Early Career Conference Programme and Global Priorities Fellowship

Applications for ECCP 2022 are now closed. The ECCP 2023 has been merged with the Global Priorities Fellowship to become the Oxford Global Priorities Fellowship 2023.

Overview

Both the Global Priorities Fellowship (run by the Forethought Foundation for Global Priorities Research) and the Early Career Conference Programme (run by the Global Priorities Institute) exist to create a community of early-career researchers interested in global priorities research, as well as to facilitate connections and research exchange between participants and to support their career development.

These two programmes are organised in close collaboration between GPI and the Forethought Foundation. There is a joint application process for the fellowship and Early Career Conference Programme (ECCP) and all participants on the Early Career Conference Programme will automatically receive a Global Priorities Fellowship (unless they opt out voluntarily)

The Global Priorities Fellowship - Forethought Foundation

The fellowship aims to support promising graduate students (including masters students) and early-career postdocs (primarily in economics and philosophy) in contributing to global priorities research, with a particular focus on issues that are of relevance to improving the wellbeing of future generations over the very long term. Fellows will receive a stipend of GBP 5,000 (unless they are already postdocs) and are encouraged to attend the yearly fellows’ event in Oxford, United Kingdom. The stipend is for one year in the first instance, but is open to renewal for a second year.

The Early Conference Career Programme (ECCP) - Global Priorities Institute

The ECCP programme allows PhD students, postdocs and early-career faculty in economics and philosophy to visit Oxford for 4 weeks in June to work on a project related to global priorities research. We are looking for researchers to develop and present fundamental research on how to do the most good and are particularly interested in applicants who may be interested in moving into related areas of academic research in the longer term, whether as full-time GPI researchers or via the research component of academic positions elsewhere.

Each participant will select and focus on a particular research project, of central importance to the question of how to do good effectively. Topics for these research projects may be taken from GPI’s research agenda, although participants are also encouraged to pursue other projects that are consistent with GPI’s vision and mission. (See this document on Research Prioritisation for information about how to select a project.)

We particularly encourage participants to explore new research projects during the ECCP. Research proposals need not indicate an original program of research or an original line of argument to be pursued, but should ensure to outline at least one research topic consistent with GPI’s vision and mission on which the applicant intends to work if admitted to the program, and to explain why they consider this topic to be especially valuable for them to work on.

Participants will be supervised by a member of GPI's core research team. In economics, Assistant Professor Antony Millner and Professor Julian Jamison will also be available as supervisors, as well as other more senior external visitors.

The culmination of the Early Career Conference Programme is a conference at which each programme participant presents their project. Prior to this, participants can advance their projects through workshopping and discussion with other project participants and GPI researchers. Reciprocally, participants will provide feedback on others’ projects.

Participants will also be invited to attend a two-day workshop on global priorities research that will take place during their stay in Oxford. GPI also usually awards a paper prize associated with the programme, the winning paper of the 2019 programme can be found here.

In 2022, the programme will be running from Monday 6 June 2022 to Friday 1 July 2022.

What you get

Global Priorities Fellowship

  • A stipend of GBP 5,000 for the first year (not applicable for postdoc applicants and open to renewal for a second year)
  • Optional productivity coaching sessions
  • Invitation to a fellows event in Oxford and one of GPI’s Oxford Workshops on Global Priorities Research 
  • Being part of a community of Fellows excited about doing global priorities research

ECCP

  • A one-month visit to the Global Priorities Institute with research supervision by GPI researchers
  • Travel to and accommodation in Oxford for the duration of the programme 
  • All ECCP participants will automatically receive a Global Priorities Fellowship (unless they want to opt out)

What previous participants said:

Petra Kosenen

"The ECCP was a great opportunity to meet others working on the same topics as me. I also really enjoyed the social activities such as punting and dinners."

Aidan Penn

"The ECCP provided a supportive environment that fast-tracked my research, expanded my understanding of global priorities issues, and encouraged collaboration with other early-career researchers. I highly recommend the program to any early-career academics interested in global priorities issues."

Firat Akova

"Bringing enthusiastic, committed, and visionary researchers together, the Programme provides a fantastic hub for sharing research, giving and receiving feedback, and laying the foundations of new projects. The Programme fosters openness, experimentality, and non-hierarchical collaboration."

