AI Safety Research Fellowship, Pivotal Research

The AI Safety Research Fellowship from Pivotal Research is a 15-week, full-time programme in London where you do real AI safety or AI governance research with expert mentors. It runs from 18 January to 30 April 2027 at the London Initiative for Safe AI (LISA). Anyone aged 18 or over can apply. Past fellows come from machine learning, philosophy, policy, physics and biology, and Pivotal says motivation and ability matter more than your background. If you're wondering whether you're "enough", they say that if your interests plausibly fit, applying is often worth it. You get a stipend of £15,000–£18,000 (£18,000 for Senior Fellows with a PhD, industry track record or strong publications), travel to London, £1,800 a month for housing if you live outside London, and compute for your research. You also get weekly 1-on-1 mentoring, research managers, workshops, and lunch and dinner on weekdays. Past fellows have gone on to GovAI, UK AISI, Google DeepMind and PhDs at places like Oxford and Stanford. Applications close on 1 November 2026. Start with a written application of about 1–2 hours, where you name the mentors you'd like to work with. Shortlisted candidates then do a short video interview, a mentor-specific work task and a personal interview. Browse the mentors and past projects, then apply.