The Centre for the Governance of AI is looking for a Research Scholar to support the career development of AI governance researchers and practitioners.
About the Organisation
The Centre for the Governance of AI was founded to help humanity navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI. Their first research agenda, published in 2018, helped define and shape the nascent field of AI governance. Their team and affiliate community possess expertise in a wide variety of domains, including AI regulation, responsible development practices, compute governance, AI company corporate governance, US-China relations, and AI progress forecasting.
Brief description of the role
The Research Scholar role is a one-year visiting position. It is designed to support the career development of AI governance researchers and practitioners — as well as to offer them an opportunity to do high-impact work.
Key roles and responsibilities
- As a Research Scholar, you will have freedom to pursue a wide range of styles of work. This could include conducting policy research, social science research, or relevant technical research; engaging with and advising policymakers; or starting and managing applied projects.
- Over the course of the year, you will deepen your understanding of the field, connect with a network of experts, and build your skills and professional profile, all within an institutional home that offers both flexibility and support.
- We are open to work on a broad range of topics. To get a sense of our focus areas, you may find it useful to read our About page or look at examples listed on our Research page. Broad topics of interest include — but are not limited to — responsible AI development and release practices, AI regulation, international governance, compute governance, and risk assessment and forecasting.
- We are open to candidates with a wide range of backgrounds. We have previously hired or hosted researchers with academic backgrounds in computer science, political science, public policy, economics, history, philosophy, and law. We are also interested in candidates with professional backgrounds in government, industry, and civil society.
Experience and skills
For all candidates, we will look for:
- A strong interest in using their career to positively influence the lasting impact of artificial intelligence, in line with our organisation’s mission.
- Demonstrated ability to produce excellent work (typically research outputs) or achieve impressive results.
- Self-direction and proactivity – The ability to evaluate and prioritise projects on the basis of impact.
- A commitment to intellectual honesty and rigour.
- Receptiveness to feedback and commitment to self-improvement.
- Strong communication skills.
- Collaborativeness and motivation to help others succeed.
- Some familiarity with the field of AI governance.
- Some expertise in a domain that is relevant to AI governance.
- A compelling explanation of how the Research Scholar position may help them to have a large impact
There are no educational requirements for the role. We have previously made offers to candidates at a wide variety of career stages. However, we expect that the most promising candidates will typically have either graduate study or relevant professional experience.