EA Virtual Program Application

GA Tracking Code

Thank you for your interest in EA Virtual Programs! Although the program is free, we only have limited capacity based on our number of facilitators. This application helps us ensure the best candidates get to participate in the program and also helps us group participants with facilitators and other participants who may be a good match. We expect the application to take about 20 minutes to complete.
Note: Minors are not permitted to join our programs at this time.

The next cycle begins on:

You are welcome to apply for a future cycle at this time if you're unavailable for the next cycle.

Your Information

First Name

Last Name

Email

Please use the same email every time you apply for EA Virtual Programs.

Please share your LinkedIn profile with us

If you don't have a LinkedIn profile, please put down "NA". If you're unsure how to get your LinkedIn profile's URL, you can find out here: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a522735/find-your-linkedin-public-profile-url?lang=en

If you have a personal website, please share it with us too

Which cycle would you like to sign up for?

CYCLE ID

Which program are you interested in signing up for? For more context on these programs, visit here.

Program Type

PROGRAM ID

CYCLE ID FOR MATCHING

Cycle IDs match?

The Introductory EA Program will consist of 1.5-hour weekly discussions for 8 weeks with 3-5 participants and one facilitator (an experienced member of the effective altruism community). Before attending each discussion, you’ll complete a set of readings (and sometimes a brief written exercise). If you’re interested to know whether the program is a good match, you can find more information here.

The Introductory EA Program will consist of 1.5-hour weekly discussions for 6 weeks with 4-8 participants and one facilitator (an experienced member of the effective altruism community). Before attending each discussion, you’ll complete a set of readings (and sometimes a brief written exercise). If you’re interested to know whether the program is a good match, you can find more information here.

This reading group structures reading and discussion of Toby Ord's book The Precipice, which explores existential risks and safeguarding the future of humanity. Each week's reading will be one chapter of the book, and then you will have a weekly 1.5 hour discussion with 3-5 participants and a facilitator.

Our Career Planning Program lasts 6 weeks. Each week, you’ll have 1.5-hour discussions with a cohort of 4-8 participants and one facilitator. Before attending each discussion, you’ll complete some brief readings about what it means to have a high-impact career, as well as work through a set of written exercises to apply the ideas you’ve learnt to your own career planning (1.5 hours).

If you are interested in biosecurity or public policy, or want to test your fit in these areas, join us to read and discuss the book Biosecurity Dilemmas and work on a project with your peers! This program will run from 9 October - 4 December 2023. You can find more information about this program here.

Please select a program running for a cycle that matches your selected cycle above.

Introductory Program Questions

Are you a Spanish speaker?

NoYes

If you are a Spanish speaker, would you like to be assigned to a Spanish-speaking cohort?

Yes, I would like to be assigned to a Spanish-speaking cohort if it is availableI'm fine with either an English or Spanish speaking cohort.Please feel free to respond to our application in Spanish if you're applying for a Spanish-speaking cohort. Discussions will be in Spanish, but most of the reading materials and videos will still be in English.

Are you a German speaker?

NoYes

If you are a German speaker, would you like to be assigned to a German-speaking cohort?

Yes, I would like to be assigned to a German-speaking cohort if it is availableI'm fine with either an English or German speaking cohort.I have a preference for an English speaking cohort option

Are you a Hebrew speaker?

NoYes

If you are a Hebrew speaker, would you like to be assigned to a Hebrew-speaking cohort?

Yes, I would like to be assigned to a Hebrew-speaking cohort if it is availableI'm fine with either an English or Hebrew speaking cohort.I have a preference for an English speaking cohort option

Do you have a preference for online or offline groups?

I would (only) like to participate in a group offline in my local cityIf it doesn’t work offline, I’m happy to participate in an online groupI would (only) like to participate in a group online

Which best describes your current level of familiarity with Effective Altruism? NOTE: this is not used to evaluate your application. We only use this data to sort you into cohorts with others that have a similar level of context.

I have no familiarity with Effective AltruismI have minimally interacted with Effective Altruism content (e.g. you've read an article or two, listened to a podcast, etc., or less)I have interacted with some Effective Altruism content (e.g. you've read many articles, forum posts, maybe read an EA book like Doing Good Better, The Precipice, or The Life You Can Save)I have had heavy interaction with Effective Altruism content (e.g. you've read several books, read and post on the forum, attended some local meetups, etc.)I am already heavily involved with the Effective Altruism movement (e.g., you've worked in EA jobs or volunteer opportunities, you're part of your local or university groups, you read and post on the forum, etc.)

