Visiting Fellows Program at Constellation

Program details

Constellation brings together individuals and teams from nonprofit organizations, universities, AI companies, think tanks, and governments. Visiting Fellows join Constellation's workspace for 3–6 months, with travel, housing, meals, and office space included.

We plan to accept a new cohort of Visiting Fellows each quarter and have opened applications for our summer, fall, and winter cohorts. Our summer cohort will begin July 1, with applications due April 30.

Applicants should be working full-time on one of our focus areas or something closely related. If you are uncertain about your fit or availability, we encourage you to err on the side of applying. You can apply for a 1–4 week visit if you are unable to visit for longer.

What we provide

We’ll provide opportunities to connect and share ideas with over 100 researchers and staff working on the focus areas. We reimburse travel to and from Berkeley and provide or pay for housing for the duration of the program. Fellows will have 24/7 access to Constellation’s shared workspace. Lunch and dinner are provided at the workspace each weekday.

Application process

Apply by April 30 for our summer cohort, starting July 1. We are also accepting applications for our fall and winter cohorts.

We aim to make final decisions for our summer cohort by mid May.

Apply here Focus areas

Program details

We will provide housing and transportation within Berkeley for the duration of the program. Additionally, we recommended Astra invitees to AI Safety Support (an Australian charity) for independent research grants and they have decided to provide grants of $15k for 10 weeks of independent research to accepted Astra applicants in support of their AI Safety research.

Fellows will conduct research from Constellation’s shared office space, and lunch and dinner will be provided daily. Individual advisors will choose when and how to interact with their fellows, but most advisors will work out of the Constellation office frequently. There will be regular invited talks from senior researchers, social events with Constellation members, and opportunities to receive feedback on research. Before the program begins, we may also provide tutorial support to fellows interested in going through Constellation and Redwood Research’s MLAB curriculum.

We expect to inform all applicants whether they have progressed to the second round of applications within a week of them applying, and to make final decisions by December 1, 2023. For more details on the application process, see the FAQ below. The deadline to apply has passed.

Testimonials

“Having research chats with people I met at Constellation has given rise to new research directions I hadn't previously considered, like model organisms. Talking with people at Constellation is how I decided that existential risk from AI is non-trivial, after having many back and forth conversations with people in the office. These updates have had large ramifications for how I’ve done my research, and significantly increased the impact of my research.”

Ethan Perez

Research Lead, Anthropic

"As a researcher with a non-safety background, the program provided an amazing opportunity for me to get started with safety research. I had the chance to work with leading researchers from the field and found interesting research directions that I could continue working on after the program."

Dami Choi

PhD Candidate in Computer Science, University of Toronto

"Speaking with AI safety researchers in Constellation was an essential part of how I formed my views on AI threat models and AI safety research prioritization. It also gave me access to a researcher network that I've found very valuable for my career.”

Sam Marks

Postdoc, David Bau's Interpretable Neural Networks Lab

"My time at Constellation led to a few important new research directions for my organization: forecasting to inform evaluations of dangerous AI capabilities (with partners at Constellation); AI “scenario”-oriented forecasting; and helping to organize an “AI for epistemics” workshop. Also, the environment substantially improved my productivity: the lively lunch conversations, comfortable office space, and excellent food all contributed to higher-quality work time."