Deadline: October 31, 2026
Applications are open for the Machine Alignment Transparency & Security (MATS) Residency Program 2027. The MATS Program seeks individuals who are deeply motivated by AI alignment, transparency, and security, and who are equipped with the skills and mindset to contribute to cutting-edge research.
The Residency is for people who have already produced research-caliber work, not for those hoping to begin. They look for at least one substantial piece of work in which you took a hard, open-ended problem, applied rigorous methods, and produced a result you were meaningfully responsible for, whether a paper, a technical report or evaluation, a serious empirical or policy analysis, or a research-grade modeling or software project. That work need not be published, in AI safety, or done in a role with ‘researcher’ in the title: confidential work, unpublished work, and rigorous research done inside industry, policy, or other settings all count, provided the rigor plausibly transfers to safety-relevant problems and you can make that case. What matters is the research itself, so a career outside research, on its own, is not the same evidence: if your strongest work has not involved sustained, self-directed inquiry into a difficult problem, the Residency is probably not the right fit yet.
Support
- MATS provides visa support for those relocating from abroad.
Eligibility
- They assess the quality and seriousness of your work, not the titles or credentials on your CV. You do not need a PhD, a role with “researcher” in your title, an extensive publication record, or a prior background in AI safety to be a strong applicant.
- The Residency is looking for talented individuals capable of producing outstanding AI safety research, including many whose best work is confidential, unpublished, or outside traditional research roles.
Application
All applicants submit the following materials through the online application:
- A short profile and eligibility section: Your contact details, current affiliation, CV (maximum 2 pages), office preference, availability for the intake, work-authorization status, highest degree, and any previous MATS involvement. This takes a few minutes, is mostly for routing and logistics, and is not itself assessed.
- Track choice: Your chosen track, and a two-to-three-sentence note on why it fits. Reviewers use this note to spot early on whether a different track might suit you better.
- References: Submit two references who can speak directly to the quality of your work. If your strongest work is confidential or was completed as part of a larger team, your referees may attest to your contribution in place of publicly available evidence. Some tracks have additional requirements for referees. See the track-specific requirements below.
- Representative work sample: Submit one work sample that best represents your strongest or most relevant work. This might include a paper, repository, technical report, evaluation, policy analysis, or another substantial research output.
- Written responses: Complete two short written responses and a brief counterfactual question about what you would do if you were not offered a place in the Residency.
Applications are reviewed by the MATS Residency team with input from the program’s advisors where appropriate. You will hear about the outcome of your application by the end of November 2026. Shortlisted applicants will then be invited to an interview or a paid work test in the first week of December 2026, depending on track and research area. Information about the interview and the panel members will be shared beforehand. Selected Residents will be informed by the end of 2026, with a plan to start in early 2027.
For more information, visit MATS Residency Program.
