parts of writing Dev Opportunity Radar has been hearing from people who discovered something they otherwise might have missed.

You don't need to have been accepted or have a big success story to share. Sometimes simply discovering the right opportunity at the right time is already a win.

I hope this section gradually becomes a place where we can celebrate those stories together, one update at a time.

👋 Until Next Friday

Before I go, I just want to say thank you.

The goal has always been simple:

Help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

Thanks to all of you, it feels like we're doing exactly that.

Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for helping make this our radar, not just mine.

I'll be back next Friday with more opportunities, resources, and Community Finds.

Until then, take care, and I hope you discover something amazing this week 💙

🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

👉 Website

I also wrote a short post about why I built the website and the journey behind it.

👉 Website Launch Post

From Silent Reader to 25 Articles: What 3 Months on DEV Taught Me + AMA

Hemapriya Kanagala — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:47:04 +0000

📌 TL;DR

Three months ago, I decided to start writing consistently on DEV. Twenty-five articles later, I've learned far more than how to write better.

I've learned that writing is much more enjoyable when you stop chasing numbers, that some of the best conversations begin in the comments, and that finding your voice takes time. More than anything, I've learned that the topics you're most connected to often become the ones only you can write.

If you're new to DEV, or if you're simply curious about my journey, consider this an open Ask Me Anything. Whether you have questions about writing, finding ideas, building a series, engaging with the community, overcoming challenges, or anything else related to your own journey on DEV, I'd be happy to chat.

I definitely don't have all the answers, but if anything I've learned over the past three months can help you in any way, I'd love to share what I know. So feel free to ask me anything in the comments.

Why I Wanted to Write This
From Silent Reader to Writer
Lesson 1: Write Because You Enjoy It
Lesson 2: Comment More Than You Think You Should
Lesson 3: Don't Let Numbers Define Your Journey
Lesson 4: Your Voice Will Change
Lesson 5: Write What You Can Relate To
Lesson 6: Community Makes Ideas Better
Lesson 7: It's Okay to Take a Break
Final Thoughts
Ask Me Anything 💙
🤝 Let's Stay Connected

Why I Wanted to Write This

When I sat down to write this article, I realized it had been almost three months since I started writing consistently on DEV. During that time, I've published 25 articles, and this one makes 26. It's honestly hard to believe how much has happened in such a short time.

I was fortunate enough to have two articles featured in the Top 7, start a series called Dev Opportunity Radar, and eventually launch a website for it. Those are milestones I'm incredibly grateful for, but when I think about these past three months, they aren't the first things that come to mind.

What I remember most are the people. The conversations in the comments, the encouragement when I doubted myself, the community members who shared opportunities that became part of Dev Opportunity Radar, and the readers who reached out to tell me an article helped them or introduced them to something they might have otherwise missed. Those moments have meant more to me than any number ever could.

I don't consider myself an expert. Three months is only a small part of what I hope will be a much longer journey. But these past few months have taught me lessons I wish someone had shared with me when I first started writing. I hope they help someone who's just beginning their own.

From Silent Reader to Writer

When I first joined DEV, I spent much more time reading than writing. I'd browse articles, learn from discussions, and admire the people who confidently shared their experiences and ideas. At the same time, I wasn't sure if I had anything meaningful to contribute myself, so for a long time I stayed a quiet reader.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Every community has people who learn by listening before they feel ready to join the conversation, and I was definitely one of them. Eventually, though, I started leaving comments. Then I shared a few thoughts of my own. Little by little, writing didn't feel quite as intimidating anymore.

English isn't my first language, and even today I still reread my articles wondering if I've explained something clearly enough or whether I've made a mistake. That self-doubt hasn't completely disappeared, and honestly, I don't know if it ever will. What's changed is that I've become a little more comfortable pressing Publish anyway, trusting that every article is another chance to learn and improve.

If I'd waited until I felt completely confident, I probably would have never written that first article at all.

Lesson 1: Write Because You Enjoy It

If there's one lesson that stands out above all the others, it's this: write because you genuinely enjoy writing.

When I first started, my mood on a given day often depended on how an article was doing. I'd refresh and check my views, reactions, and comments more than I probably should have. I think that's completely normal, especially when you're putting something you've worked hard on out into the world. We all hope people will read it and connect with it.

Over time, though, my perspective started to change. I realized that if I only felt happy when an article performed well, I was giving too much control over my enjoyment to something I couldn't control. Views are wonderful. Reactions are wonderful. Being featured is wonderful. I'm incredibly grateful for every single one of those things, but they've become a bonus rather than the reason I write.

Today, when an idea pops into my head, the first question I ask myself isn't, "Will this get a lot of views?" It's, "Is this something I'm excited to write about?" If the answer is yes, I usually end up enjoying the entire process, from researching and writing to reading the conversations that follow.

The articles I'm proudest of aren't always the ones that reached the most people. They're the ones I enjoyed creating, because those are the ones that feel the most like me.

Lesson 2: Comment More Than You Think You Should

If I could only give one piece of advice to someone who's new to DEV, it would be this: don't just write. Read. Comment. Join the conversation.

When I first started becoming more active here, I thought publishing articles would be the biggest part of my journey. Looking back, I don't think that was true. Some of my favorite memories didn't begin when I clicked Publish. They began in the comments.

Over the past three months, I've discovered incredible writers through comment sections, had conversations that made me think differently, and met people I never would have known otherwise. Some of those conversations even inspired future articles, while others introduced me to opportunities, ideas, and perspectives I probably wouldn't have found on my own.

Commenting has also changed the way I read. Instead of quickly scrolling to the next article, I spend more time thinking about what the author is trying to say. If something resonates with me, I try to tell them why. If I learn something new, I let them know. Sometimes it's a simple thank you, and other times it turns into a conversation that continues long after the article itself.

It's easy to think of DEV as a place where people publish articles, but to me it's much more than that. It's a community where people encourage one another, share ideas, celebrate wins, and learn together.

If you're just getting started, don't worry about writing the perfect article on day one. Start by reading what others are sharing. Leave thoughtful comments. Ask questions. Celebrate someone's achievement. Share your perspective when you have something to add. You never know where a single conversation might lead.

Writing brought me to DEV, but the conversations are what made me feel like I belonged here.

Lesson 3: Don't Let Numbers Define Your Journey

Every notification used to feel exciting, and honestly, every time an article didn't perform the way I'd hoped, it was hard not to wonder what I could have done differently. Looking back, I was checking my stats way more than they deserved. I think that's something many of us experience when we start sharing our work publicly.

Over time, though, I realized I was comparing my beginning to someone else's journey. Some writers have been part of the community for years. Some have built an audience over a long period of time. Others have found a niche they're known for. It's not really a fair comparison because everyone's path looks different.

I also realized that numbers don't tell the whole story. An article with fewer views might spark an amazing discussion. A single comment from someone saying your article helped them can mean more than hundreds of extra reactions. Some of my favorite articles haven't necessarily been my most popular ones, and that's completely okay.

These days, I still look at my article stats because I think it's natural to be curious, but they no longer decide whether I consider an article a success. What matters more is whether I enjoyed writing it, whether I learned something through the process, and whether it started a meaningful conversation.

One example of this for me is Dev Opportunity Radar. When I first started the series, I'll admit I hoped it would reach more people than it has so far. There are weeks where I wish it had more views because I believe these opportunities could help more developers. Maybe there are things I can improve, and I'm always trying to learn.

But I've realized something more important: I can't let those numbers decide whether I keep showing up every Friday.

I started Dev Opportunity Radar because I kept discovering amazing fellowships, grants, hackathons, and resources after it was already too late to apply. I didn't want other people to miss those opportunities for the same reason. That purpose hasn't changed just because a particular edition gets fewer views than I hoped.

What's interesting is that the numbers only tell part of the story. If you only looked at the view count, you might think the series isn't doing particularly well. But when I read the comments, it's a completely different picture. People share opportunities I would have never found on my own. They celebrate getting accepted into programs. They suggest improvements, contribute Community Finds, and tell me an edition helped them discover something they would have otherwise missed.

That reminds me that impact isn't always measured by views or reactions. Sometimes it's measured by the conversations you start and the people you help, even when those numbers aren't immediately visible.

Dev Opportunity Radar has changed me more than I expected.

It gave me a reason to show up every Friday and helped me find a place in the community that feels uniquely my own.

Even if only a handful of people read each edition, that's still a handful of people I have the chance to help, and to me, that's reason enough to keep going.

Lesson 4: Your Voice Will Change

One of the biggest misconceptions I had when I started writing was that I needed to figure out my writing style before I could become a consistent writer. I don't think that's how it works at all.

I think you discover your voice by writing. Every article teaches you something new about how you think, what you enjoy writing about, and how you connect with readers. As you keep writing, your confidence grows, your ideas become clearer, and you slowly begin to understand what feels authentic to you.

When I look back at some of my earlier articles, I can already see changes in the way I write. Some things I'd explain differently today, and there are ideas I'd probably approach from a different angle. I don't see that as a bad thing. If anything, it's a sign that I'm learning.

Even today, I don't think I've found my final writing voice, and honestly, I hope I never fully do. I hope it continues to evolve as I learn new things, meet new people, and gain new experiences. To me, that's one of the most exciting parts of writing. Every article becomes another small step in that journey.

So if you're just starting out, don't put too much pressure on yourself to find your "voice" before you begin. Start writing, keep showing up, and give yourself permission to grow. You might be surprised by how much your writing changes a few months from now.

Lesson 5: Write What You Can Relate To

The articles I've enjoyed writing the most all have one thing in common. They came from experiences I could genuinely relate to.

Dev Opportunity Radar is the clearest example. As I mentioned earlier, it grew out of a frustration I'd lived through myself: missing opportunities simply because I found out about them too late. The opportunity itself was rarely the problem. Access to information was.

That experience made me wonder how many other people were missing opportunities for the exact same reason. So I decided to start sharing the fellowships, grants, hackathons, and resources I came across each week, hoping someone else would discover them while there was still time to apply.

