Pathfinder is a selective fellowship for students organizing technical AI safety or AI policy university groups around the world. We provide resources to help fellows develop into on-campus leaders, preparing themselves and their group members for careers in the field.

Specifically, Pathfinder provides: 

• Funding for group expenses. Pathfinder organizers can apply for funding to support their group’s activities, including everything from compute to speaker events to pizza. Graduate students can also apply for a stipend to support their time spent on the group.
• Mentorship. We pair accepted fellows with experienced organizers who will support your planning, share tried-and-tested advice, and work closely with you on your specific goals and challenges.
• Other resources. Pathfinder will host workshops, organize coffee chats between organizers, provide a Slack community, and share access to the AI Safety Groups Resource Center, which contains dozens of articles on how to build and manage an AIS university group.

See here for more information.

Experienced organizers who don’t have a need for mentorship, or groups in exceptional circumstances, can submit standalone grant requests through our Pathfinder Support Grants program. This program supports groups’ general budgets and can provide top-up grants for specific activities (like funding for a hackathon). 

Both mentor and fellow applications are open through November 23.

Am I a good fit?

Mentors

We're looking for mentors with:

• Previous experience organizing a university group, typically at least 1 year.
• Strong interest in mentorship.
• Reliability and good communication skills.

If you're uncertain about whether you're a good fit, we encourage you to submit an application rather than worrying about whether you meet our bar.

Fellows

Pathfinder fellows must:

• Help lead or plan to found a university AI safety group, whether graduate or undergraduate. This includes groups focused on technical safety, AI policy, AI security, AI welfare, etc.
• Have a strong interest in AI safety and enough knowledge of the field to explain core AI risk concerns to a beginner.

Fellows can be based anywhere in the world.

If you meet these criteria, we’d be excited to see your application!