Iâm new to applying for an AIS grant, so I have some common questions that might have been answered elsewhere:
(1) what are some failure modes that I might need to consider when writing a proposal, specifically for a research project?
(2) will research expenses include stipends for the researchers?
(3) can I write a grant to do a research project with my university AI safety group? Iâm not sure if this will be considered a field-building or a technical AI safety grant.
Not clearly distinguishing your project from prior work on the topic youâre interested in
Not demonstrating a good understanding of prior work (would be good to read some/âall of the papers we link to in this doc for whatever section youâre applying within)
Not demonstrating that you/âyour team has prior experience doing ML projects. If you donât have such experience, then itâs good to work with/âbe mentored by someone who does.
âResearch expenesesâ does not include stipends, but you can apply for a project grant, which does.
If youâre looking for money to spend on ML experiments or to pay people who are spending their time doing ML research, then that may fall within this RFP. If youâre looking for money to do other things (e.g. reading groups, events, etc), then that may fall under the capacity-building teamâs RFPs.
Iâm new to applying for an AIS grant, so I have some common questions that might have been answered elsewhere:
(1) what are some failure modes that I might need to consider when writing a proposal, specifically for a research project?
(2) will research expenses include stipends for the researchers?
(3) can I write a grant to do a research project with my university AI safety group? Iâm not sure if this will be considered a field-building or a technical AI safety grant.
Some common failure modes:
Not reading the eligibility criteria
Not clearly distinguishing your project from prior work on the topic youâre interested in
Not demonstrating a good understanding of prior work (would be good to read some/âall of the papers we link to in this doc for whatever section youâre applying within)
Not demonstrating that you/âyour team has prior experience doing ML projects. If you donât have such experience, then itâs good to work with/âbe mentored by someone who does.
âResearch expenesesâ does not include stipends, but you can apply for a project grant, which does.
If youâre looking for money to spend on ML experiments or to pay people who are spending their time doing ML research, then that may fall within this RFP. If youâre looking for money to do other things (e.g. reading groups, events, etc), then that may fall under the capacity-building teamâs RFPs.