It taught me something I keep coming back to. The articles people connect with the most aren't always about the most popular topics. They're often the ones that come from experiences only you have lived, because those experiences give you a perspective nobody else can write in quite the same way.

If I could give one more piece of advice, it would be this: don't spend too much time trying to figure out what everyone else wants you to write. Instead, think about the experiences you've had, the challenges you've faced, the things you've learned, or even the problems you've wished someone had solved for you. Sometimes the best ideas come from asking yourself, "What do I wish I had known a year ago?"

That's still the reason I enjoy putting Dev Opportunity Radar together every Friday. The purpose has always been bigger than the numbers.

Lesson 6: Community Makes Ideas Better

One of the biggest surprises over the past three months is realizing that writing isn't really a solo activity. Every article may begin with one person behind a keyboard, but it rarely ends there.

Every time I press Publish, the article becomes something more because of the people who take the time to read it. Their comments make me think differently. Their questions inspire future articles. Sometimes they share their own experiences, and I end up learning just as much from them as they do from me. That's one of my favorite parts of writing on DEV: every article becomes the beginning of a conversation rather than the end of one.

Dev Opportunity Radar is probably the best example of this. I may be the one putting each edition together, but the series has never really felt like something I build alone. Community Finds was there from the very first edition because I wanted it to be a space where everyone could share opportunities, not just me. Since then, people have continued contributing opportunities I would've otherwise missed, Reader Updates have given people a chance to celebrate their own milestones, and the series has even grown into its own website. It no longer feels like just my series.

It's become something the community helps build every week, and much bigger than I could have built on my own.

Being part of that has changed me in ways I never expected. It's introduced me to incredible people and given me a place in this community that feels uniquely my own.

More than anything else, these past three months have reminded me that communities grow because people choose to contribute in their own way. Some write articles. Some leave thoughtful comments. Some answer questions, share opportunities, or simply encourage someone who's just getting started. Every one of those contributions matters, and together they create the kind of community people want to come back to.

A few people deserve a special mention here. @webdeveloperhyper, @klaudiagrz, @francistrdev, @javz, @technogamerz, @xulingfeng, @csm18, @itsugo and @shubhradev, thank you for always supporting me. On so many of my posts, you show up with a reaction or a comment, and it means a lot every single time. You've become friends at this point, and I always look forward to seeing you around the community.

I know I won't be able to name everyone who's supported me, and there are honestly so many more people who've been part of this in ways big and small. If I've missed your name, please don't take it personally. It's not intentional, and I'm just as grateful to you as to anyone I've named.

And to everyone else who's followed along and kept supporting my work, thank you. Whether you follow me here on DEV, read one article or all 25, left a comment, hit react, or simply read quietly without saying a word, that support means just as much to me. A reaction on a day I wasn't sure about an article has meant just as much as a comment or a message. You've helped shape my experience on DEV far more than you probably realize.

Lesson 7: It's Okay to Take a Break

One thing I've learned over the past three months is that it's okay to take a step back every now and then.

Last week was actually the first week in a while where I didn't publish a new article, apart from Dev Opportunity Radar. It wasn't because I had run out of ideas or because I didn't want to write.

I simply didn't have a topic that I genuinely felt excited about, and I didn't want to force one just for the sake of staying consistent.

If you're just getting started, I do think it helps to have a gentle goal. Maybe that's one article a week or even one every couple of weeks. Having a small target can help you build a routine without making writing feel like another obligation.

That said, I don't think every goal has to be followed perfectly. I usually aim to publish one article a week (apart from Dev Opportunity Radar), but if I don't have an idea that genuinely excites me, I'd rather wait than force something just to stay on schedule. In my experience, the more you write, read, and interact with the community, the more ideas naturally start to appear.

I think there's a lot of pressure online to always be creating, always publishing, and always staying visible. For me, writing has always been something I look forward to, and I'd like to keep it that way.

At the end of the day, we're all human. The hobbies, passions, and projects we care about shouldn't become another source of burnout. If taking a short break means coming back with more excitement and fresh ideas, that's a much healthier approach than forcing yourself to create something your heart isn't really in.

Final Thoughts

Three months ago, I simply wanted to become a better writer. I realize now I gained much more than that.

I became a little more confident every time I pressed Publish, discovered topics I genuinely enjoy writing about, found a community that constantly inspires me, and watched a small idea born from one of my own frustrations grow into something much bigger than I ever imagined.

If there's one thing these past three months have taught me, it's that writing is about so much more than publishing articles. It's about sharing experiences, learning from one another, and becoming part of a community where people genuinely want to see each other succeed. Some of the best parts of this journey didn't begin when I clicked Publish. They began when someone replied, shared their perspective, or simply started a conversation.

I don't know what the next three months will look like, and I hope they surprise me just as much as the last three have. I'm sure my writing will continue to evolve, my interests will change, and hopefully I'll keep finding new ways to contribute to this amazing community.

For now, I'm simply grateful that I decided to press Publish on that first article.

Ask Me Anything 💙

If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading. Writing these articles has taught me a lot, but one of my favorite parts has always been the conversations that happen after I press Publish, so it felt fitting to end this reflection with a conversation too.

Everything I've shared here simply comes from my own experiences over the past few months, and I'm sure there's plenty I still have to learn. So if you're new to DEV, thinking about writing your first article, curious about Dev Opportunity Radar, or even feeling a little nervous about pressing Publish for the first time, feel free to ask me anything. Writing, finding ideas, building a series, engaging with the community, or anything else on your mind. If I know the answer, I'll share it. If I don't, I'll be honest about that too.

I'd also love to hear about your own journey. A lesson you've learned, a tip that's helped you, or something you're excited or nervous about if you're just starting out.

My hope is that the comments become more than a Q&A between you and me, a place where everyone shares stories and lessons that might help someone else just beginning their own.

I'm looking forward to chatting with all of you down there 💙

🤝 Let's Stay Connected

Place	Find me here
GitHub	building things → hemapriya-kanagala
LinkedIn	resources & updates → hemapriya-kanagala
X	random dev thoughts → @KanagalaHema

Dev Opportunity Radar #9: A Fully Funded AI Security Residency, SF Founder Residency, Figma Campus Leaders & More

Hemapriya Kanagala — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:06:55 +0000

TL;DR

Welcome back to Dev Opportunity Radar.

This is a weekly series where I share opportunities, resources, communities, and interesting finds that I come across, with the goal of helping people discover things they might otherwise miss.

This week's edition features The Bridge by Entrepreneurs First, the Frontier AI Security Residency, the Figma Campus Leader Program 2026–2027, and The Missing Semester of Your CS Education, a free MIT course on the tools, workflows, and developer skills that every programmer should know.

If you're new to the series, you can now browse previous editions, search past opportunities, and explore Community Finds and Reader Updates on the Dev Opportunity Radar website. I've also written a short post about why I built it. You'll find links to both at the end of this article.

If you've discovered something through the radar, I'd love to hear about it. Whether you applied to an opportunity, joined a community, or found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd be happy to feature your experience in a future 💙 Reader Updates section (with your permission).

And if you've come across an opportunity, resource, community, program, or event that deserves more attention, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature one of your Community Finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

⚡ Quick Scan
🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions
📍 This Week's Opportunities
- 📌 The Bridge by Entrepreneurs First
- 📌 Frontier AI Security Residency
- 📌 Figma Campus Leader Program 2026–2027
📚 Resources Worth Checking Out
- The Missing Semester of Your CS Education
🌟 Community Finds
- CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
💙 Reader Updates
- ⭐ This Week's Reader Spotlight
- 💬 Share Your Story
👋 Until Next Friday
🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

⚡ Quick Scan

Opportunities

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Deadline
The Bridge	Entrepreneurs First	Founder Residency	August 30
Frontier AI Security Residency	ERA	AI Security Research & Engineering Residency	August 2
Figma Campus Leader Program 2026–2027	Figma	Student Leadership Program	August 2

Resource Highlight

Resource	Why Check It Out
The Missing Semester of Your CS Education	Free MIT course covering Git, shell, debugging, AI-assisted development, and the developer tools every programmer should know.

Community Find

Shared By	Find	Type	Format
Francis (@francistrdev)	CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Remote

📝 A quick note: I spend a lot of time researching and verifying every opportunity before featuring it in Dev Opportunity Radar. However, deadlines, eligibility, program details, and application requirements can change after publication. Before applying, please take a few minutes to visit the official program page, review the latest information, and confirm that you're eligible.

🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions

Before we get into this week's opportunities, here are a few from previous editions that are still accepting applications.

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Deadline	Featured In
FR8	FR8	Builder Residency	Rolling	Edition #2
Anthropic Fellows Program	Anthropic	AI Research Fellowship	Rolling	Edition #4
Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program	Sentient Foundation	AI Grant & Investment	Rolling	Edition #6
Solo Grants	Solo Grants	Microgrant for Solo Builders	Rolling	Edition #7
Claude for Open Source	Anthropic	Open Source Program	Rolling	Edition #7
The Residency	The Residency	Deep-Tech Founder Residency	July 31	Edition #8
AIAF Fellowship 2026	AIAF × AE Studio	AI Research Fellowship	August 17	Edition #8

📍 This Week's Opportunities

Here are a few opportunities I came across this week that I thought were worth sharing.

📌 The Bridge by Entrepreneurs First

Who it's for: Ambitious founders, engineers, researchers, product builders, and future startup CEOs based outside the US who want to build a venture-scale company. You don't need to have a co-founder or even a startup idea before applying.

What stands out: The Bridge is an 8-week, fully funded residency in San Francisco designed for exceptional international founders at the very beginning of their startup journey. Participants live and build together, explore ideas, meet potential co-founders, talk to users, and receive hands-on support from the Entrepreneurs First team.

I wanted to include this because most founder programs expect you to already have a company, traction, or a complete founding team. The Bridge is different. It's designed for people who are still figuring out what to build and who to build it with, while giving them the environment and support to make meaningful progress.

