This seems like a great opportunity for independently funded engineers to work with professors without receiving funding from their universities. My understanding is that the Fund for Alignment Research (FAR) does exactly this. They hire their own software engineers with their own funding, and then choose researchers who need engineering talent to work with on a project basis. FAR only focuses on AI Safety, but this kind of organization could be valuable for other fields. Individuals could also do this on an freelance basis with a grant from e.g. FTX or LTFF.
This seems like a great opportunity for independently funded engineers to work with professors without receiving funding from their universities. My understanding is that the Fund for Alignment Research (FAR) does exactly this. They hire their own software engineers with their own funding, and then choose researchers who need engineering talent to work with on a project basis. FAR only focuses on AI Safety, but this kind of organization could be valuable for other fields. Individuals could also do this on an freelance basis with a grant from e.g. FTX or LTFF.