Opportunities
Reading groups, talks, workshops and research projects we run, plus fellowships, courses, bootcamps, accelerators, jobs, grants and calls for input elsewhere that suit people here. They’ll be posted on this page and in the newsletter.
The first events are being planned.
Each one will be listed here with its date, place and anything worth reading beforehand.
Fellowships that take people from India.
The programmes below are where much of the field’s new research talent comes from. All accept applicants from anywhere; the ones that bring you in person cover travel, and most pay a stipend. Most run two rounds a year and open applications three to four months before a cohort starts, so the useful move is to note when each one opens and prepare early. Dates checked September 2026.
SPAR
Supervised Program for Alignment Research. Mentored research on technical safety or policy, five to forty hours a week alongside a job or degree, ending in a demo day. No prior research experience needed, and the most accessible of the five from India: no travel, no visa. Spring round opens around December; autumn round around June.
MARS
Mentorship for Alignment Research Students. Teams of two to four work with a mentor towards a published paper, in technical safety or governance. A funded week in person to start, then eight to ten weeks of part-time research from home, with compute and research management provided. Applications open around December for a summer cohort.
MATS
The field’s best-known research fellowship. Twelve weeks of full-time work with a mentor in alignment, interpretability, evaluations, security or governance, with housing, meals, compute and visa support covered, and a funded six-to-twelve-month extension for most scholars afterwards. Competitive; a strong SPAR or MARS project is the usual route in. Two cohorts a year, winter and summer; applications open roughly four months before each.
Pivotal Research Fellowship
Research in AI policy and governance, technical governance or technical safety, hosted at the London Initiative for Safe AI. Travel, housing allowance, meals and compute covered. A good fit for lawyers, economists and policy people as much as for engineers. Applications open around May for a Q1 cohort and around November for a Q3 cohort.
PIBBSS Fellowship
Principles of Intelligent Behaviour in Biological and Social Systems. For people with PhD-level experience in mathematics, physics, neuroscience, philosophy, political theory, ecology or the humanities who want to bring their field to bear on AI safety. Accommodation, meals and a return flight included. One cohort a year; applications open around May for a winter start.
Applying? Tell us. We can put you in touch with people who have been through these programmes, and the reading list covers most of what the applications assume.