Another thing I like is that the residency is only the beginning. At the end of the eight weeks, teams that demonstrate strong potential can pitch to EF's Investment Committee. Selected teams receive a $250,000 pre-seed investment (in exchange for equity) and continue building in San Francisco for another three months with ongoing support from the EF team.

Duration: 8-week residency (plus an additional 3-month company-building program for funded teams)

Location: San Francisco, California

Cost: Free (housing, workspace, food, and the program are covered)

Who can apply: Exceptional founders based outside the US. You don't need an idea or a co-founder to apply.

Application Deadline: August 30, 2026

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 Frontier AI Security Residency

Who it's for: Security engineers, cybersecurity professionals, hardware and embedded systems specialists, cryptography researchers, AI safety practitioners, and experienced software engineers interested in securing frontier AI systems. Prior research experience is helpful but not required, though the applied track generally expects around five or more years of industry experience.

What stands out: The Frontier AI Security Residency (FASR) is an 8-week, fully funded, in-person research and engineering residency in Cambridge, UK, run by ERA. Residents work on real-world challenges at the intersection of AI security, cybersecurity, and hardware verification, tackling problems such as securing frontier AI systems, verifying AI compute, and building mechanisms that make AI systems more trustworthy and verifiable.

I wanted to include this because most AI programs focus on building more capable models. This residency focuses on something just as important but discussed far less often: making advanced AI systems secure, verifiable, and resilient before their capabilities outpace our ability to protect them. If you're interested in the security side of AI rather than model development, opportunities like this are still relatively rare.

Another thing I like is how comprehensive the support is. The residency covers travel, accommodation, visas, workspace, and meals during working hours, pairs each resident with an experienced mentor and a Research Manager, and culminates in a research symposium where participants present their work. Residents also receive a pro-rated salary (based on an annual rate of £34,125), making it possible to focus entirely on the research without worrying about day-to-day expenses.

Duration: 8 weeks (October 12 – December 4, 2026)

Location: Cambridge, UK (primarily in person)

Funding: Fully funded, including travel, accommodation, visa support, workspace, and meals during working hours. Residents also receive a pro-rated salary.

Who can apply: Applicants worldwide aged 18 or older. The program values demonstrated technical ability over formal credentials. Prior research experience is not required, although the applied track generally expects experienced professionals.

Application Deadline: August 2, 2026

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 Figma Campus Leader Program 2026–2027

Who it's for: University and college students in the United States, Canada, and India who have at least one academic year remaining, actively use Figma, and enjoy building communities around design, creativity, and product development. Students from any major are welcome.

What stands out: The Figma Campus Leader Program gives students the opportunity to become the official Figma ambassadors at their university. Campus Leaders work with the Figma for Education team to grow their campus design community by hosting workshops, events, and creative programs while helping other students learn and use Figma.

I wanted to include this because it's more than a typical campus ambassador program. Rather than focusing on promotion alone, it gives students the resources to build a lasting design community at their university while developing leadership, event planning, and community-building experience that carries well beyond college.

Another thing I like is that India is joining the program for the first time this year, making this a great opportunity for Indian students who previously weren't eligible. Campus Leaders also receive a community budget for events, exclusive mentorship and training, direct access to the Figma team, custom Figma swag, and a complimentary ticket to Config, Figma's annual conference for product builders.

Program Duration: August 2026 – June 2027

Time Commitment: Approximately 2–5 hours per week

Benefits: Community budget, Config ticket, exclusive swag, mentorship, portfolio reviews, training workshops, and direct access to the Figma team.

Who can apply: Students in the United States, Canada, and India with at least one academic year remaining who are active Figma users and passionate about design, creativity, and community building.

Application Deadline: August 2, 2026 (11:59 PM PDT)

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📚 Resources Worth Checking Out

Not every useful find comes with an application deadline.

Here's one resource worth checking out this week.

The Missing Semester of Your CS Education

Who it's for: Computer science students, self-taught developers, early-career software engineers, and anyone who wants to become more confident with the tools they use every day while building software.

What stands out: Every computer science degree teaches things like algorithms, operating systems, databases, and programming languages. But very few teach you how to use the tools you'll spend hours with every single day. That's exactly what The Missing Semester of Your CS Education, created by instructors at MIT, is all about. Instead of focusing on another programming language or framework, the course covers practical topics like the command line, Git, debugging, development environments, SSH, code quality, documentation, packaging, and modern AI-assisted development workflows.

I wanted to include this because I think it's one of those resources that's easy to overlook. We spend so much time trying to learn the latest framework, library, or AI tool that we sometimes forget the skills that make us more productive no matter what we're building.

One thing I really liked is how practical the course is. It's full of the little things experienced developers often take for granted but that can make a huge difference once you learn them. If you've ever wondered how someone is so fast with Git, the terminal, debugging, or navigating a large codebase, there's a good chance they've picked up many of the skills this course teaches.

I also like that the course has continued to evolve alongside the software industry. The latest edition introduces Agentic Coding and naturally incorporates AI-assisted development throughout the lectures, while still emphasizing the fundamentals that every developer should know.

Topics Covered: Shell, development environments, debugging, Git, packaging, code quality, AI-assisted development, documentation, and more.

Cost: Free

Format: Online lectures, notes, and exercises

🔗 Learn More

🌟 Community Finds

One of my favorite things about this series has been seeing people share opportunities, communities, and resources that others might not have discovered otherwise.

CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities

🔗 Francis' post

🔗 CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities | 🔗 Edition #6

Thank you to Francis (@francistrdev) for thinking of the radar and sharing this with the community. It really means a lot 💙

I'd love for this section to keep growing.

If you've come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature it in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

One small request: If you're sharing an opportunity, please avoid posting raw URLs directly in the comments. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see them.

A short description alongside the link makes it much easier for me to review and potentially feature it in a future edition.

💙 Reader Updates

One of my favorite parts of this series is seeing where the opportunities end up. This section is all about celebrating those stories.

⭐ This Week's Reader Spotlight

One of my favorite moments this week came from @anhmtk, who shared that they discovered OpenAI Build Week through Dev Opportunity Radar and were able to submit before the deadline.

They built AgentShare Live-Tester for the Developer Tools track, an OpenClaw workspace agent, and even shared one of the biggest lessons they learned while building. They found that Prompt Caching becomes much more cost-effective once the static prompt exceeds roughly 1,024 tokens, making autonomous agent workflows much cheaper to run.

If you're curious about what they built, you can also check out their Devpost submission.

Seeing readers discover an opportunity, build something, and then come back to share what they learned is exactly what I hoped this series would become.

I always enjoy when readers come back to share not just what they built, but what they learned along the way. Those little lessons often end up helping other developers too.

Thank you, @anhmtk, for sharing your journey and for letting me feature it here. Wishing you the very best with the judging. I'll be rooting for you!

💬 Share Your Story

I'd love for this section to keep growing over time.

If you discovered an opportunity through Dev Opportunity Radar, applied to something, joined a community, attended an event, or simply found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd genuinely love to hear about it.

You don't need to have been accepted or have a big success story to share. Sometimes simply discovering the right opportunity at the right time is already a win.

I hope this section gradually becomes a place where we can celebrate those stories together, one update at a time.

👋 Until Next Friday

Before I go, I just want to say thank you.

The goal has always been simple:

Help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

Thanks to all of you, it feels like we're doing exactly that.

Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for helping make this our radar, not just mine.

I'll be back next Friday with more opportunities, resources, and Community Finds.

Until then, take care, and I hope you discover something amazing this week 💙

🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

👉 Website

I also wrote a short post about why I built the website and the journey behind it.

👉 Website Launch Post

Dev Opportunity Radar #8: $100K OpenAI Build Week, $12K AI Fellowship, Founder Residency & Free AI Dev Course

Hemapriya Kanagala — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:11:03 +0000

TL;DR

Welcome back to Dev Opportunity Radar.

This is a weekly series where I share opportunities, resources, communities, and interesting finds that I come across, with the goal of helping people discover things they might otherwise miss.

This week's edition features OpenAI Build Week, the AIAF Fellowship 2026, The Residency for ambitious deep-tech founders, and AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp, a free hands-on course on AI-native software engineering.

Before we dive in, I wanted to share a small milestone. Dev Opportunity Radar now has its own website 🎉

It makes it easier to browse previous editions, search past opportunities, and explore Community Finds and Reader Updates. I also wrote a short post about why I built it. You'll find links to both at the end of this article.

If you've discovered something through the radar, I'd love to hear about it. With your permission, I may feature your experience in a future 💙 Reader Updates section.

And if you've come across an opportunity, resource, community, program, or event that deserves more attention, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature one of your Community Finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

⚡ Quick Scan
🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions
📍This Week's Opportunities
- 📌 OpenAI Build Week
- 📌 AIAF Fellowship 2026
- 📌 The Residency
📚 Resources Worth Checking Out
- AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp
🌟 Community Finds
- CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
💙 Reader Updates
👋 Until Next Friday
🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

⚡ Quick Scan

Opportunities

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Deadline
OpenAI Build Week	OpenAI × Devpost	AI Hackathon	July 22
AIAF Fellowship 2026	AIAF × AE Studio	AI Research Fellowship	August 17
The Residency	The Residency	Deep-Tech Founder Residency	July 31

Resource Highlight

Resource	Type
AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp	Free, hands-on course on AI-native software engineering using modern AI developer tools and coding agents (Live cohort starts August 31)

Community Find

Shared By	Find	Type	Format
Francis (@francistrdev)	CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Remote

📝 A quick note: I spend a lot of time researching and verifying every opportunity before featuring it in Dev Opportunity Radar. However, deadlines, eligibility, program details, and application requirements can change after publication. Before applying, please take a few minutes to check the official program page for the latest information and confirm that you're eligible.

🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions

Before we get into this week's opportunities, here are a few from previous editions that are still accepting applications.

