Tag Archives: Research Funding

Events, Opportunities, other events, PhD/post doctoral

ASSOCIATION COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITIES EARLY CAREER CONFERENCE GRANTS

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Application Deadline: 13 October 2026, 15:00 UTC

LOCATION: United Kingdom

Early Career Conference Grants help to ensure that emerging researchers—and the universities that employ them—can benefit from the valuable opportunity of attending and taking part in in-person conferences in Commonwealth countries outside of their country of work. 

For emerging academics, taking part in conferences can have a profound impact on their teaching and research. These events are a chance to share research, learn about the latest developments in an area of work, and build valuable professional networks.

ELIGIBILITY:

Applicants must: 

Be an early-career researcher/academic at an ACU member university. 

Early career researchers/academics are those who are within 7 years of the start of their academic (research/teaching) career, with the exception of those who have had career breaks.  

A career break is a period of time out from employment for personal or professional reasons, including to care for children. 

Be within 7 years of the start of their academic (research/teaching) career, with the exception of those who have had career breaks. A career break is a period of time out from employment for personal or professional reasons, including to care for children. 

Identify a conference that they would like to attend in a Commonwealth country taking place between February 2027 and January 2028. 

Note: Applicants need to be either chairing a session, presenting a paper, or presenting a poster at the proposed conference.

Review the application guidance and FAQs.

Submit an application through the online application form.

If you already have a MyACU account, you can access the grant application form through this platform when applications open. 

If you do not already have a MyACU account, please ensure that you first register for an account and then follow the instructions in the registration email to log in to the system before accessing the application form.

Applicants cannot: 

Have previously traveled for work purposes (including conferences) outside of their region of employment since the start of their academic career.

Be a previous recipient of an ACU Early Career Conference Grant (previously known as Early Career Academic Grants).

BENEFIT:

Seven grants are available at a maximum of GBP 2,000, which can be used to cover: 

Conference registration fee 

Flights 

Accommodation 

Visa costs 

Travel and health insurance 

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awards, Events, Opportunities, other events, PhD/post doctoral

CAMBRIDGE ERA: AI FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

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Application Deadline: 13th September 2026, 11:59pm Anywhere on Earth.

LOCATION: United Kingdom

Applications are now open for the Cambridge ERA:AI Fellowship. This is a 10-week research program hosted in Cambridge, UK, with their winter fellowship starting on 18th January, 2027. The first stage of the application process primarily consists of short essay questions (and should take you about 2 hours).

ELIGIBILITY:

Anyone! They are a talent-first programme and care about much more than just credentials. In fact, they are excited to support fellows from a wide range of subject areas who are committed to their mission. There are no formal eligibility restrictions beyond being 18 or older.

The Cambridge ERA:AI Fellowship is especially (though not exclusively) valuable for:

Researchers at any career stage looking to apply their expertise to high-priority questions in AI safety or governance, explore a new research direction, or work across disciplinary boundaries;

Professionals from technical, policy, security, legal, economic or other relevant fields who want to bring their existing expertise to frontier AI safety and governance;

People seeking to deepen or redirect an existing research agenda towards problems arising from increasingly capable AI systems; and

People with distinctive domain expertise or perspectives that could improve how we understand and address risks from advanced AI.

BENEFIT:

Full funding: Fellows receive a stipend of £10,000. On top of this, their fellows receive visa support, meal provisions during working hours, and travel expense coverage.

Expert mentorship: Fellows will work closely with a mentor on their research agenda for the fellowship. See our Mentors page to learn about previous mentors (but note that ERA mentors differ for each cohort as we match fellows with mentors once they are accepted).

Research Support: Many of their alumni have gone on to publish their research in top journals and conferences such as NeurIPS. They provide dedicated research management support to help their fellows become strong researchers / policymakers in the field.

Community: Fellows are immersed in a learning environment. They will have a dedicated desk space at their office in Cambridge and participate in regular social events and community activities throughout the fellowship.

Networking and learning opportunities: They assist fellows in developing the necessary skills, expertise, and networks to thrive in an AI safety or policy career. They can facilitate introductions to many organizations in the field. In special cases, they also provide extra financial assistance to support impactful career transitions.

Significant extensions available: They offer 6mo+ full-time, funded positions to their top fellows at ERA to continue their research beyond the 10-week fellowship via their Research Scholars programme.

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