Programs Directory
The real programs, grouped by where they sit on the ladder. This is a shortlist, not the whole world — the ones I’d actually point someone at if they asked me over coffee.
Read this before trusting any number below
Dates, stipends, and cohort timing change every single cycle, and several 2026 cohorts have already opened and closed as of today (June 2026). Treat everything here as “roughly what to expect,” then verify on the official page before you act. Honestly, learning to check primary sources is part of the training — never apply to anything based on a secondhand summary, including mine.
Quick scan
| Program | Track | Length | Where | Beginner-friendly? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlueDot Fundamentals | Safety / Policy | 2 hrs–8+ wks | Online | Yes — start here |
| ARENA | Eng / Interp | ~5 wks | London | Yes (some coding) |
| SPAR | Safety research | part-time | Remote | Yes |
| MATS | Safety research | 10 wks +ext | Berkeley / London | Some experience |
| LASR Labs | Safety research | 13 wks | London | Some experience |
| Pivotal | Safety / Gov research | ~9 wks | London | Some experience |
| ERA | Safety / Gov | summer | Cambridge | Some experience |
| Anthropic Fellows | Safety research | 4 mo | SF / London | Strong |
| Astra | Safety research/eng | ~6 mo | Berkeley | Strong |
| GovAI Summer | Policy | 3 mo | London | Yes |
| Horizon | Policy | up to 2 yrs | US (DC) | Varies |
| RAND TASP | Policy | ~1–2 yrs | US | Some experience |
| OpenAI Residency | Applied / Research | 6 mo | SF | Strong builders |
| DeepMind Student Researcher | Research / Eng | 12–24 wks | Various | Enrolled students |
Beginner on-ramps (start here)
BlueDot - AI Safety / Governance Fundamentals
The standard front door. Free, online courses for people new to AI safety, no technical background required for the intro. Ranges from a ~2-hour “Future of AI” intro to 8+ week cohort courses (technical Alignment, or Governance) with weekly seminars.
- Track: on-ramp for Alignment and AI Safety and Policy and Governance.
- Why it matters: nearly every other program is more selective than BlueDot, and having the certificate measurably helps your next application. Cheap, legible career capital.
- Timing: cohorts run regularly through the year.
- Link: https://bluedot.org/
My advice
Both of you should start the intro this week regardless of track. It’s a couple of hours and it gives us shared vocabulary for the rest of the sprint.
SPAR - Supervised Program for Alignment Research
A part-time, remote, mentored research program — you do real AI-safety research alongside other commitments (think ~5–40 hrs/week, flexible). Great first taste of supervised research without uprooting your life.
- Track: Alignment and AI Safety / Interpretability, research.
- Who: beginners-to-intermediate who can code a bit and want a first real project.
- Timing: runs in cohorts (typically a couple per year).
- Link: https://sparai.org/
ARENA
The Alignment Research Engineer Accelerator. A ~5-week, in-person ML bootcamp in London built to turn someone with basic coding into a technical AI-safety Research Engineer. Covers deep-learning fundamentals, transformer interpretability, RL, and LLM evals. Travel, accommodation, and meals are covered.
- Track: Research Engineer / Interpretability.
- Who: comfortable-ish with Python, wanting to go from “I can code” to “I can do safety research engineering.”
- Note: the full curriculum is public — work through it even if you don’t get a spot. That’s a portfolio piece in itself.
- Timing: ARENA 8.0 ran May–June 2026 (closed). Watch for the next cohort.
- Links: https://www.arena.education/ · curriculum: https://www.arena.education/curriculum
Technical safety research fellowships
MATS
ML Alignment & Theory Scholars — the flagship mentored research fellowship. ~10 weeks of full-time research paired with a senior mentor, in Berkeley or London, with the possibility of a 6–12 month funded extension. Streams span interpretability, oversight, control, evals, governance, and more.
- Track: Alignment and AI Safety research (Research Scientist / Research Engineer / Interpretability flavors depending on mentor).
- Who: some research or strong engineering background; it’s competitive but takes people without PhDs.
- Why it matters: one of the best ways to build a research track record and a mentor relationship. Strong launchpad into labs.
- Timing: runs cohorts through the year; Autumn 2026 applications were closed as of now — track the next.
- Link: https://www.matsprogram.org/
LASR Labs
A ~13-week, full-time, in-person research programme in London (based at LISA), producing a real research paper as a team with mentorship. Comes with a stipend (recent cohort ~£11k) plus office, meals, travel.
- Track: Alignment and AI Safety research.
- Who: some technical background; ready for a focused full-time research push.
- Timing: summer cohort (recent one ran ~July–Oct).
- Link: see the EA Forum announcement and LISA — search “LASR Labs.”
Pivotal Research Fellowship
A ~9-week, full-time research fellowship (London / LISA) across AI safety and governance, with a stipend (~£6–8k recent) plus housing, meals, travel, compute.
- Track: Alignment and AI Safety or Policy and Governance research.