Zach Groff

"The ECCP introduced me to research ideas and collaborators that continue to drive my agenda over two years later. The program was a turning point in my career as a grad student and helped me to see how I could get traction on the world's most pressing problems using the tools of economics."

Kevin Kuruc

"My interactions with GPI - the Early Career Conference Programme, in particular - has led to many productive friendships. As an early career academic, building this network of colleagues interested in global priorities research has been invaluable. In fact, my most exciting new project is a collaboration sparked by conversations about the Atkinson lecture!"

Foivos Savva

"ECCP was a unique opportunity to interact with brilliant people, in an inspiring, creative and supportive environment. The dialogue between the two groups, Philosophy and Economics, was vibrant and exciting."

Charlotte Unruh

"ECCP 2021 was a fantastic opportunity to explore new research topics in a stimulating atmosphere. I found the conversations with fellow participants and GPI staff extremely valuable and inspiring. I have no doubts that participating in ECCP 2021 will benefit my research trajectory in the years to come."

Ben Grodeck

"The ECCP program provided me with the opportunity to meet other like minded PhD students and researchers, who wanted to do the most good with their research. The program not only inspired my own research program, but also led to a number of collaborations. The plethora of events put on by GPI and the University of Oxford made this both an intellectually engaging and socially enjoyable experience. I would do it again."

David Bernard

"The ECCP program helped inspire a big part of my PhD, including my job market paper. I came up with the idea for my paper on long-term effect estimation using surrogate outcomes while reading research ideas and research summaries written by GPI researchers, and receiving regular, high-quality feedback at the weekly meetings allowed me to make quick progress on the project. There was an awesome cohort of visitors in both philosophy and economics and I made some great lifelong friends."

Leah Pierson

"Participating in the ECCP was one of the best experiences I have had during my PhD. I received excellent mentorship during the program, and as a result, am planning to turn my ECCP project into one of my dissertation papers. I also really enjoyed getting to know the other participants, and found that the interdisciplinary nature of the program facilitated interesting and productive conversations. I would strongly recommend the ECCP to anyone interested in global priorities research."

Application

Application requirements

Global Priorities Fellowship

You should be a Masters or PhD student (or planning to start a programme in 2022) or postdoc and your research should be related to global priorities research. (This means most likely you are studying economics or philosophy, but we might also consider other candidates.)

ECCP

To be eligible for ECCP, you should:

  • Be a current PhD student in philosophy or economics (or an early career postdoc/faculty),
  • Be available from Monday 6 June 2022 to Friday 1 July 2022 to visit Oxford,
  • Be able and willing to work on a research project related to global priorities research during that time (and submit a 1-page research proposal for this),
  • Have some experience/expertise/interest in global priorities research (desirable).

If for whatever reason, you would not like to be part of the Forethought Fellowship but would like to apply for ECCP, please indicate that in the application form.

Note for previous ECCP participants: While we do not take formal reapplications, if you are interested in visiting GPI again during ECCP 2022, please get in touch with us informally and we are happy to consider this (depending on capacity).

How to apply?

Applications for ECCP 2022 are now closed.

To apply, you will be asked to submit:

  • A current curriculum vitae (maximum 4 pages)
  • The titles, names and email addresses of two referees. (We will get in touch with your referees directly after the application deadline to complete a short form. You do not need to ask your referees to write a letter for you.)
  • A short statement outlining your reasons for wishing to take part in this programme, and the nature of your interest in and experience of global priorities research and/or effective altruism.
  • If you apply for ECCP: A research proposal (up to 1 page). This can be anything from a detailed suggestion for a particular project you would like to undertake, to a brief indication of which parts of GPI’s research agenda you would be most interested in working on.
  • If you only apply for the Global Priorities Fellowship: A writing sample. Please pick a piece of work that looks most representative of your research quality. (Optionally you can also submit this in addition to your research proposal if you apply for ECCP.)

We aim to contact shortlisted candidates before 15 February 2022. 

If you have any questions regarding ECCP, please contact [email protected].  For questions specifically related to the Global Priorities Fellowship, please contact [email protected].