EA Virtual Program Application

Part 2 of 3: Short Answer Questions

What are the main reasons you're interested in participating in this program?

Your answer can be 1-2 sentences; no need to write more.

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

Here are some examples of cause areas: Animal welfare, climate and the environment, economic inequality, education and employment, existential risk reduction, global poverty and health, making artificial intelligence more fair and less biased, nuclear weapons, overpopulation, pandemic prevention/preparedness, risks from general, agent-like artificial intelligence..

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

Your answer can be 1-2 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.

Your answer can be 1-2 sentences; no need to write more.

Please share 1-2 accomplishments that you're proud of.

This question is optional. We ask this to make sure we’re not missing anything on your LinkedIn/CV. Feel free to share results from your job, academic achievements, or personal projects.

We are considering running larger groups for your weekly discussions; this would enable you to meet more participants! Would you mind if we put you in a larger group, e.g. 10-20 people?

Yes, that's fineNo, thank you

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.

What are the main reasons you're interested in participating in this program?

Your answer can be 1-2 sentences; no need to write more.

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.

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)

This question is completely optional. Feel free to skip it if you prefer. 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.

Question Graveyard

Other courses

Would you be interested in participating in a pilot of any of these courses instead of the introductory EA program?

	I'd be equally excited for this	I'd be quite excited for this, but less so	I'd participate if this was the only option	I wouldn't want to participate in this
Effective Giving: Maximizing the impact of your donations
Your next steps for a high-impact career
Tackling the grand challenges of transformative AI
Impact in Global Development & Health
(A course specifically for your career path, e.g. ‘software engineering for impact’)

Other courses

Would you be interested in participating in a pilot of any of these courses instead of the In-Depth EA program?

	I'd be equally excited for this	I'd be quite excited for this, but less so	I'd participate if this was the only option	I wouldn't want to participate in this
Effective Giving: Maximizing the impact of your donations
Your next steps for a high-impact career
Tackling the grand challenges of transformative AI
Impact in Global Development & Health
(A course specifically for your career path, e.g. ‘software engineering for impact’)

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.I have a preference for an English speaking cohort optionPlease 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.

Questions for Forming Cohorts

If you’d like to be grouped with members of your EA group or specific friends, please list their names here. We’ll do our best, but can’t guarantee placement.

To increase the chances of being placed together:

1. Choose the same time slots as your group/friends. 2. After acceptance, email virtualprograms@centreforeffectivealtruism.org with everyone's names and emails.

Do you want to sign-up for the EA newsletter?

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Where did you hear about the program you're applying to?

What other way did you hear?

Please specify the group:

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.

Yes - I'm happy for you to share my information

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.

Contact Information

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

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

EA Virtual Program Application

Your personal information

Your background experience