Rough notes on another idea, following a call I just had:
Setting up something in between a research training program and a system for collaborations in high schools, universities, or local EA groups
Less vetting and probably lower average current knowledge, aptitude, etc. than research training program participants undergo/have
But this reduces the costs for vetting
And this opens this up to an additional pool of people (who may not yet be able to pass that vetting)
Plus, this could allow more people to test their fit for and get better at mentorship, by mentoring people in these “programs” or simply by collaborating with peers in these programs (since collaboration still has some mentorship-like elements)
E.g., in some cases, someone’s who just started a PhD student or just recently learned about the cause area they’re now focused on may not be able to usefully serve as a mentor for a participant in a research training program like SERI, but they may be able to usefully serve as a mentor for a high school student or some other undergrads
(I’m just saying there’d be some cases in that space in between—there’d also be some e.g. PhD students who can usefully serve as mentors for SERI fellows, and some who can’t usefullyserve as mentors for high school students)
Rough notes on another idea, following a call I just had:
Setting up something in between a research training program and a system for collaborations in high schools, universities, or local EA groups
Less vetting and probably lower average current knowledge, aptitude, etc. than research training program participants undergo/have
But this reduces the costs for vetting
And this opens this up to an additional pool of people (who may not yet be able to pass that vetting)
Plus, this could allow more people to test their fit for and get better at mentorship, by mentoring people in these “programs” or simply by collaborating with peers in these programs (since collaboration still has some mentorship-like elements)
E.g., in some cases, someone’s who just started a PhD student or just recently learned about the cause area they’re now focused on may not be able to usefully serve as a mentor for a participant in a research training program like SERI, but they may be able to usefully serve as a mentor for a high school student or some other undergrads
(I’m just saying there’d be some cases in that space in between—there’d also be some e.g. PhD students who can usefully serve as mentors for SERI fellows, and some who can’t usefully serve as mentors for high school students)