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Open Philanthropy University Organizer Fellowship

This fellowship provides funding for individuals who want to direct or support university student groups focused on topics relevant to improving the long-term future, including effective altruism, longtermism, rationality, or specific cause areas. Individuals are eligible for funding at any college or university and may apply without a particular university in mind.

Fellows receive:

  • Full-time US and UK funding equivalent to $45K - $80K per year for undergraduates, and $60K - $95K per year for non-undergraduates (including those no longer at university), depending on location, track record, and university. These salaries will be pro-rated for part-time organizers and adjusted for other countries according to cost-of-living and other location-specific factors.
  • Dedicated funding for group expenses, commonly ranging from $5,000 to $100,000+ per year, depending on the group’s funding needs.
  • (For organizers working 20 hours per week or more:) $3,000 per year to spend on personal productivity improvements and travel to relevant conferences and workshops.1

Fellows working full-time in the US will additionally receive a $14,050 annual health insurance stipend.2

Apply here for the university organizer fellowship on behalf of yourself or someone you would like to hire. If you would like to request additional funding for your group without applying for the fellowship, please fill out this shorter form.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis.

If you have any questions, email [email protected].

Program details

This fellowship supports both students and non-students who want to work part- or full-time supporting university groups.

We are interested in supporting work on a wide variety of student groups, including those focused on:

Candidates may indicate general interest in directing or supporting university groups without having a particular location in mind; we can suggest and discuss potential options during our evaluation process.

Applicants may be interested in looking at the EA Student Groups Handbook and EA Groups Resource Centre for existing resources on running university student groups.

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Alternative funding sources

Individuals looking to run city and national effective altruism groups in select locations3 may want to apply for funding from the Centre for Effective Altruism’s Community Building Grant program.

Individuals looking for extremely fast funding (within a few days) for certain common group expenses may want to apply for funding through the Global Challenges Project’s fast funding form.

Any effective altruism-related group or meta project (including those this program would fund) can apply for funding from the Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund, though going forward we intend to optimize this fellowship to be a smoother funding experience for student organizers in particular.

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Application process

Apply here for the full fellowship for yourself or someone you would like to hire, and here for additional university group funding only (available to fellows or non-fellows).

The fellowship application asks for:

  • Background information about you
  • How many hours you expect to work per week (minimum 10 hours per semester)
  • Ideal funding duration
  • If you are interested in a specific group:
    • What group you would like to work on
    • A brief description of the role or activities you expect to perform
    • Any past experience relevant to your role above
    • (Optionally) How much additional funding your group could use and what you would use it for
  • If you are not interested in a specific group:
    • Your preferences over groups to work with
    • Your ideal role(s) in a group
    • Any past experience relevant to your ideal roles above
  • (Optional) References

If you pass our initial screen, we will follow up with next steps, which may include requests for additional information or an invitation to have an interview with an Open Philanthropy staff member.

We expect to make final decisions on most applicants within three weeks of receiving their applications, with some applications taking up to six weeks. We are able to make decisions more quickly for applicants who indicate time-sensitivity on their applications. We generally expect the evaluation process to be significantly shorter and faster for applicants with past experience doing university organizing for the kinds of groups funded by this fellowship.

  • 1. We may adjust this number for locations outside of the US and UK.
  • 2. This includes $10,000 earmarked for spending on health insurance (including vision, dental, and other relevant insurance) as well as an additional $4,050 “tax gross-up” to account for taxes paid on the stipend.
  • 3. As of November 2021, eligible locations are:

    • Australia (national)
    • Berlin, Germany (city)
    • Boston, USA (city)
    • Canada (national)
    • Czech Republic (national)
    • France (national)
    • Germany (national)
    • India (national)
    • London, UK
    • Netherlands (national)
    • New York City, USA
    • Norway (national)
    • Oxford, UK (city)
    • San Francisco Bay area, USA (city)
    • Sweden (national)
    • Switzerland (national)
    • Washington DC, USA (city)
    • Effective Altruism Anywhere (a virtual group for people unable to access a local EA group)

    See more details on the Centre for Effective Altruism website