Resources & opportunities for careers in European AI Policy

[Cillian_]

Last updated: 12 October 2023

Career opportunities

Early career opportunities

• EU Tech Policy Fellowship. A 7-month programme for kickstarting a European policy career focused on artificial intelligence. There are two cohorts per year, a winter cohort (Jan → July) and a summer cohort (June → Dec). Placement track fellows complete a paid 4-6 month placement at a relevant think, while training track fellows participate part-time in an AI governance & policy training programme.

• Blue Book traineeship programme.paid, five-month internship programme with the European Commission, the executive body of the EU. There are two Blue Book sessions each year, with applications opening in January for the session starting in October and in August for a start in March of the following year. More information can be found here.

• AlgorithmWatch’s algorithmic accountability reporting fellowship

• Member state traineeships

  • Netherlands

• Junior Accredited Parliamentary Assistant position in the European Parliament (following the upcoming 2024 elections)

• Junior think tank positions

  • Broader focus

    • Centre for European Policy Studies

    • European Policy Centre

    • German Marshall Fund

    • RAND

  • Brussels tech focus

    • Ada Lovelace

    • Lisbon Council

    • The Future Society (TFS)

    • The Future of Life Institute

    • International Centre for Future Generations

  • German-based relevant think tanks

    • Mercator (also offers a Fellowship!)

    • European Council for Foreign Relations

    • Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV), also based in Brussels

    • Agora Digitale Transformation (new)

  • Nordics-based relevant (security) think tanks

    • Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

    • Danish Institute for International Affairs (DIIA)

    • Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)

    • Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

  • Civil society organisations and associations (less GCR focused, but very influential in the public debate)

    • Digital SME

    • Centre for Democracy and Technology

    • Access Now

    • Eticas

Mid career opportunities

• Senior think tank positions (see those listed above)

• European Commission. There are several ways to enter:

  • DG Connect

  • Contract Agents Selection Tool

  • Concours

• Join the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency

• Join the EU AI Office (forthcoming)

• Senior Accredited Parliamentary Assistant position in the European Parliament (following the upcoming 2024 elections)

Upskilling & learning opportunities

Masters

• US policy master’s degrees. We encourage people to seriously consider a career in US policy. We expect working on AI policy in the US to be more impactful for many people. Completing a prestigious master’s program in the US could be helpful for pursuing this path.

• List of Masters Programs in Tech Policy, Public Policy and Security (Europe)

AI governance

• BlueDot’s AI Safety Fundamentals courses in alignment & governance are an excellent starting point.

• EU Tech Policy Fellowship’s training track provides a deeper dive into European AI governance through an 8-week online programme and a 10-day policymaking summit in Brussels.

How the EU works

• Explanation of the different institutions and bodies of the EU. Recommended to read (total: 25 mins):

  • The European Parliament: Powers

  • The European Parliament: organisation and operation

  • The Council of the European Union

  • The European Commission

  • The Presidency of the Council of the EU

• EU law making procedure (read: 5 mins) or watch this video on how the EU Parliament works (4 mins)

• Competences of the EU (watch: 4 mins) or read the following graph (4 mins) Bonus (not mandatory): The European sovereignty index

• The Brussels Effect (read: 5 mins)

• The EU AI Act Will Have Global Impact, but a Limited Brussels Effect (20 minutes)

• The history of the EU explained in a video (13 mins)

• On Careers within the EU (10 mins)

Podcasts

• POLITICO’s EU Confidential

• EURACTIV’s Tech Brief

• Mark Leonard’s World in 30 minutes

Newsletters

• AI Act Newsletter by Risto Uuk

• The European AI newsletter by Charlotte Stix

• Import AI newsletter by Jack Clark (Anthropic)

• Governance of Emerging Technologies Newsletter by Rory Gillis

• Navigating risks by Simeon Campos

Other considerations

• Collection of work on ‘Should you focus on the EU if you’re interested in AI governance for longtermist/​x-risk reasons?’

[Jacob]

Thanks for the list! I will look at some more opportunities then.