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The eBPF Foundation, which focuses on advancing the state of the art for eBPF by directing upstream development, promoting the use of the technology and its benefits, and improving the security and robustness of eBPF as a whole, has awarded five universities each a $50,000 unrestricted grant to perform research that will benefit the eBPF community.
A total of 25 proposals were submitted by 20 universities, focusing on technical projects aimed at developing new features and enhancements for eBPF. Initially, the eBPF Foundation planned to award only one grant, but the significance of the proposed work allowed them to increase the number of awards to five. The five winners were chosen following a comprehensive review of all submissions by the eBPF Steering Committee, composed of lead maintainers from the eBPF ecosystem.
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The purpose of these grants is two-fold. First, to continue to improve the functionality and reliability of eBPF, we need many new features, which this work will help create and develop. Second, by providing funds to educational institutions rather than contracting developers, this grant program will provide important experience to students and researchers, while also supporting their institutions financially. Additionally, these grants foster collaboration with industry and academia for the benefit of strengthening eBPF itself and driving the state of the art forward.
“The foundation was very pleased to see such strong interest from research universities around the world in this grant program, and in developing new features and improvements for eBPF in general,” said Thomas Graf, chair of the eBPF Foundation governing board and co-founder of eBPF Foundation member Isovalent. “We look forward to collaborating with our new research partners on these projects, and to the entire eBPF community benefiting from this work.”
More information on the grant program and criteria can be found at https://ebpf.foundation/funding-opportunities/research-fund/.
Summary reports of the results achieved will be published in 2025, along with an RFP for the next year of funding to continue to strengthen academic interest and collaboration around eBPF.
