In May, GCRI put out an open call for people interested in seeking our advice or collaborating on projects with us. This was a continuation of our successful 2019 and 2020 Advising and Collaboration Programs. We anticipate conducting future iterations of the program in 2022 and beyond. The 2021 Program was made possible by generous support from Gordon Irlam and the Survival and Flourishing Fund.

The GCRI Advising and Collaboration Program is an opportunity for anyone interested in global catastrophic risk to get more involved in the field. There is practically no barrier to entry in the program: the only thing people need to do is to send us a short email expressing their interest. Participation is flexible to accommodate people’s schedules and needs. The program supports an open and inclusive field of global catastrophic risk and is oriented toward professional development and community building in order to advance work that addresses the risks.

The 2021 Advising and Collaboration Program has been our most successful yet in terms of both quantity and quality. This year’s program received 25% more inquiries than any previous year; we were able to speak with more than twice as many people as we had in any previous year; and we made 60% more professional network introductions than any previous year. More program participants than ever before went on to collaborate with GCRI on project work. In recognition of their excellent contributions, we have established a new Fellowship program, detailed below.

Participants in the 2021 Advising and Collaboration Program have a wide range of backgrounds and interests. Many participants were interested in AI, especially AI policy, or in international relations. Others had a wide range of interests related to global catastrophic risk. As in previous years, participants also came from many countries around the world and every career point, from undergraduates to senior professionals. We are proud to be able to welcome such a diverse group of people.

Each year, GCRI collaborates with some Advising and Collaboration participants who express interest in working on and are a good fit for our projects. This year, we had an especially strong group of collaborators, many of whom have made excellent contributions to our work. In the interest of formally recognizing these contribution, we have launched a new Fellowship Program. The inaugural 2021 GCRI Fellowship Program features 12 people who have contributed significantly to addressing global catastrophic risk in collaboration with GCRI. Eight of the Fellows were participants in the 2021 Advising and Collaboration Program; two others participated in the program in previous years. This is a testament to the value of the Advising and Collaboration Program for advancing collaborative project work on global catastrophic risk.

This year, four participants in the Advising and Collaboration Program are joining GCRI to present research on global catastrophic risk at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis. SRA is the leading academic and professional society for risk analysis. GCRI has a longstanding presence at SRA. We are delighted to have some of our Advising and Collaboration Program participants join us at SRA. None of them had previously attended SRA. This will be a valuable opportunity for them to learn more about risk analysis, gain experience at professional conferences, and present their research to a wider audience.

Several of our 2021 Advising and Collaboration Program participants gave testimonials describing their experience with the program. The testimonials describe matters such as the participants’ backgrounds, their interest in the program, the activities they have done with the program, and what they have gotten out of the experience. Their words provide a window into the experience that participants have had with the Advising and Collaboration Program.

Finally, I have written a post Common points of advice for students and early-career professionals interested in global catastrophic risk based on my experience advising people through the Advising and Collaboration Program. There is no one single best way for everyone to pursue careers in global catastrophic risk. Indeed, a core feature of the Advising and Collaboration Program is that we offer participants customized advice. Nonetheless, there are some running themes that apply to people with a variety of backgrounds and interests. The “common points of advice” document shares these themes with anyone who may find them helpful, including people who have not participated in the Advising and Collaboration Program.

We thank everyone who has made the 2021 Advising and Collaboration Program a success, including all of the participants in the program, our funders Gordon Irlam and the Survival and Flourishing Fund, and our colleagues who helped circulate the call for participants, especially 80,000 Hours, WANBAM, and the Future of Life Institute.

We hope to build on this year’s successful program next year and beyond. To support GCRI, please visit our donate page. To express interest in participating in next year’s program, or in getting involved in other ways, please send inquiries to Ms. McKenna Fitzgerald, mckenna [at] gcrinstitute.org.

Some notable program highlights:

• Between May 12 and October 31, a total of 96 people responded to our open call blog post; we spoke to 81 of them.
• Respondents to our open call were based in over 24 countries. Most were based in the United States or the United Kingdom. Other countries where respondents were based include India, China, Tahiti, Switzerland, Argentina, and Jordan.
• Respondents ranged from undergraduates to senior professionals and came from a variety of different fields and backgrounds. Many were seeking advice on how to get involved in the field of global catastrophic risk, particularly as it relates to AI and policy work.
• Respondents expressed interest in each of the projects listed in the open call for participants. Of our respondents, 39 expressed interest in our AI policy project, 21 in our China-US project, 16 in our national security project, 15 in our nonhumans and AI ethics project, 13 in our forecasting project, 4 in our safety transfer project, 3 in our nonhumans and global catastrophic risk project, and 2 in each of our expert judgment and near-Earth objects projects. We also received inquiries about additional topics including biosecurity, atomically precise manufacturing, nuclear war, theology, psychology, and climate change.
• We held a total of 99 one-on-one video and phone advising calls.
• We made 44 private introductions connecting program participants with each other and with other people in our networks.