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Deadline	Featured In
FR8	FR8	Builder Residency	Rolling	Edition #2
Anthropic Fellows Program	Anthropic	AI Research Fellowship	Rolling	Edition #4
Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program	Sentient Foundation	AI Grant & Investment	Rolling	Edition #6
Solo Grants	Solo Grants	Microgrant for Solo Builders	Rolling	Edition #7
Claude for Open Source	Anthropic	Open Source Program	Rolling	Edition #7

📍 This Week's Opportunities

Here are a few opportunities I came across this week that I thought were worth sharing.

📌 OpenAI Build Week

Who it's for: Developers, builders, students, and teams interested in creating AI-powered applications using GPT-5.6 and Codex. Whether you're building a consumer app, developer tool, workflow, or educational project, there's a track for a wide range of ideas.

What stands out: OpenAI Build Week is a global online hackathon centered around building with GPT-5.6 and Codex, the coding agent now available in ChatGPT. Participants receive free Codex credits (subject to the registration timeline), build a working project, and submit it across one of four tracks: Apps for Your Life, Work & Productivity, Developer Tools, or Education.

I wanted to include this because it isn't just another hackathon with cash prizes. It's an opportunity to experiment with OpenAI's latest developer tools, build something end-to-end, and showcase your work to engineers and product teams working on the platform itself.

Another thing I like is that submissions require more than just working code. Participants are encouraged to explain their technical decisions, document how they used Codex and GPT-5.6, provide a public repository, and include a demo video, making it a great exercise in both engineering and communication.

Tracks: Apps for Your Life, Work & Productivity, Developer Tools, Education

Prize Pool: $100,000

Who can participate: Eligible participants from supported countries and territories who have reached the legal age of majority in their country of residence.

Submission Deadline: July 22, 2026

🔗 Learn More & Register

📌 AIAF Fellowship 2026

Who it's for: Developers, researchers, graduate students, and independent ML practitioners with a strong technical background who are interested in AI alignment research. Applicants should be comfortable implementing machine learning experiments, working independently, and have demonstrated research experience through projects, papers, hackathons, or similar work.

What stands out: The AIAF Fellowship is an 8-week, fully remote, full-time research program run by AIAF in partnership with AE Studio. Selected fellows receive a $12,000 stipend, cloud compute resources, mentorship from experienced AI alignment researchers, and the opportunity to work on real technical research problems rather than predefined coursework.

I wanted to include this because fellowships focused on AI alignment are still relatively uncommon, especially ones that combine structured mentorship, industry-style research practices, and financial support. Rather than completing isolated exercises, fellows contribute to active research directions alongside dedicated research managers and experienced researchers.

Another thing I like is that the program places a strong emphasis on producing tangible research outputs. Each team works toward publishing a LessWrong post and, where appropriate, a research paper, before presenting their work during a Demo Day at the end of the fellowship.

Stipend: $12,000

Duration: 8 weeks (Full-time)

Format: Fully remote (Hybrid Demo Day in Los Angeles with travel covered for attendees)

Who can apply: Applicants from any country with strong machine learning skills and a genuine interest in technical AI alignment research.

Application Deadline: August 17, 2026 (AoE)

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 The Residency

Who it's for: Founders, researchers, and ambitious builders working on deep-tech ideas who want to spend several months focused full-time on building alongside a community of like-minded people. Applicants should be ready to commit full-time, as the residency is not designed to be completed alongside school or a full-time job.

What stands out: The Residency is a 3-month, in-person founder residency that provides housing, coworking space, mentorship, and a community of builders so participants can focus entirely on their projects. The upcoming Fall 2026 cohort also includes up to $50,000 in compute credits, legal and immigration support, wellness resources, and a dedicated venture partner.

I wanted to include this because it's designed around something many founders struggle with: finding uninterrupted time to build. Instead of offering only funding or mentorship, the residency aims to remove many of the practical distractions by taking care of housing and day-to-day logistics while surrounding participants with other ambitious builders.

Another thing I like is its emphasis on community. Beyond mentorship and resources, the program encourages collaboration through shared living, weekly coaching sessions, Demo Day, and introductions to experienced founders and investors. It feels less like a traditional accelerator and more like an environment built for people who want to spend a season going all-in on a difficult problem.

Duration: Approximately 3 months

Format: In person

What's included: Housing, coworking space, mentorship, up to $50,000 in compute credits, legal and immigration support, wellness resources, and Demo Day opportunities.

Who can apply: Founders, researchers, and builders working on ambitious deep-tech projects.

Application Deadline: July 31, 2026

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📚 Resources Worth Checking Out

Not every useful find comes with an application deadline.

Here's one resource worth checking out this week.

AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp

Who it's for: Developers, software engineers, data professionals, and technical students who already have basic programming experience and want to learn how to use modern AI coding tools as part of a disciplined software development workflow.

What stands out: AI Dev Tools Zoomcamp is a free, hands-on course that focuses on practical AI-assisted software engineering. Rather than teaching prompt engineering or model training, it covers real development workflows, from planning and coding to testing, deployment, security, and CI/CD, using modern AI developer tools and coding agents.

I wanted to include this because it takes a very practical approach to AI-assisted development. Instead of treating AI as a replacement for software engineering, the course emphasizes using AI responsibly while maintaining engineering discipline through code reviews, testing, documentation, and deployment.

Another thing I like is that you can complete the course in two different ways. You can learn at your own pace using all of the free materials, or join the live cohort, which starts August 31, 2026.

The live cohort doesn't mean sitting through live lectures. The lessons are still pre-recorded. What makes it different is the structured experience: shared deadlines, graded homework, peer review, a leaderboard, community support, and eligibility for a certificate after completing the final project. If you're someone who learns better with accountability and a community of learners, the live cohort offers a more engaging experience than simply watching videos on your own.

By the end of the course, you'll build and deploy your own AI-assisted software project while learning modern development practices around coding agents, MCP, testing, Docker, CI/CD, deployment, security, and documentation.

Cost: Free

Format: Online

Live Cohort Starts: August 31, 2026

Best for: Developers who want practical experience using AI coding tools in real software engineering workflows.

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Live Cohort Registration

🌟 Community Finds

One of my favorite things about this series has been seeing people share opportunities, communities, and resources that others might not have discovered otherwise.

CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities

🔗 Francis' post

🔗 CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities | 🔗 Edition #6

Thank you to Francis (@francistrdev) for thinking of the radar and sharing this with the community. It really means a lot 💙

I'd love for this section to keep growing.

If you've come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature it in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

One small request: If you're sharing an opportunity, please avoid posting raw URLs directly in the comments. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see them.

A short description alongside the link makes it much easier for me to review and potentially feature it in a future edition.

💙 Reader Updates

I'm looking forward to this section gradually growing over time, and I'd still love to hear from you.

One of my favorite parts of writing Dev Opportunity Radar has been hearing from people who discovered something they otherwise might have missed.

You don't need to have been accepted or have a big success story to share. Sometimes simply discovering the right opportunity at the right time is already a win.

I hope this section gradually becomes a place where we can celebrate those stories together, one update at a time.

👋 Until Next Friday

Before I go, I just want to say thank you.

When I published the very first edition of Dev Opportunity Radar, I simply hoped it would help a few people discover opportunities they might otherwise have missed.

Eight editions later, the series has grown into something I never imagined when I published that first edition. What started as a weekly series has gradually grown into a community project, and this week, that journey reached another small milestone with the launch of the Dev Opportunity Radar website.

That milestone wouldn't have happened without this community.

From the very beginning, you've shared opportunities, suggested resources, contributed Community Finds, celebrated each other's wins, and encouraged me to keep the series going. Every comment, suggestion, and kind message has helped shape Dev Opportunity Radar into what it is today.

I also want to say a special thank you to the DEV Community. This series has always been supported by the community here, and without that support, it simply wouldn't exist in the way it does today. Whether you've been here since the first edition or just discovered the series today, thank you for being part of the journey. It truly means a lot.

One of my favorite things about this series is seeing it become more collaborative with every edition. Community Finds and Reader Updates remind me that this isn't just about sharing opportunities. It's about celebrating discoveries, learning from one another, and helping more people discover things they might otherwise have missed.

The goal of this series hasn't changed:

Help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

My hope is that, with every edition, we help a few more people discover the opportunity that could make a difference for them.

Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for helping make this our radar, not just mine.

Here's to many more editions, many more opportunities, and many more people discovering them.

I'll be back next Friday with more opportunities, resources, and Community Finds.

See you next Friday 👋

🌐 Dev Opportunity Radar Website

👉 Website

I also wrote a short post about why I built the website and the journey behind it.

👉 Website Launch Post

I Finally Built the Dev Opportunity Radar Website ❤️

Hemapriya Kanagala — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:23:31 +0000

This is a submission for Weekend Challenge: Passion Edition

📌 TL;DR

I found this challenge on the very last day, so I knew I probably wouldn't finish before the submission deadline. That means I don't expect this project to be considered, but I still wanted to finish it because this challenge gave me the push I needed to finally build something I'd been planning for weeks.

The result is the first version of the Dev Opportunity Radar website. I built it with the help of Google AI Studio, and later in this post I've shared exactly how I used AI throughout the project.

It's not replacing the weekly DEV editions. Those are still the heart of the project and will continue every Friday. This website simply makes everything easier to browse, search, and revisit as the series continues to grow.

Even if this submission isn't eligible, I'm genuinely grateful to the DEV Team for creating the challenge. Without it, I probably would have kept saying, "I'll build the website next week." Instead, I finally did, and I'm really happy I can now share it with all of you 💙

What I Built
Demo
Code
How I Built It
AI Usage
What I Learned
I'd Love Your Feedback
Thank You

What I Built

If you've been following Dev Opportunity Radar, you probably know that every Friday I publish a new edition on DEV where I share grants, fellowships, hackathons, startup programs, learning resources, open source initiatives, communities, and other opportunities that I come across while researching. The goal has always been simple:

Help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

As the series grew, I started noticing something. After seven editions, there were already more than thirty opportunities and resources spread across multiple articles. Every new edition made the collection more valuable, but it also made it harder for someone to go back and find something they'd seen before. Maybe they remembered a fellowship but couldn't remember which edition it was in. Maybe they were only interested in hackathons or wanted to browse learning resources. Finding those opportunities meant opening several DEV posts and searching through each one.

