How to apply for Facilitator, Research Fellowship

About Mercial

Mercial is a UK AI safety community that develops research fellows, runs hackathons, and provides technical bootcamp training open to anyone. It is remote-first and part-time, so you can contribute from anywhere. The role is with a small, focused group that values well-argued AI safety work.

About the role

You will guide fellows through a month-long AI safety research fellowship, providing accountability and feedback on their written work. You check in weekly to discuss research direction and project progress. Fellows choose research problems from your suggestions or a provided list, and you sanity-check their work without day-to-day supervision.

A typical day

A typical week includes one or two remote check-ins with fellows to discuss research direction and project progress. Between check-ins, you read drafts and sanity-check arguments, then send written feedback. The rest of your time is your own, since the role is part-time and remote.

Who Mercial is looking for

• Has demonstrated experience producing well-argued AI safety work, such as a substantial project, published post, or prior research.
• Can commit one to two hours per week to weekly check-ins and written feedback.
• Is comfortable sanity-checking fellows' work without day-to-day supervision.
• Can suggest research problems and guide fellows on research direction and project progress.

Tips for this application

• Show a concrete example of your AI safety research: link to a published post, project, or paper and briefly explain your argument and evidence.
• Explain how you would structure a month-long fellowship: what weekly check-ins would cover and how you would keep fellows accountable.
• Describe how you sanity-check research without supervising daily: what you look for in a draft and how you give feedback.
• State your availability clearly: one to two hours per week, and how you would schedule remote check-ins across time zones.
• Mention any experience guiding or reviewing others' research, even informally, since the role is about feedback and accountability.

What to cover in your cover letter

Your cover letter should focus on: (1) your own well-argued AI safety work, with a link and a short summary of the argument; (2) your approach to giving feedback on written research and keeping fellows accountable; (3) how you would suggest research problems and sanity-check fellows' work without day-to-day supervision; (4) your availability for one to two hours per week and how you would run remote weekly check-ins.

Research before applying

• Read Mercial's description: it is a UK AI safety community that develops research fellows, runs hackathons, and provides technical bootcamp training open to anyone.
• Look for any public list of research problems or past fellowship outputs from Mercial to understand what fellows work on.
• Check if Mercial has published examples of well-argued AI safety work from fellows or staff, to match your own work to their standard.
• Find out how Mercial runs its hackathons and bootcamps, since the fellowship is part of the same community and may share norms.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• Walk us through a piece of your AI safety research: what was the question, your argument, and the evidence?
• How would you run a weekly check-in with a fellow to provide accountability and feedback on research direction?
• A fellow's draft has a weak argument. How do you sanity-check it and what feedback do you give?
• What research problems would you suggest to fellows, and why are they suitable for a month-long fellowship?
• How do you manage your time for one to two hours per week across multiple fellows without day-to-day supervision?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Applying without a concrete example of your own well-argued AI safety work, such as a substantial project, published post, or prior research.
• Ignoring the one to two hours per week commitment or being vague about your availability for weekly check-ins.
• Treating the role as day-to-day supervision when the job says you sanity-check fellows' work without day-to-day supervision.