- Who: early-career, ready to commit to a focused project.
- Timing: runs cohorts (recent Q3 ran ~late June–Aug).
- Link: https://www.pivotal-research.org/fellowship
ERA Fellowship
A summer research fellowship based in Cambridge (UK), spanning technical safety and governance, with mentorship and a structured cohort.
- Track: Alignment and AI Safety / Policy and Governance.
- Who: students and early-career researchers.
- Timing: summer.
- Note: ERA also publishes a genuinely useful curated list of AI safety & governance opportunities — worth finding.
Anthropic Fellows Program
A ~4-month program where fellows do empirical safety research aligned with Anthropic’s priorities, aiming for a public output (like a paper), with mentorship from Anthropic researchers. Recent cohorts cover scalable oversight, adversarial robustness & AI control, model organisms, mechanistic interpretability, AI security, and model welfare. Well-funded (recent cycle: weekly stipend plus substantial compute).
- Track: Alignment and AI Safety research.
- Who: strong technical applicants; a real research/engineering portfolio expected.
- Timing: recent cohorts began May & July 2026; runs in waves — watch for the next.
- Link: https://alignment.anthropic.com/2025/anthropic-fellows-program-2026/
This is the one I did
I went through this program, so take the rest of this list with that bias in mind. What I’d tell anyone applying: the bar is a real, legible piece of technical work plus a specific reason this research area pulls at you — not polish, not buzzwords. The application itself taught me more about my own direction than the month of prep before it.
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Astra Fellowship
Run by Constellation (Berkeley). A fully-funded, in-person program pairing fellows with senior mentors for research/engineering on AI safety, ~6 months. Strong placement record — a large share of early fellows went on to full-time safety roles at major labs and institutes.
- Track: Alignment and AI Safety research / engineering.
- Who: strong applicants; both empirical and theoretical streams.
- Timing: recent cohort ran ~Sept 2026–Feb 2027.
- Link: https://constellation.org/programs/astra
Policy & governance fellowships
GovAI Summer Fellowship
The Centre for the Governance of AI’s flagship. A 3-month fellowship in London to launch a career in AI governance, with two tracks: Research (independent project with a supervisor) and Applied (non-research — comms, advocacy, events, research/program management, ops, fundraising). No specific degree required; the process includes a written submission, an automated assessment, a paid remote work test, and an interview. Stipend (recent applied track ~£12k).
- Track: Policy and Governance (research or applied).
- Who: all backgrounds; you need demonstrated thinking/writing, not credentials.
- Timing: recent program ran ~June–Aug 2026.
- Links: https://www.governance.ai/opportunities · also runs a DC Fellowship for US policy.
Horizon Fellowship
Horizon Institute for Public Service places fellows into US government and think-tank roles working on emerging tech (including AI) policy. Longer commitment (up to ~2 years), with training and placement support. The serious route into Washington AI policy.
- Track: Policy and Governance, applied/government.
- Who: people wanting to work inside US policymaking.
- Link: https://horizonpublicservice.org/programs/become-a-fellow/
RAND Technology and Security Policy Fellowship
A fellowship at RAND (a major policy research institution) focused on technology & security, including AI. Rigorous policy-research environment; strong for the analytical/research side of governance.
- Track: Policy and Governance, research.
- Who: strong analytical/writing background.
- Link: search “RAND Technology and Security Policy Fellows.”
Also worth knowing (US policy)
TechCongress places technologists into US congressional offices — more of a tech-to-policy bridge than an AI-specific program, but a real route if either fellow is US-based and policy-curious.
Industry research & residencies
OpenAI Residency
A 6-month program for talented people from adjacent fields (math, physics, neuroscience, strong self-taught engineers) to move into frontier AI research/engineering. Residents are paid as full employees and can convert to full-time.
- Track: Applied and Product ML / Research Engineer / Research.
- Who: strong builders/thinkers not yet working in AI.
- Timing: recent 2026 cohort closed; watch for the next.
- Link: https://openai.com/residency/
Google DeepMind Student Researcher
Not a “fellowship” but the best internship-style research on-ramp if you’re currently enrolled. 12–24 weeks, embedded with DeepMind researchers. DeepMind also runs PhD scholarships, postdoc fellowships, and the undergrad-focused Research Ready programme (UK).
- Track: Research / Research Engineer.
- Who: enrolled Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD students.
- Link: https://deepmind.google/student-researcher-program/
Also in this category
- Microsoft Research Fellowship — for faculty, PhD students, postdocs proposing AI/science collaborations (region-based awards). https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/microsoft-research-fellowship/
- Google PhD Fellowship — for PhD students; competitive, annual cycle. https://research.google/programs-and-events/phd-fellowship/
How to use this list
Pick a primary target and a backup, and ideally line up at least one beginner on-ramp to run in parallel. Then point everything — your skills, your project, your application — at those. Don’t apply to twelve things; apply well to two or three that actually fit. (Applications (the actual mechanics))
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