Career Development and Transition Funding

Career Development and Transition Funding

Supports professionals and students transitioning into global catastrophic risk careers.

Eligibility · Global — open worldwide

Career Development and Transition Funding, administered by Coefficient Giving through the Global Catastrophic Risks Opportunities Fund, supports individuals at any career stage pursuing activities that reduce global catastrophic risks. The program's primary focus areas are AI risk mitigation and global catastrophic biological risks, reflecting Coefficient Giving's core mission areas under its Navigating Transformative AI and Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness funds. The program subsumes the former Open Philanthropy Biosecurity Scholarship and is open to applicants from any country worldwide. Eligible activities span the full range of individual career development: graduate study (master's degrees, PhDs, MPPs, and law degrees), unpaid internships, independent study periods, career transition and exploration, postdoctoral positions, professional certifications, online courses, and sabbaticals. Only individuals may apply — organizations of any type are ineligible under this track.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the year; Coefficient Giving aims to respond within approximately six weeks of receipt. Award amounts are not published. Applicants must demonstrate a funding gap — specifically, that other available funding sources will not cover the proposed activity. There are no restrictions on country of residence or citizenship. Early-career, mid-career, and late-career applicants are all explicitly welcome, and the fund does not impose age restrictions or academic degree prerequisites.

The application package consists of a project proposal (up to 250 words), a personal statement (up to 250 words), a budget (up to half a page), a CV (up to two pages), and academic transcripts where applicable. Coefficient Giving assesses applications on potential for impact on global catastrophic risk reduction, clarity of theory of change, and the degree to which the proposed activity represents a genuine career acceleration. Strong applicants typically have relevant technical, policy, or research backgrounds and demonstrate a credible path toward contributing directly to AI safety research, biosecurity, or a closely adjacent area of global catastrophic risk work.