Building Web3 Skills Through Real Projects
Our autumn 2025 program takes you from blockchain basics to building actual decentralized applications. No prior crypto experience needed—just curiosity and willingness to learn.
We're working with small groups this year. Each cohort has 12 students, which means you get proper attention when you're stuck on something.
Three Learning Tracks
Pick what matches your starting point. You can switch tracks after the first month if something doesn't feel right.
Protocol Foundations
Start here if you're new to blockchain. We cover how distributed systems actually work, smart contract basics, and wallet security. Most people spend time here before moving forward.
You'll write your first smart contract and deploy it to a test network. Nothing fancy—just enough to understand what's happening under the hood.
DApp Development
For folks with some programming background. We build three different applications: a token swap interface, a simple DAO structure, and a decentralized storage system.
The focus is on connecting frontend interfaces to blockchain backends. You'll work with Web3.js and ethers.js libraries throughout.
Architecture Design
This one's for developers who already understand the basics. We tackle cross-chain communication, gas optimization strategies, and security auditing methods.
Each student designs and builds a full-scale project. Past examples include NFT marketplaces, lending protocols, and governance systems.
How the Program Flows
Foundation Month
Theory mixed with hands-on exercises. You'll set up your development environment and get comfortable with command-line tools.
Build Phase
Working on guided projects in pairs. This is where most of the learning happens—through mistakes and fixes.
Independent Work
You pick something to build from scratch. Instructors review your code weekly and suggest improvements.
Portfolio Completion
Polish your projects and document what you learned. Several students have used these as case studies in job interviews.
How We Actually Teach This Stuff
Code Reviews Instead of Lectures
We spend about 30% of class time reviewing student code together. Everyone shares their screen and walks through what they built. It's uncomfortable at first, but you learn faster when you see how others solve the same problems.
One student last cohort said this helped more than any tutorial. Seeing real mistakes—not polished examples—made things click.
Working with Actual Testnets
From week two, everything you build goes onto Sepolia or Mumbai testnets. You'll deal with transaction delays, failed deployments, and gas estimation issues—all the messy parts of blockchain development.
We don't use simplified environments. The point is to get comfortable with uncertainty and learn how to debug when things don't work as expected.
Study Groups and Office Hours
We pair people up based on timezone and learning pace. Some groups meet twice a week, others prefer asynchronous help through our Discord.
Instructors hold open office hours Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Drop in when you're stuck or just want to talk through an idea. No appointment needed.
Who's Teaching
Both instructors have worked on production blockchain systems. They've dealt with smart contract bugs, security audits, and scaling challenges firsthand.
Jasper Viklund
Spent four years building layer-2 scaling solutions before moving to education. He's particularly good at explaining complex cryptographic concepts without the academic jargon.
Branimir Kovačević
Built frontend systems for three different DeFi protocols. He knows the practical stuff—wallet integration headaches, state management with blockchain data, and making decentralized apps feel responsive.