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Application

Fields with an asterisk (*) are required.

Purpose and eligibility:

The purpose of the fellowship is to fund talented students throughout their PhDs to work on US-China AI Governance. To be eligible, applicants should either be graduate students or be applying to PhD programs. Funding is conditional on being accepted to a PhD program, working on US-China AI Governance research, and having an advisor who can confirm to us that they will support the student’s research. If a student has multiple advisors, these confirmations would be required from all advisors. There is an exception to this last requirement for first-year graduate students, where all that is required is an "existence proof". For example, in departments requiring rotations during the first year of a PhD, funding is contingent on only one of the professors making this confirmation. If a student changes advisor, this confirmation is required from the new advisor for the fellowship to continue.

An application from a current graduate student must address in the Research Statement how this fellowship would enable their US-China AI Governance research, either by letting them continue such research when no other funding is currently available, or by allowing them to switch into this area.

Fellows are expected to participate in annual workshops and other activities that will be organized to help them interact and network with other researchers in the field.

Continued funding is contingent on continued eligibility, demonstrated by submitting a brief (~1 page) progress report by July 1st of each year.

There are no geographic limitations on applicants or host universities. We welcome applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds, and we particularly encourage applications from women and underrepresented minorities.

Application process:

Applicants will submit a curriculum vitae, a research statement, and the names and email addresses of up to three referees, who will be sent a link where they can submit letters of recommendation and answer a brief questionnaire about the applicant. Applicants are welcome to submit their GRE scores using our DI code: 3234.

The research statement can be up to 3 pages long, not including references, outlining applicants’ current plans for doing US-China AI Governance research during their PhD. It should include the applicant's reason for interest in US-China AI Governance research. For current PhD students, it should also detail why no existing funding arrangements allow work on this research.

Those applicants who make the short-list will then go through an interview process before fellows are finalized.

select all that apply





Where are you a citizen?  If you have dual citizenship, please choose the country where you most recently lived.

Please enter the approximate date that you received your Bachelor's Degree

Do you also plan to apply for the CAIF PhD Fellowship?



CV should include education, work experience, awards, and/or publications.

Maximum 3 pages - excluding references
12 pt font, single-spaced, letter-sized paper with 1” margins
Please address:
  • Why are you interested in studying AI Existential Safety?
  • What do you plan to research?
  • How will the proposed research contribute to the field? 

Please provide your scores to the program administrator in the box below and on the ETS website. The Future of Life Institute Vitalik Buterin PhD Fellowship's GRE Designated Institution Code is 3234. 
Providing GRE scores is not required but will likely strengthen your application. 


Please enter the email address of the first person from whom you would like to request a recommendation and compose an email to them  The system will then send a separate email they can use to complete the recommendation.  
In the email you write to your recommender, we suggest using "Fellowship Application Reference Request" as the subject. As the email text, please feel free to cut and paste the following, "I am applying for the FLI Vitalik Buterin AI Existential Safety Fellowship. The application requires references to answer a few questions and provide a written recommendation.  A link to the reference form will be sent via a separate email. Please add administrator@grantinterface.com to your safe senders list. If you do not receive the email with the link, please contact grants@futureoflife.org".


Please enter the email address of the first person from whom you would like to request a recommendation and compose an email to them  The system will then send a separate email they can use to complete the recommendation.  
In the email you write to your recommender, we suggest using "Fellowship Application Reference Request" as the subject. As the email text, please feel free to cut and paste the following, "I am applying for the FLI Vitalik Buterin AI Existential Safety Fellowship. The application requires references to answer a few questions and provide a written recommendation.  A link to the reference form will be sent via a separate email. Please add administrator@grantinterface.com to your safe senders list. If you do not receive the email with the link, please contact grants@futureoflife.org".


Please enter the email address of the first person from whom you would like to request a recommendation and compose an email to them  The system will then send a separate email they can use to complete the recommendation.  
In the email you write to your recommender, we suggest using "Fellowship Application Reference Request" as the subject. As the email text, please feel free to cut and paste the following, "I am applying for the FLI Vitalik Buterin AI Existential Safety Fellowship. The application requires references to answer a few questions and provide a written recommendation.  A link to the reference form will be sent via a separate email. Please add administrator@grantinterface.com to your safe senders list. If you do not receive the email with the link, please contact grants@futureoflife.org".