MATS research has officially opened applications for its fall 2026 fellowship cohort, offering researchers and field builders the opportunity to collaborate with leading experts in artificial intelligence safety, governance, and coordination.
This fellowship program connects selected participants with mentors from globally recognized AI organizations such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Redwood Research, and ARC.
The program is designed to support emerging researchers working to reduce risks associated with cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems while contributing to AI coordination, transparency, governance, and security research.
About the MATS Fellowship Program
The MATS program provides fellows with extensive support that allows them to focus full-time on high-impact AI safety research and field-building activities.
Selected Fellows will receive:
- financial aid
- Access to computing resources
- housing and meals
- Research management support
- Guidance from leading AI researchers
- Access to a highly driven global research community
The Fall 2026 program is scheduled to begin on the following dates:
Research tracks available
Applicants can apply to one or more research tracks during the first stage of the application process.
The program currently supports seven tracks:
- Empirical research
- theory
- Strategy and prediction
- Policy and governance
- system security
- Founding and construction site
- biosecurity
These tracks are designed to accommodate a wide range of research interests and professional backgrounds related to AI safety and governance.
Stage 1: General application
The first application phase is currently open and available until the following period:
The typical application process typically takes 1-2 hours depending on the number of tracks selected by the applicant.
Applicants must submit the following:
- Personal and educational information
- Short answers tailored to your chosen research track
- Contact details of two references
MATS says it does not contact references until later in the hiring process.
Applicants returning from the Summer 2026 cohort can log in and pre-fill sections of the application.
Stage 2: Central assessment
Applicants who pass the first screening will move on to the second stage, which includes a uniform assessment tailored to their specific track.
Evaluation areas include:
- empirical trajectory
- Studying taste evaluation
- Evaluation of technical implementation
- Policy and Governance Track
- write a review
- Analytical reasoning exercises
Applicants in some other tracks can proceed directly to the stream application stage.
Stage 3: Stream application
At this stage, applicants apply directly to a specific mentoring stream tailored to their interests and expertise.
Each stream represents one or more leaders working on a shared research question.
Applicants may be asked to:
- Answer stream-specific questions
- Submission of research proposal
- Complete an interview or work test according to mentor requirements
Final selection and offer
Following mentor evaluation and applicant ranking, a matching process determines final fellowship placement.
Offer notifications are scheduled to be released in the following periods:
- Late July to early August 2026
Who should apply?
The MATS program is seeking highly motivated individuals who will contribute to:
- AI alignment research
- AI transparency and interpretability
- AI governance and policy
- Frontier AI safety
- system security
- Biosecurity related to emerging technologies
The program welcomes researchers, technology experts, strategists, policy thinkers, and field builders interested in mitigating long-term risks associated with advanced artificial intelligence systems.
Why this fellowship is important
Frontier AI As systems continue to evolve rapidly, there is a growing global focus on ensuring that advanced technologies are developed responsibly and safely. MATS Fellowships provide emerging researchers with an important pathway to work directly with leading experts tackling some of the most pressing challenges in AI safety and governance.
The program also provides important networking opportunities and exposure to an influential research community working at the forefront of artificial intelligence policy and technology collaboration research.
Application deadline
The application deadlines for the MATS Fall 2026 Fellowship are:
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Disclaimer: Global South Opportunities (GSO) is not the organization providing this opportunity. For inquiries, please contact the official organization directly. Please do not submit your application or resume to GSO as it cannot be processed by GSO. Due to the large volume of emails we receive every day, we may not be able to reply to all inquiries. Thank you for your understanding.
