Pivotal Research — 27.Q1 Fellowship Applications close 23 August

Call for
Mentors

Work with exceptional emerging researchers for ten weeks, with the potential to extend for up to six months.

We handle recruitment, screening, logistics, research management and compute. You propose the project and guide the work.

Apply as a mentor
01

In Brief

Dates
11 January – 19 March 2027
Location
Fellows in person at LISA, London. Remote mentorship fully supported.
Commitment
Two to four hours per week
Cohort
At least 30 fellows, primarily Ph.D. students and early-career professionals, plus outstanding undergraduates
Extensions
Three to six months of funding for strong research projects
Streams
Technical AI safety, AI governance, technical AI governance and AI × Bio
Outputs
Research papers, policy reports, blog series, open-source tools and documented repositories
02

What We Ask of You

Most mentors spend two to four hours per week. We handle everything around the research.

  1. Propose the research project

    Fellows work on your research agenda. You shape the direction and develop a concrete project for your fellow before the fellowship begins.

  2. Help select your fellow

    We provide support, resources and pre-screening. You have the final say on who you work with. There is never an obligation to take a fellow if the fit is not right.

  3. Meet weekly through the fellowship

    Weekly meetings across the ten weeks, plus occasional asynchronous feedback on drafts and ideas.

Three further items. Meet your Pivotal Research Manager beforehand to align on expectations, review and sign our community health policy and complete a short pre- and post-fellowship survey.

03

Timeline

  1. Until 23 August 2026 Mentor applicationsNow open
  2. Until 18 October 2026 Fellows apply to each mentor's stream
  3. Until 27 November 2026 We run the work test, interviews and selection, then bring you a shortlist
  4. Until 8 January 2027 Project clarification and preparation
  5. 11 January – 19 March 2027 27.Q1 Fellowship

Provisional. We confirm dates with you before anything is fixed.

04

Past Mentors

Past mentors have come from

Google DeepMind, IAPS, GovAI, Apollo Research, Redwood Research, AI Futures Project, SecureBio, Timaeus and other leading organisations.

05

Where Past Fellows Are Now

  • Kristina FortResearch Manager, LawAI. Previously Policy, Google DeepMind
  • Soroush EbadianResearch Fellow, Anthropic
  • Aidan HomewoodResearch Scholar, GovAI
  • Elsie JangEmerging Scholar, Mercatus Center
  • Theodore EhrenborgResearch Engineer, Apollo Research
  • Ben BucknallD.Phil., University of Oxford. Previously Research Scholar, GovAI
  • Nick MarshGrantmaker, Macroscopic. Previously Policy Researcher, AI Futures Project
  • Hamza Tariq ChaudhryAI and National Security Lead, FLI

Propose a Project

The form takes under two minutes. It is an expression of interest, not a commitment. We review responses as they arrive.

Complete the mentor interest form