That's when I realized Dev Opportunity Radar needed something more than a weekly article. It needed a place where everything could live together in a way that was easy to browse, search, and revisit.

So I built the Dev Opportunity Radar website.

Looking back, I think that's what this challenge was really about for me. It wasn't just building a website. It was finally making time for a project I'd genuinely cared about for a long time.

I do want to make one thing very clear though, because it's important to me. This website is not replacing the weekly DEV editions. Those editions are still the heart of the project, and I'll continue publishing a new one every Friday just as I always have. The website simply complements them by making it easier to explore previous editions, discover opportunities by category, search for something specific, and find new additions without having to jump between multiple articles.

While building it, I wanted to think beyond just the opportunities themselves. That's why I also created pages like Start Here, About, My Philosophy, FAQ, Community Finds, Reader Updates, and the complete archive of every edition. My hope is that whether someone has been reading since Edition #1 or has only just discovered Dev Opportunity Radar today, they'll feel welcome and find it easy to explore everything the project has to offer.

More than anything, I wanted the website to reflect the same care that goes into writing each weekly edition. Something simple, accessible, easy to navigate, and built with the community in mind.

Demo

If you'd prefer to open it in a new tab, bookmark it for later, or come back to it after reading this post, you can visit it here: https://devopportunityradar.ai.studio

Code

hemapriya-kanagala / dev-opportunity-radar

Helping developers discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

Dev Opportunity Radar Website

Helping people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

The Dev Opportunity Radar website is the home of the project.

Every Friday, I publish a new edition of Dev Opportunity Radar on DEV Community, where I share grants, fellowships, hackathons, startup programs, learning resources, open source initiatives, communities, and other opportunities that I think deserve more attention.

As the series continued to grow, I realized it was becoming harder for readers to find opportunities from previous editions. Someone might remember a fellowship but not the edition it appeared in. Someone else might only be interested in hackathons, while another person wanted to browse learning resources.

I wanted to make that experience easier.

That's why I built this website.

It brings every edition together in one place and makes it easier to browse opportunities, search previous editions, discover Community Finds, celebrate Reader Updates, and explore everything the…

View on GitHub

How I Built It

I'll be honest, I only found out about this challenge on the very last day.

By then, I knew there probably wasn't enough time to build everything before the submission deadline. At first, I almost decided not to participate. Then I remembered that I'd been telling myself for weeks that I wanted to build a website for Dev Opportunity Radar. This challenge ended up being the push I needed to finally stop thinking about it and start building.

Because time was so limited, I used Google AI Studio to help develop the website. I want to be completely transparent about that, and I've explained in more detail how I used AI in the next section.

As I started building, I realized this project was much bigger than I had imagined. Dev Opportunity Radar had already reached seven editions, with more than thirty opportunities and resources, Community Finds, Reader Updates, and several pages I wanted to include, like About, My Philosophy, FAQ, and Start Here. Organizing all of that into a website that felt simple and easy to navigate took far more thought than I expected.

A lot of my time wasn't spent adding features. It was spent making decisions.

How should someone who has never heard of Dev Opportunity Radar understand the project within a few seconds? How should opportunities be organized so they're easy to browse? What happens if someone searches for something and there aren't any results? How can the website stay welcoming instead of feeling cluttered? How do I make sure it works well on different devices and is accessible to as many people as possible?

Those were the kinds of questions I kept coming back to while building.

Looking back, I'm actually really glad I built the website now instead of waiting. If I had continued publishing weekly editions without creating a proper home for everything, organizing all of those opportunities later would have become much more difficult. Starting at seven editions already felt like a lot of work, so I'm thankful this challenge gave me the motivation to begin before the project grew even bigger.

AI Usage

Since this challenge allows the use of AI, I wanted to be completely transparent about how I used it while building this project.

The website was developed with the help of Google AI Studio. I also used AI to proofread and improve some of the writing on the website. English isn't my first language, so I sometimes rely on AI to help me fix grammar, improve clarity, or make sure what I'm trying to say reads naturally.

I know AI-assisted development is a topic that people have different opinions on, and I completely respect that. Some people love using it, while others prefer not to, and I think both viewpoints are valid.

For me, AI wasn't a replacement for thinking or making decisions. It was a tool that helped me build and iterate faster, especially since I only discovered this challenge on the last day.

The part that took the most time wasn't asking AI to generate code. It was thinking through the experience I wanted to create. Deciding how the information should be organized, how someone new would understand the project, how the website could stay simple as more editions are published, how to make it accessible, and how to make sure it felt welcoming instead of overwhelming. I spent a lot of time refining those decisions, rewriting content, reorganizing pages, and making small improvements until everything felt right.

I wanted to be open about all of this because transparency matters to me. Whether someone chooses to use AI or not is a personal decision, but I believe it's important to be honest about how it was used.

What I Learned

Building this website reminded me that creating something people genuinely enjoy using isn't only about adding features. A lot of the work happens in the small decisions that most people never notice.

I found myself spending a surprising amount of time thinking about the wording of a button, the order of sections on a page, what someone should see first, how an empty search result should feel, and how to make sure the website never became overwhelming. Those details might seem small on their own, but together they shape the entire experience.

I think that's one of my favorite parts of building. Not just making something that works, but making something that feels thoughtful and easy to use. I hope that care comes across when you explore the website.

I'd Love Your Feedback

This is only the first version of the website, and I know there's still plenty of room to improve.

If you have any suggestions, notice something that could work better, or have an idea for a feature that would genuinely make discovering opportunities easier, I'd really love to hear from you. Some of the best improvements to Dev Opportunity Radar have come from conversations with the community, and I'd love for the website to grow the same way.

My goal isn't to add features for the sake of it. I'd much rather spend time building things that are actually useful and make the experience better for everyone.

Thank You

Before I wrap up, I just want to say thank you.

Thank you to the DEV Team for creating this challenge. Even though I discovered it on the very last day, it ended up being exactly the motivation I needed to finally build something I'd been thinking about for weeks.

And thank you to everyone who's supported Dev Opportunity Radar since the very first edition.

Whether you've shared an opportunity, suggested a resource, left a thoughtful comment, pointed out something I missed, or simply taken a few minutes to read an edition each Friday, you've helped shape this project more than you probably realize.

This website may have been built by one person, but it certainly doesn't feel like a one-person project. The encouragement and support from this community have been a huge part of why I've kept going, and I'm genuinely grateful for that.

I hope this website makes discovering opportunities a little easier, and I hope it becomes a place you'll enjoy coming back to as the project continues to grow.

As always, thank you for reading, thank you for your support, and thank you for being part of this journey.

See you this Friday with Dev Opportunity Radar #8 💙

Transparency note: I used AI to help check my grammar and make sure I was expressing my thoughts clearly. English isn't my first language, so sometimes I know what I want to say but need a little help making sure the wording comes across correctly. The ideas, experiences, and perspectives in this article are my own.

Dev Opportunity Radar #7: $1,000 Solo Grants, Free Claude Max for Open Source Contributors, and an MLH Hackathon

Hemapriya Kanagala — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:49:32 +0000

TL;DR

Welcome back to Dev Opportunity Radar.

This is a weekly series where I share opportunities, resources, communities, and interesting finds that I come across, with the goal of helping people discover things they might otherwise miss.

This week's edition includes microgrants for solo builders, Anthropic's Claude for Open Source program, the Midnight Hackathon, and The Odin Project, one of the most popular free resources for learning full-stack web development.

If you're new to the series, or missed a previous edition, you'll find the Dev Opportunity Radar Archive at the end of this article, where every edition, Community Find, and helpful link is collected in one place.

As always, if you've discovered an opportunity through the radar, applied to something, joined a community, attended an event, or simply found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd love to hear about it. With your permission, I may feature your experience in a future 💙 Reader Updates section and tag you.

And if you've come across an opportunity, resource, community, program, or event that deserves more attention, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature one of your Community Finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

Quick Scan
Still Open From Previous Editions
This Week's Opportunities
- Solo Grants
- Claude for Open Source
- Midnight Hackathon
Resources Worth Checking Out
- The Odin Project
Community Finds
Reader Updates
Until Next Friday
Dev Opportunity Radar Archive

⚡ Quick Scan

Opportunities

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Deadline
Solo Grants	Solo Grants	Microgrant for Solo Builders	Rolling
Claude for Open Source	Anthropic	Open Source Program	Rolling
Midnight Hackathon	Midnight × MLH	Online Hackathon	July 17

Resource Highlight

Resource	Type
The Odin Project	Free, open-source full-stack web development curriculum with hands-on projects

📝 A quick note: I spend a lot of time researching and verifying every opportunity before featuring it in Dev Opportunity Radar. However, deadlines, eligibility, and program details can change after publication. Before applying, please take a few minutes to check the official program page for the latest information and requirements.

🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions

Before we get into this week's opportunities, here are a few from previous editions that are still accepting applications.

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Deadline	Featured In
FR8	FR8	Builder Residency	Rolling	Edition #2
Anthropic Fellows Program	Anthropic	AI Research Fellowship	Rolling	Edition #4
AWS All Builders Welcome Grant	AWS	Fully Funded Conference Grant	July 14, 2026	Edition #5
Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program	Sentient Foundation	AI Grant & Investment	Rolling	Edition #6
APAC Stellar Hackathon	Stellar	Online Hackathon	July 15, 2026	Edition #6

📍 This Week's Opportunities

Here are a few opportunities I came across this week that I thought were worth sharing.

📌 Solo Grants

Who it's for: Anyone, anywhere in the world working on a solo project they genuinely care about, whether it's software, hardware, research, an open source project, a creative idea, or something that doesn't fit neatly into a category.

