GovAI Winter Fellowship 2027

Seasonal Fellows on the Research Track join GovAI to conduct independent research on a topic of their choice, with mentorship from leading experts in the field. Each fellow is paired with a supervisor from the GovAI team or network. They spend the first two weeks of the fellowship exploring the AI governance landscape, before settling on a research proposal with input from their supervisors. Their research could result in a report, white paper, journal article, op-ed, or blog post targeted at an audience relevant to AI governance.

Alongside their projects, fellows will also invest time in upskilling on AI governance and widening their professional network. GovAI will organize a series of Q&A sessions with AI governance experts, weekly seminars aimed at developing subject-matter knowledge, workshops for building relevant skills,  work-in-progress meetings that facilitate peer-to-peer feedback, and social events. Fellows will also be encouraged to discuss follow-on career opportunities with our team and network. 

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineJuly 12, 2026
• ValueFully Funded
• Study LevelPostdoctoral Fellowships
• SponsorGovernance AI (GovAI)

Benefits

• Fellows will join for three months in Washington, DC, from January 18th to April 9th, 2027.
• Fellows will receive a stipend of $21,000, plus support for traveling to DC.
• This is an in-person role.
• While in DC, GovAI provide fellows with lunch on weekdays and a desk in the DC office.
• Only candidates who have the right to work in the US are eligible to apply; GovAI do not sponsor visas for this fellowship.
• This is intended to be a full-time role. However, if you are a current researcher at a DC think tank, a staffer in a government office, or a DC-based professional doing work relevant to AI governance, GovAI may be able to facilitate a part-time fellowship at a pro-rated salary. If the pay represents a barrier to your participation in the fellowship, GovAI may be able to make accommodations. If you have any questions around this, please contact Martin Fukui ([email protected]) with a copy of your CV and a brief explanation of your requirements.

Requirements

strongly encourage you to apply if you are interested in using your career to help decision-makers navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI, in roles in which research is not the main duty. Some of the most in-demand roles in the field currently are operations and communications staff, research and program managers, and policy engagement professionals.

We are interested in candidates from a broad set of professional backgrounds, including those with experience in government, academia, industry, startups, media, or civil society. There are no specific requirements for the role, although we expect that the most promising candidates will typically have relevant professional experience in roles involving, for example, communications, policy, issue advocacy, events, research management, program management, operations, fundraising, or research.

When assessing applications, we will be looking for candidates who have the following strengths or show positive signs of being able to develop them:

• Relevant expertise: Skills or knowledge that are likely to be useful for non-research roles in AI governance. As mentioned above, we think that relevant expertise can take many different forms. 
• Quality of work: The ability to perform at the highest level in their area of expertise. We are looking for signals of excellence.
• Judgement: The ability to prioritise between different projects, and good intuitions about the feasibility of different projects.
• ‍Team fit: Openness to feedback, commitment to intellectual honesty and rigour, comfort in expressing uncertainty, and a serious interest in using your career to contribute to AI governance.

Check also:
Fairleigh Dickinson Scholarships for International Students 2026

Application Deadline

How To Apply

The application process consists of three stages: 

• In the first round, candidates submit a written application and, if selected, complete a short (approximately 20-minute) automated abstract reasoning assessment, which serves as a pathway to the second round.
• The second round consists of a paid, remote work test, to which we will invite candidates in August. 
• The third round, which takes place in September, consists of a remote interview and reference checks. 
• We expect to communicate final decisions to candidates in October.

Application Forms

• UK Winter Fellowship 2027, Applied Track
• UK Winter Fellowship 2027, Research Track
• DC Winter Fellowship 2027

Please contact [email protected] if you:

• Need a decision communicated by a particular date
• Require assistance with the application due to a disability
• Have questions about the application process

For more information on UK Winter Fellowship 2027, Applied Track, kindly visit GovAI Fellowship webpage.

For more information on UK Winter Fellowship 2027, Research Track, kindly visit GovAI Fellowship webpage.

For more information on DC Winter Fellowship 2027, kindly visit GovAI Fellowship webpage