The zk-SNARKs Rising Star Development Program is here! The Ethereum Foundation is promoting a ZK education revolution in Taiwan.

The "2025 TW Core Program," led by the Ethereum Foundation's ZK Education (ZKE) team and co-organized with ZK Taipei, is set to officially launch this summer. This is a six-week intensive bootcamp designed specifically for the local community in Taiwan, focusing on cutting-edge cryptography technology — zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP). The program will combine online reading groups, technical workshops, project implementations, and hackathons, aiming to cultivate ZK developers with both theoretical foundations and practical skills.

What is zk-SNARKs? It can prove everything without revealing information.

ZKP (Zero-Knowledge Proof) is a Cryptography technique that allows a Prover to prove to a Verifier that a statement is true without revealing any additional information. For example, proving "I am over 18 years old" without having to disclose the date of birth or identity. Such techniques are crucial for privacy, scalability, and cross-chain communication in blockchain applications, with application scenarios spanning cutting-edge projects like zkLogin, Worldcoin, Tornado Cash, and zkRollup.

Practical orientation: a one-stop learning experience from research to product development

This program design emphasizes the "combination of theory and practice". Participants will explore research-oriented topics (such as post-quantum Cryptography and Folding) and application-oriented tools (such as Noir and Mopro) during the six-week course. The program will be conducted in phases:

Week 0: Prerequisite knowledge supply, from basic mathematics and Cryptography to ZK tool environment setup.

Week 1: Choose a direction, starting from research or product.

Week 2: Team formation, setting project goals, and implementation plan.

Weeks 3–5: Intensive development and technical workshops will be conducted alternately.

Week 6: Presentation of results, facing the Hackerthon and public exhibition.

ZK Educational Challenges and Solutions Progressing Together

The ZK field is currently facing three major challenges: first, the high theoretical threshold of Cryptography, covering advanced topics such as finite fields, elliptic curves, and post-quantum Cryptography; second, the rapidly changing development tools, with serious version divergence in tools like Circom, Halo2, and Noir; third, the application scenarios have not yet become widespread, resulting in a communication gap between implementers and product designers.

The Core Program aims to bridge the gap between research and application through a mentorship system, hands-on training, and product-oriented workshops, allowing participants without an engineering background to collaborate with engineers to complete a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

Who is suitable to participate? No background restrictions, as long as you have enough enthusiasm!

This program is open to all partners interested in ZK, regardless of technical background or whether they are students. As long as they are willing to invest six weeks of time, willing to code, and willing to learn, they can apply to participate. The organizers emphasize that the focus is not on the current amount of knowledge, but on the passion for privacy technology and the willingness to continue investing effort.

Registration deadline: June 20

Admission notification date: June 27

Class format: Primarily online, with in-person交流 activities in the Taipei area.

From learning to practice, ZK starts from Taiwan.

The Core Program is not just a technical training session, but an experiment in community co-learning. Through collaboration across different backgrounds, personal guidance from mentors, and the practice of open-source spirit, this program aims to cultivate more internationally competitive ZK talents in Taiwan. Want to grasp the future of privacy and security in the blockchain world? This summer is your starting point!

For details and registration form: Click here to register

This article introduces the zk-SNARKs New Star Cultivation Program! The Ethereum Foundation promotes the ZK education revolution in Taiwan, first appearing in Chain News ABMedia.