What stands out: Solo Grants offers $100 to $1,000 to help cover the costs of building your project. That could be compute credits, hardware, materials, APIs, PCBs, software, or whatever is standing between your idea and a working prototype.

I wanted to include this because it feels refreshingly different from many funding programs. There are no pitch decks, no equity, no accelerator, and no expectation that your project becomes a startup. Sometimes all that's standing between an idea and a working prototype is a few hundred dollars. That's exactly the gap this grant is designed to fill.

Another thing I like is that applications are open worldwide and reviewed on a rolling basis. Instead of competing for a single cohort, you can apply whenever your project is ready.

Funding: $100 to $1,000

Who can apply: Anyone, anywhere in the world

Application: Rolling

Timeline: Successful applicants typically hear back within about 10 days.

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 Claude for Open Source

Who it's for: Open-source maintainers, library authors, core contributors, and active contributors who have made a meaningful impact on the open-source ecosystem.

What stands out: Anthropic is offering six months of Claude Max (20×) at no cost to eligible open-source contributors. The program is designed to support the people building and maintaining the libraries, frameworks, and tools that thousands of developers rely on every day.

I wanted to include this because open-source maintainers often contribute an enormous amount of time behind the scenes while receiving very little in return. Access to more capable AI tooling can help with everything from debugging and documentation to reviewing pull requests and exploring new ideas.

The eligibility requirements are fairly specific, but Anthropic also encourages maintainers who don't fit every listed criterion to apply if they believe their project provides meaningful value to the ecosystem.

What's included: Six months of Claude Max (20×)

Who can apply: Eligible open-source maintainers and contributors

Application: Rolling

🔗 Learn More & Apply

📌 Midnight Hackathon

Who it's for: Anyone interested in building practical applications that give users more control over their personal data. Students, professionals, and first-time hackathon participants are all welcome.

What stands out: Midnight and Major League Hacking (MLH) are hosting a 48-hour online hackathon focused on building privacy-first applications. One thing I particularly like is that you don't need prior blockchain experience to participate. The organizers provide learning resources and encourage practical ideas over complex implementations.

I wanted to include this because privacy is becoming an increasingly important part of modern software, and this hackathon offers a beginner-friendly way to explore that space while building alongside developers from around the world.

Even if you've never built anything related to blockchain before, this looks like a welcoming place to get started.

Dates: July 17–19, 2026

Format: Online

Who can participate: Students, professionals, and developers aged 13+

🔗 Learn More & Register

📚 Resources Worth Checking Out

Not every useful find comes with an application deadline.

Here's one resource worth checking out this week.

The Odin Project

If you're looking to learn web development but aren't sure where to start, The Odin Project is one of the best free resources available.

Instead of focusing only on videos, it takes a hands-on approach. You'll learn by building projects as you work through topics like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Git, React, Node.js, databases, and more. Along the way, you'll also build a portfolio that showcases what you've learned.

I wanted to include this because it's one of those resources that many developers recommend again and again. It's completely free, open source, and community-driven, making it a great option for anyone who prefers learning by building rather than just watching tutorials.

Another thing I like is that you're not learning alone. The Odin Project has an active Discord community where learners can ask questions, get feedback, and help each other along the way.

Cost: Free

Best for: Beginners and aspiring full-stack web developers who want a structured, project-based learning path.

🔗 Learn More

🌟 Community Finds

Even though I don't have a new Community Find to feature this week, I still wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who's shared opportunities over the past few editions.

Last week's edition featured CALEC, a collection of remote volunteer and internship opportunities shared by @francistrdev. I hadn't come across it before, so it was a great reminder of why I enjoy this section so much.

One of my favorite parts of this series has been seeing readers share opportunities, communities, and resources that others might not have discovered otherwise. It's gradually becoming a community effort, and I really appreciate everyone who's taken the time to contribute.

If you missed last week's Community Find, it's worth checking out in Edition #6.

If you've come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature it in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

One small request: If you're sharing an opportunity, please avoid posting raw URLs directly in the comments. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see them.

A short description alongside the link makes it much easier for me to review and potentially feature it in a future edition.

💙 Reader Updates

I'm looking forward to this section gradually growing over time, and I'd still love to hear from you.

One of my favorite parts of writing Dev Opportunity Radar has been hearing from people who discovered something they otherwise might have missed.

You don't need to have been accepted or have a big success story to share. Sometimes simply discovering the right opportunity at the right time is already a win.

I hope this section gradually becomes a place where we can celebrate those stories together, one update at a time.

👋 Until Next Friday

Before I go, I just want to say thank you.

When I published the very first edition of Dev Opportunity Radar, I simply hoped it would help a few people discover opportunities they might otherwise have missed.

Since then, people have shared Community Finds, suggested opportunities for future editions, and even let me know when they discovered or applied to opportunities through the radar.

Seeing people contribute opportunities, recommend resources, encourage one another, and celebrate each other's wins has been one of the most rewarding parts of putting this series together. It reminds me that the radar is becoming more than just a weekly roundup. It's gradually becoming something we're building together.

If you come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, I'd love to hear about it. Every Community Find starts with someone deciding to share something they think others might benefit from discovering.

And if you discovered something through the radar, whether you applied to an opportunity, joined a community, attended an event, or simply found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd love to hear about that too. With your permission, I may feature your experience in a future 💙 Reader Updates section and tag you so other readers can celebrate your journey as well.

The goal of this series hasn't changed:

Help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

My hope is that this slowly becomes our radar, not just mine.

Every opportunity shared, every Community Find, and every Reader Update helps make it a little better.

Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for being part of the journey.

If you'd like to catch future editions, consider following me on DEV and bookmarking the series.

I'll be back next Friday with more opportunities, resources, and Community Finds.

See you next Friday 👋

🗂️ Dev Opportunity Radar Archive

If this is your first time discovering the series, you can browse previous editions and Community Finds here:

👉 Dev Opportunity Radar Archive

Every edition, Community Find, and helpful link is collected there, so if you ever miss an edition, you'll know exactly where to find it.

Your Career Matters. So Does the Person Building It.

Hemapriya Kanagala — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:50:31 +0000

TL;DR

Tech has taught me many things over the years. It taught me how to learn new technologies, build projects, apply for opportunities, and keep growing. What it didn't teach me was something that turned out to be just as important: how to take care of myself while doing all of those things.

For a long time, I believed I would slow down later. Later, when life became less busy. Later, after the next project. Later, after the next opportunity. The problem was that "later" never seemed to arrive.

It took an unexpected pause in my own life to realize that building a successful career means very little if we forget to take care of the person trying to build it. Looking back, I don't see that experience only as a difficult chapter. It changed the way I think about success, growth, and what it means to build a career that's sustainable.

Today, I still love learning, building, writing, and chasing opportunities. None of that has changed. What has changed is the realization that taking care of myself isn't something separate from my career. It's one of the reasons I'll be able to keep building it for years to come.

Along the way, I also realized that many of the things that truly support us are easy to overlook. Rest, movement, nourishing ourselves well, meaningful relationships, and simply checking in on the people around us often receive far less attention than the next framework, project, or milestone, even though they make everything else possible.

More than anything, I wanted to write this because I care deeply about this community. I hope none of us have to wait until life forces us to slow down before remembering to take care of ourselves. I hope we build careers we're proud of, but I hope we also build lives we're able to enjoy.

This isn't an article about productivity or health advice. It's simply a reflection on something I wish I had understood earlier.

Your career matters. So does the person building it.

I'd also love to hear your story. Has there been a moment that changed the way you think about your career or your health? Or is there a habit that's helped you build a career that's both meaningful and sustainable? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments.

The Conversation I Wish We Had More Often in Tech
The Pause I Never Expected
The Career I Was Building
The Small Things I No Longer Take for Granted
Why I Wanted to Share This
I'd Love to Hear Your Story
🤝 Let's Stay Connected

The Conversation I Wish We Had More Often in Tech

One of the reasons I love tech is that there's always something new to discover. Every week brings a new framework, another AI model, an interesting research paper, an open-source project, or an opportunity to learn something I didn't know yesterday. That constant sense of growth is one of the things that drew me to this field in the first place, and it's still one of the things I enjoy most about it.

As exciting as that is, I've noticed something over the years. Throughout my journey, I've heard countless conversations about becoming a better developer. I've learned how to prepare for interviews, improve my projects, write cleaner code, build a stronger portfolio, stay relevant, and keep learning. Those conversations have helped me tremendously, and I'm genuinely grateful for them.

Looking back, though, I realize there was another conversation I rarely heard.

We spend so much time talking about how to build better developers, but much less time talking about how to stay healthy enough to enjoy the careers we're working so hard to build.

I don't think that's because people don't care. Rather, I think it's because the pace of tech rarely slows down on its own. There's always another technology to explore, another project to finish, another opportunity to apply for, another skill to learn, and another reason to tell ourselves that we'll rest once this one thing is over. Without realizing it, we begin to believe that slowing down is something we'll eventually get around to.

I certainly believed that. I kept telling myself "later" would come on its own. I never stopped long enough to question whether it actually would.

Eventually, life chose that pause for me instead.

The Pause I Never Expected

When I say that life chose that pause for me, I don't mean I suddenly decided it was time to slow down. It wasn't part of my plan. If anything, I probably would have kept going. I genuinely believed that I could keep pushing for a little longer. There was always something waiting for my attention, another opportunity to prepare for, another project I wanted to build, another article I wanted to write, or another goal I wanted to reach. Like many people in tech, I had convinced myself that taking a break was something I would do after I had accomplished just one more thing.

Instead, life had other plans.

Without sharing too much, I went through a period that forced me to stop and look at everything differently. It wasn't something I expected, and it certainly wasn't something I wanted. For the first time in a long time, I couldn't keep running at the pace I had become used to. At first, I saw that pause as an interruption. I kept thinking about everything I wasn't doing, the opportunities I might miss, the projects that would have to wait, and the plans that suddenly felt uncertain. It was frustrating because it felt like life had pressed pause while everyone else was still moving forward.