Do you have any other experience with the EA community?

Write down two cause areas you think deserve the most priority.

Here are some examples of cause areas: climate change, pandemic preparedness, mental health, etc.

If we only have enough resources to prioritise just one of the two cause areas you wrote above, which would you choose and why?

The more specific your reasons, the better.

Your answer can be 4-8 sentences; no need to write more.

Similarly, what piece/pieces of evidence would you need to see for you to change your mind?

In other words, if you’ve picked X cause area over Y in the previous question, what evidence would you need to see to pick Y over X.

The more specific your evidence, the better.

Your answer can be 4-8 sentences; no need to write more.

Please share with us 1-2 of your most significant professional accomplishments.

We ask this to make sure we're not missing anything on your LinkedIn. Here are some ideas that might help: results from your job, academics, extracurricular project, or personal project.

In-Depth Program Application Questions

If you haven’t done so already, please take a few minutes to skim the program’s curriculum. Do you find these topics interesting?

Yes, most of them sound interesting!

Yes, some of them sound interesting — and I’m open to exploring the rest.No, this doesn’t seem all that interesting.

Do you have any other experience with the EA community?

Imagine that you had to allocate US $100 million toward charitable donations, and you can’t ask another person to advise you. What, roughly, would your donations look like? What would your reasons be? This can be a very rough answer (e.g. “X% for cause A, Y% for cause B…”) or more specific — whatever you choose. Saying you'll give all the money to GiveWell, OpenPhilanthropy, or other funds goes against the spirit of this question. Your answer can be 6-12 sentences; no need to write more.

Please share with us 1-2 of your most significant professional accomplishments.

We ask this to make sure we're not missing anything on your LinkedIn. Here are some ideas that might help: results from your job, academics, extracurricular project, or personal project.

Anything else you'd like us to know?

Projects you work on or are interested in pursuing? Other things you'd like to learn about in this fellowship?

Legal Topics in EA Program Application Questions

If you haven’t done so already, please take a few minutes to skim the program’s curriculum. Do you find these topics interesting?

Yes, most of them sound interesting!

Yes, some of them sound interesting — and I’m open to exploring the rest.No, this doesn’t seem all that interesting.

What piece/pieces of evidence would you need to see that could dramatically change the amount you’ve allocated above? The more specific your evidence, the better. Your answer can be 4-8 sentences; no need to write more.

Do you have any other experience with the EA community?

Imagine that you have received a grant to launch a new organization that will tackle a pressing problem in the world. You can choose whichever problem you think is the best use of this grant, but you can’t ask another person to advise you. What problem will you aim to address, what kinds of backgrounds will you look for in the people you work with, and how would you divide work among yourselves for the first 6 months? Your answer can be 6-12 sentences; no need to write more.

What’s a question you could answer that might dramatically change the way you approach the problem you mentioned above? Why is this question important? Specifically, we’re talking about the question related to launching a new organization. The more specific your evidence, the better. Your answer can be 4-8 sentences; no need to write more.

Please share with us 1-2 experiences you have had or things you have recently learned that are related to the problems you hope to discuss with others in this reading group.

We might be able to share opportunities that could potentially be a good fit for you. Here are some ideas that might help: results from your job, academics, extracurricular project, or personal project.

Anything else you'd like us to know?

Projects you work on or are interested in pursuing? Other things you'd like to learn about in this fellowship?

Precipice Reading Group Application Questions

Why are you interested in participating in this program? Your answer can be 1-4 sentences; no need to write more.

Please read this blog post (~20 minutes). What key takeaways did you get that are related to The Precipice (or existential risks)? Your answer can be 3-6 sentences; no need to write more.

Please share with us 1-2 of your most significant professional accomplishments.

We ask this to make sure we're not missing anything on your LinkedIn. Here are some ideas that might help: results from your job, academics, extracurricular project, or personal project.

Career Planning Program Application Questions

Please share with us 1-2 of your most impressive achievements. (400 character limit)

Share one EA idea that you are most uncertain and/or concerned about & why. What might cause you to change your mind, if anything? (750 character limit)

What global issues would you be interested in working on?
Here are some examples of cause areas. Choose 2 to 4 issues.

