Linden Lab Offers Second Life Fellowship

Linden Lab, the developers of nonviolent MMO world Second Life, have announced the beginning of a fellowship program in which innovative developers from the Second Life community can win a $4,000 grant "to explore the potential of Second Life as a creative medium." The fellowship is open to undergraduate or graduate students in visual or performing arts, with a focus in digital media. Applications for the fellowship are available at the Second Life website. Applications are due March 15, 2006, and the fellowship winner must be completed within one semester using the Second Life tools. "By nature of its unlimited potential, Second Life has already attracted a large community of creative individuals from a wide range of disciplines," said Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale. "By creating the Linden Lab Fellowship, we hope that we will encourage students of the expressive arts to explore the potential of the virtual world, for the benefit of both the Second Life culture and the broader world of art." Second Life is unique amongst online communities in that its users retain intellectual property to their works within the game, so presumably the fellow would be free to attempt to capitalize on his or her performance within the game. Other works created inside Second Life have gone on to life outside the game, such as Kermitt Quick's Tringo.