CIP Research Fellowship
Call for Proposals: Pilot Cohort
The Collective Intelligence Project is seeking three research fellows to work with our proprietary datasets and produce original academic and public-facing outputs at the intersection of AI, public values, and democratic governance. This is an opportunity to conduct original, publishable researchusing data that does not exist anywhere else.
Fellowship size: 3 Fellows (pilot cohort)
Duration: 6 months
Commitment: 5–10 hours per week, bi-weekly 1 hour virtual lab meetings
Format: Remote, non-residential
Compensation: Fixed stipend of $9,000 paid in three milestone-based tranches
Application deadline: May 15th, 2026.
Data Available
Fellows will have internal access to three CIP projects:
Global Dialogues: Recurring multi-country surveys tracking public attitudes toward AI across 70+ countries, with 7+ completed rounds. Data includes binary votes, pairwise comparisons, open-ended responses, and demographic segmentation. (Mostly) open on GitHub.
Collective Generation: Our deliberative methodology for building AI evaluation frameworks through bridging consensus. Fellows will have access to datasets from deliberative sessions.
Weval: An open AI evaluation platform hosting 100+ community-contributed blueprints testing 112+ model configurations. Scores range from ~23% to ~95% on the same evaluations, reflecting genuine variation in how models handle socially complex tasks. Fellows will have access to codebase, evaluation platform, and internal tools for creating, hosting, and running evaluations.
Cohort Structure
To prevent overlap and encourage complementary work, each fellow will be selected to engage with the data through a distinct thematic lens. We are looking for fellows to work across these thematic areas:
Democratic & Comparative
Cross-national analysis of how diverse publics reason about AI values, governance, and risk. Possible topics include polarization and consensus patterns across countries; cultural and demographic drivers of AI attitudes; or comparative analysis of how deliberative processes surface different priorities across populations.
Communication & Deliberation
Analysis of how people articulate, reason about, and negotiate AI-related values in deliberative settings. Possible topics include discourse and framing patterns in open-ended responses; how reasoning shifts through exposure to other perspectives; or computational text analysis of qualitative feedback across languages and cultures.
Governance & Institutions
Analysis of what the data reveals about public demand for specific AI governance approaches. Possible topics include how trust in institutions shapes preferences for regulatory frameworks; where public consensus exists (or does not) on concrete policy questions; or how governance preferences cluster across national and political contexts.
These orientations are illustrative, not prescriptive. Strong proposals that engage seriously with CIP’s mission will be considered regardless of exact framing.
Deliverables & Timeline
Compensation is tied to three milestones. Fellows will be paid in tranches upon delivery of each:
Phase I. Onboarding (Month 1): Signed agreement + 2-page Research Plan finalized
Phase II. Analysis (Months 2–4): Preliminary findings presentation to CIP team
Phase III. Draft (Months 5-6): A final deliverable, such as a published paper, a series of public blog posts, or a working prototype.
Who Should Apply
We are primarily looking for late-stage PhD candidates (ABD) or early-career postdoctoral researchers in Political Science, Computational Social Science, Sociology, or Computer Science (ML/AI). Candidates from adjacent disciplines with strong quantitative or mixed-methods backgrounds are welcome. Others with different levels of educational attainment are welcome to apply, given that they are able to show high-levels of self-direction. International candidates are welcome to apply.
We are not primarily selecting on prestige or institutional affiliation. We are selecting for researchers who will produce rigorous, original work and who are genuinely motivated by the questions the data can answer.
What Fellows Receive
Exclusive access to new large-scale multi-country deliberative datasets on public AI values
Fixed stipend paid in thee milestone-based tranches over 6 months
Co-authorship on CIP Working Papers
Public visibility via CIP’s channels and affiliation with a recognized AI governance organization
Peer network with the other two fellows in the cohort
Direct input into future CIP research projects and data collections
How to Apply
Applications must include the following:
A 1-page research proposal describing your proposed research, the specific data you would draw on, and why the questions are worth answering [please speak to impact and novelty]. Proposals should be grounded in our data available (above) and can include other publicly available data.
A CV, resume, (2 pages max), or LinkedIn profile.
A brief statement (200–300 words) describing your experience with large datasets and your interest in CIP’s work.
A writing sample demonstrating analytical rigor (a paper, working paper, or blog post).
Before applying, please explore the publicly available Global Dialogues data on GitHub (github.com/collect-intel/global-dialogues).
We will review applications on a rolling basis and aim to contact shortlisted candidates within two weeks of of the May 15th deadline. We reserve the right to select earlier applicants before the deadline.
Apply Now →
FAQ
Are non-US residents eligible to apply?
Yes! We welcome applicants from all over the globe.
I’m not a PhD student or a postdoc. Can I still apply?
Yes! We are above all looking for qualified and experienced researchers. We encourage you to apply even if you are not a PhD or postdoc.
Do I have to be affiliated with an institution to apply?
Nope. Independent scholars are welcome.
When is the start date?
We are doing rolling admissions, so there is no set start date. But expect to begin around early to mid-June.
Questions? Contact us at fellowship@cip.org.
About CIP
The Collective Intelligence Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization building the tools and knowledge needed for democratic oversight of AI. Our work spans large-scale longitudinal survey research, deliberative methodologies for AI governance and broader Alignment Assemblies, open AI evaluation infrastructure, and preference verification frameworks. We believe that getting AI right requires the active, informed participation of the publics it will affect, and we build the infrastructure to make that possible.