Centre for the Governance of AI DC Fellowship 2025/2026 ($18,000 stipend)

Applications are open for the Centre for the Governance of AI DC Fellowship 2025/2026. GovAI is launching a DC-based edition of their flagship Seasonal Fellowship program. Seasonal Fellowships provide an opportunity for early- and mid-career professionals to deepen their understanding of AI policy, connect with a network of experts, and build their skills and professional profile, all while conducting an AI policy research project under expert guidance.

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 Coordinator and their broader team will offer additional support in deciding what project and output would be most valuable for the fellow to work toward.

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; 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 their team and network.

Benefits of DC Fellowship

• Fellows will receive a stipend of $18,000, plus support for traveling to DC. While in DC, they provide fellows with lunch on weekdays and a desk in the DC office. This is intended to be a full-time and in-person role.

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Eligibility for DC Fellowship

• They are interested in candidates from a broad set of political perspectives and professional backgrounds, including those with experience in government, academia, industry, or civil society. Relevant disciplines include political science, public policy, computer science, economics, history, sociology, philosophy, and law.
• There are no specific educational requirements for the role, although they expect that the most promising candidates will typically have relevant graduate study, research experience, or professional experience in related areas.
• Only candidates who have the right to work in the US are eligible to apply; they will not be sponsoring visas for this fellowship.

Selection Criteria

When assessing applications, they 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. They 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. They think that relevant expertise can take many different forms. Note that they 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 advanced AI.

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Application

The application process consists of a written submission in the first round, a remote work test in the second round, and an interview in the final round. They expect to reach out to candidates for a brief (<30 minute) work test in May, offer interviews in June, and communicate final decisions to candidates in early July.

Fellows will join for three months in Washington, DC. They are currently considering two potential timings for the DC Fellowship: fall 2025 (September 15 to December 5, 2025) or winter 2026 (January 19 to April 10, 2026). Candidates will be asked to express a preference on the application form.

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