But something unexpected happened during that time.

As the weeks passed, I started noticing things I hadn't paid attention to before. I realized how easy it had become to measure my progress only by what I was building, learning, or achieving. Somewhere along the way, I had become very good at taking care of my projects, my work, and my career, but I hadn't been nearly as intentional about taking care of myself.

Looking back now, I don't see that period as time I lost. In a strange way, I think it gave me something I didn't know I needed. It reminded me that there's a person behind every project, every article, every application, every opportunity, and every late night spent learning something new.

That person deserves the same care and attention as the career they're trying to build.

I sometimes wonder whether I would have learned that lesson if life hadn't forced me to stop. Honestly, I'm not sure I would have. As difficult as that experience was, I'm grateful for what it taught me, and I just wish I hadn't needed a forced pause to understand something so important.

The Career I Was Building

After that experience, I found myself thinking about something I had never really questioned before.

What kind of career was I actually trying to build?

For a long time, my answer would have been simple. I wanted to keep learning, build meaningful projects, contribute to the community, write more, and make the most of every opportunity that came my way. Those goals haven't changed. They're still important to me, and I still enjoy working towards them. What changed was how I started defining success.

Somewhere along the way, I had convinced myself that making progress always meant doing more. Learning more, building more, applying for more opportunities, and saying yes whenever something exciting came along. I rarely stopped to ask whether I was building a career that I would actually be able to enjoy years down the line. That question stayed with me because, when I looked back, I realized something surprisingly simple.

What is the point of building something meaningful if we don't take care of ourselves enough to be there and enjoy it?

Looking back, I don't think I was intentionally neglecting my health. I simply wasn't paying enough attention to it. It wasn't a conscious decision. It was just a pattern that slowly became normal, and I didn't notice it until I was forced to.

That experience changed the way I think about growth. I no longer believe that constantly pushing harder is the only way to grow. Instead, I want to build a career that's sustainable, one where I can keep learning and creating without forgetting to take care of myself along the way.

I don't think I've found the perfect balance, and honestly, I'm not sure there is one. I'm still learning, just in a different way now.

I'm learning that taking care of myself isn't something separate from my career. It's one of the reasons I'll be able to keep building it for years to come.

The Small Things I No Longer Take for Granted

One of the biggest changes wasn't that I suddenly became an expert at taking care of myself. It was that I started paying attention.

Before all of this, I rarely stopped to think about the small things that quietly supported everything else in my life. I assumed my body would simply keep up with whatever I asked of it. If there was another deadline, another article to write, or another project I wanted to finish, I would find a way to make it work.

Looking back, I don't think I was doing anything unusual. I think I was doing what many of us in tech do. We become so focused on building our careers that we slowly stop noticing the foundation those careers are built on.

Today, I think about those things very differently. I try to move a little more during the day because I've realized how much of my life happens sitting behind a screen. I pay more attention to what I'm eating, not because I'm chasing some perfect routine, but because I want to give my body what it needs to keep showing up for the things I care about. I try to protect my sleep because I've learned that I'm not doing my best work when I'm constantly running on empty.

None of these habits are extraordinary, and I certainly don't get them right every day. I'm still learning, and some days are better than others. What changed wasn't that I found the perfect routine. What changed was realizing that taking care of myself isn't something I do after work is finished. It's something that allows me to keep doing the work I love in the first place.

Another change surprised me just as much.

I became more intentional about checking in on the people around me. One thing that experience taught me is that we rarely know what someone else is carrying. The person celebrating a new opportunity online might also be dealing with something they'll never post about. The colleague who always seems positive might be quietly having a difficult week. The friend who says they're "fine" might simply need someone to ask again.

That's why I've come to believe that a simple message asking, "How have you been?" can matter far more than we realize. It's easy to assume everyone is doing okay because that's often what we see online. The truth is, many of the hardest battles are invisible, and sometimes the smallest act of kindness is simply letting someone know they're not alone.

More than anything, I stopped seeing health as something I would think about later. I started seeing it as something that makes everything else possible. The ability to learn, create, write, solve problems, build projects, and chase opportunities doesn't exist separately from our health. It depends on it.

The more I reflected on that, the more I realized that taking care of myself wasn't taking time away from my career. It was one of the most important investments I could make in it.

We're often encouraged to invest in new skills, better tools, and continuous learning, and I still believe those things matter. But I've come to believe that one of the best investments we can make is in the person who's trying to learn those skills, use those tools, and build that career.

Without that person, none of the rest is possible.

Why I Wanted to Share This

One of the reasons I wanted to write this article is because I genuinely care about this community.

Over the past few years, I've met so many incredible people through tech. Students taking their very first steps, experienced developers with decades of experience, researchers, open-source contributors, writers, mentors, and people who simply enjoy learning and sharing what they know. Watching people grow, celebrate one another, and support complete strangers has been one of my favorite parts of this journey, and it's one of the reasons I'm so grateful to be part of this community.

That's exactly why I hope we start having more conversations like this.

Not because learning new technologies is any less important, or because ambition is somehow a bad thing. I hope we never stop building, creating, learning, and dreaming big. Those are some of the qualities that make tech such an exciting field to be part of.

I just hope we remember that the person doing all of those things matters too.

If there's one thing my own experience has taught me, it's that our health is surprisingly easy to take for granted until it asks us to pay attention. I genuinely hope none of us have to learn that lesson because life forces us to slow down. I hope we choose to slow down every once in a while instead.

I hope we get enough rest, not because someone tells us to, but because we deserve to wake up with the energy to enjoy the work we love. I hope we make time to move our bodies, even if it's just a short walk after spending hours behind a screen. I hope we remember to nourish ourselves well, because our bodies and minds are carrying us through every project, every challenge, and every opportunity we chase.

I also hope we stop treating stress like a badge of honor. Tech moves incredibly fast, and it's easy to feel like we always need to keep up. There will always be another framework to learn, another AI model to explore, another project to build, and another opportunity to apply for. But chronic stress is real, and over time it can affect us in ways we don't always notice until we're forced to.

More than anything, I hope none of us try to carry everything alone. If you're struggling, please don't isolate yourself. Reach out to someone you trust. Talk to a friend. Spend time with your family. Lean on your community if you can. And if you're in a position to do so, check in on someone else too. Sometimes a simple "How have you been?" can mean far more than we realize.

One of the greatest gifts this community has given me has never been a project or an opportunity. It's been the people. The people who encouraged me, answered my questions, celebrated my small wins, and reminded me that we're all figuring things out together. Those conversations have meant more to me than I can put into words.

If you've read this far, I hope you don't walk away thinking this article was simply about slowing down. It isn't. I still love learning. I still get excited about discovering new technologies, writing articles, building projects, and finding opportunities I never imagined I'd have. I still have goals I'm working toward and dreams I hope to achieve one day. None of that has changed.

What has changed is how I want to get there.

I no longer want to build a career that constantly asks me to sacrifice the person building it. I want to build one that I can actually enjoy. I want to look back years from now and remember not only the projects I built, but also the life I lived while building them. I want learning to remain something that excites me instead of something that leaves me exhausted. Most of all, I want to reach my goals without forgetting that I'm a human being before I'm a developer, a writer, or anything else.

If I could go back and tell an earlier version of myself one thing, it wouldn't be to learn another programming language sooner or contribute to more open source projects. It wouldn't even be about building a stronger portfolio or applying for more opportunities.

It would simply be this: take care of yourself while you're building the life you dream about.

Not because it will make you more productive. Not because it will help your resume. And not because someone on the internet told you to. Take care of yourself because you matter. Your health, your relationships, your peace of mind, and the life you build outside your career all matter just as much as the work you're so passionate about.

The career you're building is important, and I genuinely hope it becomes everything you've dreamed of. But I hope something even more than that. I hope that years from now, when you look back on your journey, you're proud not only of what you built but also of the way you lived while building it. I hope you're surrounded by people you love, healthy enough to enjoy the opportunities you've worked so hard for, and able to look back knowing you didn't lose yourself along the way.

Because careers are important. Dreams are important. Success is important. But none of them are more important than the person trying to achieve them.

Your career matters. So do you.

I'd Love to Hear Your Story

Writing this article reminded me that every one of us has a different journey. Some of us are just getting started, while others have spent years or even decades in this field. Some are chasing their first opportunity, and others are helping the next generation find theirs. Our experiences may be different, but I think many of us have reached moments where we've become so focused on building our careers that we've forgotten to take care of ourselves along the way.

That's why I'd genuinely love to hear your story.

Has there been a moment that changed the way you think about your career or your health? Is there something you wish someone had told you earlier, or a habit that's helped you build a career that's both meaningful and sustainable?

If you're comfortable sharing, I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments. One of my favorite parts of writing isn't publishing the article itself. It's reading the conversations that happen afterward. Time and time again, I've learned just as much from the experiences, reflections, and stories people share as I have from writing my own.

I truly believe that every one of us has something valuable to contribute. Your story, your perspective, or even a lesson you've learned along the way might be exactly what someone else needs to hear today.

🤝 Let's Stay Connected

Place	Find me here
GitHub	building things → hemapriya-kanagala
LinkedIn	resources & updates → hemapriya-kanagala
X	random dev thoughts → @KanagalaHema

Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you keep learning, keep building, and keep believing in yourself.

Just don't forget to take care of the person who's making all of it possible ❤️

Transparency note: The banner image for this article was generated using DEV Community's built-in AI image generation feature. I wrote the prompt, generated multiple variations, and selected the final image used in this post.

Dev Opportunity Radar #6: Y Combinator Startup School, Open Source AI Grants, and a $60K APAC Hackathon

Hemapriya Kanagala — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:52:14 +0000

TL;DR

Welcome back to Dev Opportunity Radar.

This is a weekly series where I share opportunities, resources, communities, and interesting finds that I come across, with the goal of helping people discover things they might otherwise miss.

