Winter Fellowship, DC (2027)
Position description
Seasonal Fellows join GovAI to conduct independent research on a topic of their choice, with mentorship from leading experts in the field. Each fellow is paired with a supervisor from the GovAI team or network. They spend the first two weeks of the fellowship exploring the AI policy landscape, before settling on a research proposal with input from their supervisors. The research could result in a report, white paper, journal article, op-ed, or blog post targeted at an audience relevant to AI policy. The Fellowship Manager and our broader team will offer additional support in deciding what project and output would be most valuable for the fellow to work toward. You can read about the topics our last DC cohort worked on here.
Alongside their research and weekly meetings with their supervisors, fellows will also have the opportunity to widen their professional network and upskill on AI policy. GovAI will organize a series of Q&A sessions with AI policy experts; hands-on workshops and seminars aimed at building relevant skills and subject-matter knowledge; and work-in-progress meetings that facilitate peer-to-peer feedback, as well as social events. Fellows will also be encouraged to discuss follow-on career opportunities with our team and network.
Our alumni have gone on to roles in government, at top think tanks, frontier AI companies, and world-renowned universities.
Qualifications and Selection Criteria
GovAI’s DC Fellowship is committed to intellectual diversity and bipartisanship. Our program brings together fellows with a range of perspectives and political backgrounds to work on the shared AI policy challenges facing the United States, and we are dedicated to fostering good-faith engagement across political lines. You can find out more about our previous cohort here.
We are interested in candidates from a broad set of professional backgrounds, including those with experience in government, academia, industry, or civil society. We are especially excited about candidates with relevant professional experience, research experience, or graduate study in areas of expertise relevant to US AI policy, which include – but are by no means limited to – public policy, political science, engineering, computer science, economics, biosecurity, cybersecurity, China studies, and risk management (e.g. assurance and auditing). However, there are no specific requirements for the role; we also welcome applications from promising undergraduates.
When assessing applications, we will be looking for candidates who have the following strengths or show positive signs of being able to develop them:
- Quality of work: The ability to produce clearly written, insightful, and even-handed research or policy advice. We are particularly excited about strong reasoning ability and clear and concise writing.
- Relevant expertise: Skills or knowledge that are likely to be helpful for working on topics relevant to AI policy. We think that relevant expertise can take many different forms. Note that we also do not have any strict degree requirements.
- Judgement: The ability to prioritize between different research or policy directions, and good intuitions about the feasibility of different directions.
- Team fit: Openness to feedback, commitment to intellectual honesty and rigor, comfort in expressing uncertainty, and a serious interest in using your career to contribute to successfully navigating the transition to a world with advanced AI.
Right to Work in the US, Salary, Duration, and Location
Fellows will join us for three months in Washington, DC, from January 18th to April 9th, 2027. Fellows will receive a stipend of $21,000, plus support for traveling to DC. This is an in-person role. While in DC, we provide our fellows with lunch on weekdays and a desk in our DC office. Only candidates who have the right to work in the US are eligible to apply; we do not sponsor visas for this fellowship.
This is intended to be a full-time role. However, if you are a current researcher at a DC think tank, a staffer in a government office, or a DC-based professional doing work relevant to AI governance, we may be able to facilitate a part-time fellowship at a pro-rated salary. If the pay represents a barrier to your participation in the fellowship, we may be able to make accommodations. If you have any questions around this, please contact Martin Fukui ([email protected]) with a copy of your CV and a brief explanation of your requirements.
Application instructions
Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on Globaljobs.org