The Cambridge ERA:AI Fellowship has opened applications for its Winter 2027 cohort, offering a fully funded 10-week research programme in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The fellowship is designed for researchers, professionals, and emerging experts interested in addressing high-priority challenges related to frontier artificial intelligence safety, governance, and technical AI governance.
The Winter 2027 fellowship will begin on 18 January 2027 and provides participants with an opportunity to develop an independent research project while receiving expert mentorship, research support, and access to a specialised professional network.
Fellowship Benefits
The Cambridge ERA:AI Fellowship provides substantial financial and professional support throughout the programme. Selected fellows will receive:
- A £10,000 stipend for the 10-week fellowship.
- Visa support for eligible international fellows.
- Meal provisions during working hours.
- Coverage of eligible travel expenses.
- Dedicated mentorship from experienced researchers and practitioners.
- Research management and project development support.
- Dedicated desk space at ERA’s Cambridge office.
- Access to networking, learning, and professional development opportunities.
- Opportunities to connect with organisations working in AI safety and governance.
- Potential pathways into longer-term research through ERA’s Research Scholars programme, which can provide six months or more of additional fully funded research work to high-performing fellows.
The fellowship is structured as an immersive research environment, allowing participants to work independently while benefiting from a wider community of researchers and professionals.
Who Can Apply?
The Cambridge ERA:AI Fellowship follows a talent-first approach and does not impose formal academic or professional eligibility requirements beyond applicants being at least 18 years old.
The programme is particularly relevant to:
- Researchers at any career stage seeking to explore AI safety or governance questions.
- Professionals from technical, policy, security, legal, economic, and related fields.
- Individuals looking to redirect an existing research agenda toward challenges created by increasingly capable AI systems.
- Applicants with distinctive disciplinary expertise or perspectives that could contribute to understanding and addressing advanced AI risks.
Applicants do not need to come from a traditional computer science background. The programme welcomes interdisciplinary perspectives and individuals capable of contributing valuable expertise to frontier AI safety and governance.
Technical AI Safety Research
The Technical research stream focuses on understanding and managing the behaviour and capabilities of increasingly advanced AI systems.
Research may cover areas including AI evaluations, interpretability, robustness, alignment, and control. Fellows may investigate dangerous capabilities, model behaviour, safeguards, monitoring systems, human oversight, and methods for controlling increasingly autonomous AI systems.
The stream is intended for researchers interested in technical approaches that can make advanced AI systems safer, more reliable, and more controllable.
AI Governance Research
The Governance stream examines the institutions, policies, regulations, and international coordination mechanisms required to manage increasingly capable AI systems.
Research areas may include regulatory design, frontier AI safety frameworks, corporate governance, international cooperation, accountability, and governance approaches for increasingly autonomous AI agents.
Fellows can contribute research aimed at helping governments, companies, and international institutions respond effectively to rapidly changing AI capabilities and risks.
Technical AI Governance
The Technical AI Governance stream sits at the intersection of technology and public policy. It examines how technical infrastructure can make AI governance more measurable, credible, and enforceable.
Research areas include:
- Compute governance.
- AI auditing.
- Monitoring of deployed AI systems.
- Hardware-enabled verification.
- Technical standards.
- Measurement of AI capabilities.
- Privacy-preserving verification.
- Monitoring and auditing of autonomous AI systems.
The research seeks to reduce reliance on trust or self-reporting by developing practical mechanisms for measurement, verification, monitoring, and enforcement.
Research and Career Development
During the fellowship, participants develop and complete a research project with support from ERA research managers, mentors, and its wider institutional network. Fellows can work with researchers from academia, government, industry, and specialist AI safety organisations.
The programme provides an opportunity to build a substantial research portfolio while developing expertise and professional networks relevant to careers in AI safety, AI governance, public policy, academia, and related fields.
Application Deadline and Process
Applications for the Winter 2027 Cambridge ERA:AI Fellowship are currently open.
The application process begins with a written application consisting primarily of short essay questions. Shortlisted applicants proceed through two interview rounds before final offers are made.
The application deadline is 13 September 2026 at 11:59 PM Anywhere on Earth (AoE).
The fellowship will commence on 18 January 2027 in Cambridge, UK.
The Cambridge ERA:AI Fellowship represents an opportunity for emerging and established researchers to investigate some of the most consequential questions surrounding advanced artificial intelligence while receiving substantial financial, research, mentorship, and professional support.