This week's edition includes Y Combinator's Startup School, the Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program, the APAC Stellar Hackathon, a structured cloud learning resource, and a Community Find shared by a reader.

If you're new to the series, or missed a previous edition, you'll find the Dev Opportunity Radar Archive at the end of this article, where every edition, Community Find, and helpful link is collected in one place.

As always, if you've discovered an opportunity through the radar, applied to something, joined a community, attended an event, or simply found a resource you hadn't seen before, I'd love to hear about it. With your permission, I may feature your experience in a future 💙 Reader Updates section and tag you.

And if you've come across an opportunity, resource, community, program, or event that deserves more attention, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature one of your Community Finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

Quick Scan
Still Open From Previous Editions
This Week's Opportunities
- Y Combinator Startup School
- Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program
- APAC Stellar Hackathon
Resources Worth Checking Out
- Learn to Cloud
Community Finds
- CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
Reader Updates
Until Next Friday
Dev Opportunity Radar Archive

⚡ Quick Scan

Opportunities

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Deadline
Y Combinator Startup School	Y Combinator	Builder Event	Rolling
Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program	Sentient Foundation	AI Grant & Investment	Rolling
APAC Stellar Hackathon	Stellar	Online Hackathon	July 15

Resource Highlight

Resource	Type
Learn to Cloud	Free structured cloud learning roadmap with hands-on projects

Community Find

Shared By	Find	Type	Format
Francis (@francistrdev)	CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Volunteer & Internship Opportunities	Remote

📝 A quick note: I spend a lot of time researching and verifying every opportunity before featuring it in Dev Opportunity Radar. However, deadlines, eligibility, and program details can change after publication. Before applying, please take a few minutes to check the official program page for the latest information and requirements.

🔄 Still Open From Previous Editions

Before we get into this week's opportunities, here are a few from previous editions that are still accepting applications.

Opportunity	Organization	Type	Deadline	Featured In
FR8	FR8	Builder Residency	Rolling	Edition #2
Anthropic Fellows Program	Anthropic	AI Research Fellowship	Rolling	Edition #4
LeapYear	LeapYear	Founder Program	July 9, 2026	Edition #4
AWS All Builders Welcome Grant	AWS	Fully Funded Conference Grant	July 14, 2026	Edition #5
Leaders of Today Award	Leaders of Today	Builder Award	July 5, 2026	Edition #5

📍 This Week's Opportunities

Here are a few opportunities I came across this week that I thought were worth sharing.

📌 Y Combinator Startup School 2026

Who it's for: Technical builders, software engineers, machine learning engineers, researchers, and undergraduate or graduate students with strong technical projects, open-source contributions, research, or other hands-on work.

What stands out: Y Combinator is bringing together a hand-selected group of technical builders in San Francisco for a free, two-day event on July 25-26.

Rather than focusing only on talks, Startup School is designed around meeting other builders. Alongside talks from founders and industry leaders, attendees take part in curated small-group sessions, research poster presentations, hands-on demos, networking events, and discussions with YC partners.

I wanted to include this because I think the experience itself is what makes it interesting. The focus isn't just on listening to speakers, but on spending two days surrounded by people who are actively building, researching, and experimenting with new ideas.

Accepted attendees also receive over $25,000 in AI and cloud credits from partners including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, xAI, AWS, and Azure. Graduating seniors can also explore internship and job opportunities with YC companies during the event.

It's worth noting that this isn't an open-registration event. YC reviews applications and is looking for people who can demonstrate technical ability through projects, research, open-source contributions, or engineering experience. If you fit that audience, I think it's worth checking out.

Cost: Free

Dates: July 25-26, 2026

Travel Support: A limited number of $500 flight credits are available for accepted attendees traveling from outside the Bay Area.

🔗 Learn More & Apply

📌 Sentient Open Source AGI Grant Program

Who it's for: Open-source developers, AI researchers, startup founders, and builders creating AI tools or infrastructure that are openly accessible and designed to solve real-world problems.

What stands out: Sentient Foundation is supporting builders through two different tracks: a no-strings-attached grant program for open-source and public-good projects, and an investment track for startups looking to scale.

I wanted to include this because the support goes well beyond funding. Selected teams can receive engineering support from the Sentient team, compute credits, distribution opportunities, and access to a community of open-source AI builders.

The foundation is particularly interested in projects that make AI more accessible, private, and useful for people who are often underserved. They also published a detailed list of ideas they're excited to fund, ranging from AI education and accessibility tools to AI security, agent infrastructure, and privacy-focused applications. Even if you're not planning to apply, I think it's an interesting read if you're looking for inspiration on real-world AI problems worth solving.

Funding: Grants (no equity) or founder-friendly investment, depending on the track

Application Deadline: Rolling

Best for: Open-source AI projects, AI infrastructure, research, developer tools, and startups building AI products with real-world impact.

🔗 Learn More | 🔗 Apply

📌 APAC Stellar Hackathon

Who it's for: Developers, student builders, startup founders, and teams across the Asia-Pacific region who are interested in building financial applications on Stellar.

What stands out: This fully online hackathon brings together builders from across APAC to create real-world financial applications, with up to $60,000 in prizes, technical mentorship, workshops, and opportunities to connect with the broader Stellar ecosystem.

I only came across this recently, but registration is still open, so I wanted to include it while there's still time. If you're interested in blockchain or Web3 and have been looking for a hackathon to build something meaningful, this looks like a solid opportunity.

The program also includes developer workshops, mentoring sessions, Demo Day, and continued support for selected teams after the hackathon, including pathways to additional grant opportunities.

Prize Pool: Up to $60,000 USD

Format: Fully online

Who can apply: Developers, student builders, startup founders, and teams across the APAC region

Registration Deadline: July 15, 2026

🔗 Learn More & Register

📚 Resources Worth Checking Out

Not every useful find comes with an application deadline.

Here's one resource worth checking out this week.

Learn to Cloud

If you've been thinking about learning cloud computing but aren't sure where to start, Learn to Cloud is a resource worth checking out.

Rather than being a collection of random tutorials, it provides a structured roadmap that takes you from the fundamentals all the way to cloud deployment, DevOps, security, and interview preparation. Along the way, you'll build practical projects, complete hands-on challenges, and use GitHub to document your progress.

I wanted to share this because it's something I'm planning to work through myself. I like that it starts with the basics before gradually moving into more advanced topics, making it feel approachable without sacrificing hands-on learning.

The roadmap covers Linux, networking, Python, cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, DevOps, cloud security, and even interview preparation. Each phase builds on the previous one, so you're learning by doing rather than just watching videos.

One feature I found particularly interesting is the built-in hands-on verification. Instead of simply completing lessons, you'll submit projects and other practical work through GitHub, encouraging you to build a portfolio as you learn.

Cost: Free

Best for: Anyone looking for a structured, hands-on path to learning cloud computing from beginner to job-ready.

🔗 Learn to Cloud

🌟 Community Finds

One of my favorite things about this series has been seeing people share opportunities, communities, and resources that others might not have discovered otherwise.

CALEC Volunteer and Internship Opportunities

Shared by Francis (@francistrdev).

The Center for the Advancement of Languages, Education, and Communities (CALEC) is a nonprofit organization that offers fully remote volunteer and internship opportunities for people interested in using their skills to support multilingual literacy and education.

One thing I liked is the variety of roles available. Whether you're a student looking for practical experience or a professional wanting to contribute to a meaningful project, there are opportunities across software development, content creation, publishing, outreach, marketing, and grant writing.

Most roles require around 10 hours per week, making them easier to balance alongside work or university. CALEC also welcomes international volunteers and can provide verification for university community service requirements and CPT/OPT hours where applicable.

If you're interested in gaining experience while contributing to an educational nonprofit, this looks like a worthwhile opportunity to explore.

Who it's for: Students, graduates, and professionals interested in volunteering or gaining nonprofit experience

Format: Fully remote (~10 hours/week)

Cost: Free

🔗 CALEC Volunteer & Internship Opportunities

Thank you to Francis (@francistrdev) for thinking of the radar and sharing this with the community. It really means a lot 💙

I'd love for this section to keep growing.

If you've come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, feel free to share it in the comments.

If I feature it in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you. If you discovered it, that recognition belongs to you.

One small request: If you're sharing an opportunity, please avoid posting raw URLs directly in the comments. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see them.

A short description alongside the link makes it much easier for me to review and potentially feature it in a future edition.

💙 Reader Updates

One of my favorite parts of writing Dev Opportunity Radar has been hearing from people who discovered something they otherwise might have missed.

You don't need to have been accepted or have a big success story to share. Sometimes simply discovering the right opportunity at the right time is already a win.

I hope this section gradually becomes a place where we can celebrate those stories together, one update at a time.

👋 Until Next Friday

Before I go, I just want to say thank you.

Six editions ago, this started as a simple idea: to help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

Since then, people have shared Community Finds, suggested opportunities for future editions, and helped make the radar better each week.

Seeing people contribute, recommend opportunities, and help others discover things they might have otherwise missed has been one of the most rewarding parts of putting this series together. It reminds me that the radar is becoming more than just a weekly roundup. It's gradually becoming something we're building together.

If you come across an opportunity, fellowship, grant, hackathon, conference, community, resource, or anything else you think more people should know about, I'd love to hear about it. Every Community Find starts with someone taking a moment to share something they think others might benefit from discovering.

The goal of this series hasn't changed:

Help people discover opportunities they otherwise might have missed.

My hope is that this slowly becomes our radar, not just mine.

Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for being part of the journey.

If you'd like to catch future editions, consider following me on DEV and bookmarking the series.

I'll be back next Friday with more opportunities, resources, and Community Finds.

See you next Friday 👋

🗂️ Dev Opportunity Radar Archive

If this is your first time discovering the series, you can browse previous editions and Community Finds here:

👉 Dev Opportunity Radar Archive

Every edition, Community Find, and helpful link is collected there, so if you ever miss an edition, you'll know exactly where to find it.