Animal welfare	Climate and the environment
Cybersecurity	Economic growth
Economic inequality	Education and employment
Existential risk reduction	Global poverty and health
Global priorities research	Human rights/equality
Making artificial intelligence more fair and less biased	Mental health
Nuclear weapons	Overpopulation
Pandemic prevention/preparedness	Peace and political stability
Promoting Effective Altruism	Risks from general, agent-like artificial intelligence
Undecided

Could you give us a sense of what your longer-term career paths might be? (400 character limit)
We’re curious to know your ideas for long-term paths, i.e., what you might aim toward doing in the next 5–20 years. Don’t worry if you are unsure about your ideas here!

What next steps are you actively considering for your career planning process?
We are curious where participants are at in their planning process, in order to offer a more customised program and be able to place participants in groups with people who are working on questions similar to those they are working on. You can select more than one.

Thinking more about which causes are most important	Identifying and settling on long-term career paths
Applying to jobs	Exploring to find your fit
Building career capital towards a particular longer-term path (but with a backup plan)	Identifying and resolving key uncertainties in your plan
Deploying your existing career capital	Building transferable career capital with the intention to clarify your plan later
Other

Please specify what other step you are considering:

Why are you interested in participating in this program? (400 character limit)
Your answer can be 1-4 sentences; no need to write more.

Are you 80% sure that you'll be able to spend 1.5 hours per week on homework and 1.5 hours per week on group discussion sessions for the 5 weeks of this program?

YesNo

Biosecurity Book Club Application Questions

Why are you interested in participating in this program? (400 character limit)
Your answer can be 1-4 sentences; no need to write more.

Please read this blog post (~20 minutes). What key takeaways did you get that are related to biosecurity, or pandemic prevention and response? Your answer can be 3-6 sentences; no need to write more.

How familiar are you with the topic of biosecurity? NOTE: This information will not be used to evaluate your application but may help us tailor discussion topics and group you with participants of similar background knowledge.

I have no familiarity with biosecurity.

I have minimal familiarity with biosecurity (e.g., I've read an article or two, listened to a podcast, etc.).

I have moderate familiarity with biosecurity (e.g., I've read several articles, maybe a book or research paper, or have taken a course related to it).I have extensive familiarity with biosecurity (e.g., I've read multiple books, research papers, attended conferences or webinars, or have professional experience in the field).

I am already heavily involved in biosecurity (e.g., I work in a related field, have published research, or am part of biosecurity-focused groups).

Please share with us 1-2 of your most impressive achievements. (400 character limit)

Questions for Forming Cohorts

We do not view these questions when evaluating applications. This information is used to form cohorts if you are accepted.

If you would like to be placed with other members from your Effective Altruism Group, please specify the group's name here. If you want to be grouped with any of your friends or particular individuals, please also specify that here, although note we cannot always accomodate either request. In both cases, please ensure that you coordinate with your group or friends to ensure you list some of the same time slots, otherwise we will not be able to group you together.

What stage of your career are you in?

Student (high school)Pursuing an associates degreePursuing an undergraduate degreePursuing a professional degreePursuing a graduate degree (e.g. Masters)Pursuing a doctoral degree (e.g. PhD)Pursuing other degree/diplomaWorking (0-5 years of experience)Working (6-15 years of experience)Working (15+ years of experience)Not employed, but not lookingNot employed, but lookingRetired

Profession

What University do you currently attend? If you don't see the name of your university in this list, feel free to write it in, but please double check for abbreviations or alternative ways of spelling.

Country of Residence

Nearest City

Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?

Depending on what we think will be helpful, we'll send a monthly reminder to apply as a participant or facilitator in one of our programs. Occasionally, we'll update you on any major changes to our program.

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Where did you hear about EA Virtual Programs?

What other way did you hear?

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Consent to sharing details with EA organizations? *

The Centre for Effective Altruism may share my responses and any other data associated with my EA Virtual Programs participation with other organizations and organizers in the effective altruism community for the purpose of connecting me to potential collaborators and/or relevant resources that are likely to be of significant benefit or interest to me.

You may opt out of this consent at any time by emailing info@centreforeffectivealtruism.org.

YesNo

Privacy Notice

By submitting this form, you consent to your data being shared with the Centre for Effective Altruism.

CEA respects your privacy and will use your information in accordance with its privacy policy, which also sets out your rights.

https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/privacy-policy

By participating in this program, you consent to being filmed or photographed, and potentially having those videos or images be used for training and quality control purposes. Please get in touch with us if you have concerns.

The information you provide will be used by CEA for the purpose of measuring the impact of our programs, supporting the EA community, and carrying out the other activities set out in the privacy policy.

You can contact us at v irtualprograms@centreforeffectivealtruism.org if you have any questions.

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