UK Summer Fellowship 2027, Research Track in London

Summer Fellows will join us in London from 7th June to 27th August, 2027. Seasonal Fellowships are three-month opportunities designed to accelerate or launch impactful careers in AI governance and policy. Participants in the Research Track conduct a research project of their choice. They also participate in expert Q&As and a seminar series aimed at developing a broad understanding of the field, and spend time forging connections with other researchers and practitioners.

We welcome a wide range of applicants, from early-career individuals to experienced researchers or policy professionals with established track records in adjacent fields. We think this track would be an especially good fit for candidates interested in contributing to AI governance in roles in which producing or consuming research or policy analysis is one of the main duties.

Applications for the Summer Fellowship 2027 are now open. The deadline for applications is 23:59 UK time (GMT) Sunday 22 November, 2026.

About the Team

GovAI was founded to help decision-makers navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI, by producing rigorous research and fostering talent. Our researchers have published in top venues and work closely with decision-makers across government, industry, and civil society. Our alumni have gone on to influential roles in government, leading AI companies, top think tanks, and leading universities.

Our team and affiliate community possess expertise across risk management, threat modeling, frontier AI regulation, technical governance, agent governance, AI economics, international cooperation, US-China relations, and AI forecasting. Since publishing our first research agenda in 2018, we have helped define and shape the field of AI governance.

About the Fellowship

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.

Qualifications and Selection Criteria

We 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. We are interested in candidates from a broad set of professional backgrounds, including those with experience in government, academia, industry, or civil society. There are no specific requirements for the role, although we expect that the most promising candidates will typically have relevant graduate study, research experience, or professional experience in policy or related areas.

Relevant areas of expertise include public policy, political science, computer science, economics, biosecurity, cybersecurity, China studies, and risk management.

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

• Quality of work: The ability to produce clearly written, insightful, and even-handed research.
• Relevant expertise: Skills or knowledge that are likely to be helpful for work on AI governance.
• Judgment: The ability to prioritize between different research directions, and good intuitions about the feasibility of different research directions.
• Team fit: Openness to feedback, commitment to intellectual honesty and rigor, comfort in expressing uncertainty, and a serious interest in using your career to contribute to AI governance.

Salary, Duration, and Location

Summer Fellows will join for three months, between 7 June and 27 August 2027, in our office in London, UK. Fellows will receive a salary of £14,000, plus support for traveling to London. While in London, we provide our Fellows with lunch on weekdays and a desk in our London office. This is intended to be a full-time and in-person role. If you have children or other caring responsibilities, we're open to discussing some remote working.

For successful applicants who require a visa, note that you will need to remain in your country of visa application for some time while the visa application is underway.

Senior Candidates

We realize that for senior professionals or academics, some of the above may present obstacles to your participation in the fellowship. For candidates with exceptional profiles, we sometimes can make accommodations.

Addressing complex AI governance challenges requires many different skillsets and perspectives. We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. If our mission excites you, we encourage you to apply, even if your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification listed.

Depending on the role and applicable legal and compliance requirements, some candidates may be asked to undergo background checks and/or due diligence and sanctions screening as part of the selection process. By applying, you acknowledge that such checks may be carried out where necessary.