Apply for the Digital Minds Fellowship (Aug 3–9, Cambridge University)

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2026·EA Forum·forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/NRdWZKqGyNpsXRQfJ/apply...

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Lucius Caviola

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This EA Forum post advertises a fellowship program on digital minds and AI moral status at Cambridge; relevant to those tracking institutional capacity-building in AI welfare and consciousness research within the broader AI safety ecosystem.

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Opportunities to take actionAI safetyCareer choicePhilosophyFellowships and internshipsArtificial sentienceAnnouncements and updatesApplication announcements

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Summary

This is an announcement for the Digital Minds Fellowship, a week-long program held at Cambridge University focused on the moral and philosophical status of digital minds, including AI systems. The fellowship aims to bring together researchers and thinkers to explore questions around AI consciousness, sentience, and welfare. It represents a growing focus on AI moral patienthood as a distinct subfield within AI safety.

Key Points

•Week-long residential fellowship (Aug 3–9) hosted at Cambridge University for researchers interested in digital minds and AI consciousness.
•Focuses on philosophical and empirical questions about the moral status of AI systems and other digital entities.
•Targets participants with backgrounds in philosophy, cognitive science, AI safety, and related fields.
•Reflects increasing institutional interest in AI welfare and moral patienthood as serious research areas.
•Applications are open, suggesting this is an early-stage or inaugural cohort for the program.

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# Apply for the Digital Minds Fellowship (Aug 3–9, Cambridge University)
By Lucius Caviola
Published: 2026-02-20
Digital minds may become one of the most consequential issues of the future — and the world needs people prepared to navigate it. We're launching the Digital Minds Fellowship, a fully funded week-long program at Cambridge for 15 participants looking to build careers in digital minds/AI welfare. Applications open now, deadline March 27.

**Why this fellowship?**

Unlike more established fields such as AI safety and governance, the digital minds field is still nascent. Identifying promising research questions is harder, career paths are less clear, and the community is smaller. 

**Program structure**

The fellowship runs August 3–9, 2026 at Jesus College, Cambridge, and has three modules:

*   **Philosophical & Technical Foundations** (2 days, led by [Derek Shiller](https://derekshiller.com), Rethink Priorities) — covering LLM architectures, philosophical frameworks for consciousness and moral status, and what current systems might (and might not) imply for cognition and experience.
*   **Societal Implications & Strategy** (2 days, led by [me](https://luciuscaviola.com)) — scenario planning, intervention design, policy frameworks, public communication, and stakeholder engagement.
*   **Project Scoping & Career Planning** (1 day) — developing well-scoped project ideas and concrete next steps, supported by leading experts.

Fellows are paired with a mentor before the program and will also be invited to the two-day **Digital Minds Strategy Workshop** (Aug 8–9), alongside senior researchers and field leaders.

**Who should apply?**

The fellowship is designed for people well-positioned to make meaningful contributions to digital minds research:

*   Graduate students, postdocs, and early-career academics — especially those in philosophy working on or adjacent to digital minds
*   Professionals in government, policy, or industry who want to shift their focus toward digital minds
*   Exceptional earlier-stage individuals with strong demonstrated ability and commitment to the field

**What's covered**

The fellowship is fully funded: travel, accommodation at Jesus College, and a £1,000 stipend (~$1,366).

**How to apply**

Applications are open now. The deadline is **March 27, 2026**.

👉 [**Apply here**](https://digitalminds.cam/fellowship/)

The fellowship is organized by [Cambridge Digital Minds](https://digitalminds.cam) (University of Cambridge) in partnership with Rethink Priorities and PRISM.

Feel free to reach out with any questions at [info@digitalminds.cam](mailto:info@digitalminds.cam).

*(PS: I don't have enough karma to cross-post this on LessWrong — DM me if you can help!)*

![](https://39669.cdn.cke-cs.com/cgyAlfpLFBBiEjoXacnz/images/28c5f432cad1b4c96739d3bb085c229207214944497af5dd.png)

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