AI Institute Fellowship Program

Examples of potential types of projects include:

• Scoping out a grantmaking program in a particular AI domain of interest to Schmidt Sciences and the fellow (e.g., interpretability, safety, etc.). If mutually agreeable to Schmidt Sciences and the fellows, this could move beyond scoping to launching the program. In areas where Schmidt Sciences has agreed to make the investment before the fellow arrives, that fellow could come to help launch the program and potentially recommend initial grants. 
• Conducting research into a specific AI domain of mutual interest, with the intent of writing and releasing  a technical paper.
• Organizing a series of workshops on a topic of mutual interest to build the research community in that topic. This could also be a series of smaller grants (that they advise on; we’d retain decision rights). 
• Starting or contributing to an important AI open source project.

The remainder of the fellows’ time would focus on supporting the AI Institute. This work could include:

• Reading and assessing research proposals in multiple areas of AI, including safety, AI and science, AI and economics, etc. 
• Supporting the exploration and design of new AI grantmaking programs, such as in the areas of interpretability, safety, and scientific discovery
• Attending gatherings we organize for our grantees, as well as representing Schmidt Sciences at external conferences 

Institute priorities

• AI Institute priorities will evolve with the growth of the Institute and with the rapid evolution of AI. Current priorities include: LLM technical safety, AI and digital humanities, LLM interpretability, the impact of AI on the labor force, measurement of technical LLM capabilities, and more. 

Resources and opportunities - Each fellow will have access to several valuable opportunities over the course of their fellowship:

• Opportunity to apply for up to $100,000 of compute credits and API credits over the course of the fellowship. 
• Opportunity to apply for up to $50,000 in funding for targeted convenings, workshops, working sessions, etc. to advance exploration in various AI research areas.
• Opportunity to apply for travel funds to collaborate with others on research projects.
• Opportunity to brief Schmidt Science leadership and our principles on an important AI research topic during their time here, e.g., one briefing for 30 minutes during one of our monthly Eric AI meetings. 
• Access to Schmidt Science’s network of stakeholders in the AI ecosystem.

Duration

• Each fellowship will be 12-18 months long, with flexibility around start and end dates to accommodate academic commitments and other needs.

Location

• Fellows will be based at our offices in New York City. Fellows will be permitted to spend a portion of their time at a local university (e.g., three days a week) or to apply to visit the West Coast or Europe for 2-3 weeks for the purposes of collaborating with other researchers. 

Reporting

• Fellows would report to the Executive Director of the AI Institute at Schmidt Sciences. Each fellow would receive a mentor, who would be an AI Institute team member, and who would assist their onboarding to the organization. 

Other appointments

• Fellows will be permitted to keep their existing academic appointments, as long as those appointments do not conflict with either institution’s policies (e.g., conflict of interest policies). 

Selection criteria

• Fellows will be selected on the basis of their academic accomplishments and publications, the relevance of their academic research to the AI Institute’s priorities, and the relevance and quality of their proposed research projects. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.