Vincent Niger🔸

• Vincent Niger🔸 27 Dec 2025 18:26 UTC

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  on: “Longter­mist causes” is a tricky classification

  Thank you, Lizka, for this post. I focus on pandemic preparedness, and I had assumed that biosecurity was primarily a “longtermist” cause. I felt uncomfortable not having a settled personal view on longtermism as a philosophy. Reading your post and the linked references reassured me that it is fine not to claim longtermism as my motivation. I still want to learn more about moral philosophy to eventually form my own view on longtermism, but in the meantime I now think it is reasonable to say that I share the goals and the drive to contribute, even if my reasons do not fully align with those of longtermists. David Thorstad’s series also gave me some food for thought: https://​​reflectivealtruism.com/​​2023/​​11/​​18/​​exaggerating-the-risks-part-12-millett-and-snyder-beattie-on-biorisk/​​ - Do you know of any circulated survey that gives insights into what motivates EAs to work on this or that cause/​​intervention (i.e longtermist worldview or not)?

• Vincent Niger🔸 16 Nov 2025 17:27 UTC

  2 points

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  on: Map of Biose­cu­rity Interventions

  Thank you, James, for this excellent map and thoughtful breakdown of biosecurity interventions. It’s very helpful for someone like me who is still orienting in this space.

  I’m currently working as a Blue Book trainee at the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) on the stockpiling of medical countermeasures. My current goal is to build expertise in strategic stockpiling (qualification and quantification of MCMs to stockpile, governance) and link that to reducing global catastrophic biological risks.

  I’d love to ask the community for guidance on what concrete steps I should take now to become proficient in this domain:

  • Which technical skills are most useful? Who should I talk to upskill in those?

  • Which research communities, projects, or partnerships are doing high-leverage work on stockpiles (especially in an EU or global context) that I could engage with?

  • What knowledge gaps exist that a part-time PhD could usefully address?

  Any suggestions or connections would be much appreciated. Thanks again for opening up this map and for the broader community’s insights.

  Vincent

• Vincent Niger🔸 2 Nov 2025 16:28 UTC

  1 point

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  on: Com­mu­nity build­ing: Is op­ti­miz­ing for “effec­tive­ness” the most effec­tive ap­proach?

  I think this is a great post! I love how you framed these ideas differently in the main text and the appendices—it makes them very clear. I wish this were more widely circulated, and that people who disagree would explain why in the comments. This topic deserves much more discussion!

• Vincent Niger🔸 14 Aug 2025 15:25 UTC

  3 points

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  on: High Im­pact Eng­ineers is Tran­si­tion­ing to a Vol­un­teer-Led Model

  Hello :) I’ve seen the website’s down. Is this org still up and running?

• Vincent Niger🔸 21 Jul 2025 12:08 UTC

  4 points

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  on: AMA: Ask Ca­reer Ad­vi­sors Anything

  Hi! Thanks for this thread <3

  What are your views on insider vs outsider strategy for someone who wants to have an impact on biosecurity/​pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response (PPR) policies at the European Union level? - More specifically, how would you compare potential impact between landing a pivotal position in the EU where you could influence policy implementation directly versus for instance creating a think tank focused on advocating for a specific intervention (such as far-UVC)?
  
  I know the short answer is probably ‘it depends’ (of one’s skill set, desires, luck, need for financial security, etc.), but I’m looking for insights on the insider versus outsider strategy discussion, as I’m wary that I might myself prioritize the former because of a lack of agency, thus missing on the possibility of doing work on more highly neglected/​highly promising things.
  
  I’ve talked to people who have opposite views on this matter, and I find it very important for me (and anyone maybe) to form a personal opinion. I love the work done at Blueprint Biosecurity for instance, and I know many EAs who do very cool advocacy/​research work without relying on professional opportunities offered by already-in-place institutions. I admire them, and I’d be proud to showcase the same kind of commitment, but I really want to understand what path would lead me to a most impactful career, and i’m looking for advice on how to go about thinking about this.
  
  Or maybe both strategies are not mutually exclusive? Maybe we need everyone doing cool stuff everywhere? Yeah, sure, but still, if you have strong opinions, please share (and not only regarding biosec) :)

• Vincent Niger🔸 12 Jun 2025 7:24 UTC

  1 point

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  in reply to: MvK🔸’s comment on: Vin­cent Niger’s Quick takes

  That’s probably because it was too quick of a ‘quick take’. Thanks for flagging it! I’ve updated the post.

• Vincent Niger🔸 12 Jun 2025 7:16 UTC

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  in reply to: Joris 🔸’s comment on: Vin­cent Niger’s Quick takes

  Thank you Joris! And sorry for forgetting to mention Impactful Policy Careers. I’ll add it to my quick take now.
  
  Yes please, I’d be glad to get in touch with more EAs doing the next round of Blue Book! My cal.com is above, and my LinkedIn here.

Vin­cent Niger’s Quick takes

• Vincent Niger🔸 11 Jun 2025 14:44 UTC

  47 points

  1 ∶ 0

  on: Vin­cent Niger’s Quick takes

  EU opportunities for early-career EAs: quick overview from someone who applied broadly

  I applied to several EU entry programmes to test the waters, and I wanted to share what worked, what didn’t, and what I’m still uncertain about, hoping to get some insights.

  Quick note: I’m a nurse, currently finishing a Master of Public Health, and trying to contribute as best I can to reducing biological risks. My specialisation is in Governance and Leadership in European Public Health, which explains my interest in EU career paths. I don’t necessarily think the EU is the best option for everyone. I just happen to be exploring it seriously at the moment and wanted to share what I’ve learned in case it’s useful to others.

  ⌨️ What I applied to & how it went

  • Blue Book traineeship – got it (starting October at HERA.04, Emergency Office of DG HERA)

  • European Committee of the Regions traineeship – rejected in pre-selection

  • European Economic & Social Committee traineeship – same

  • Eurofound traineeship – no response

  • EMA traineeship (2 applications: Training Content and Vaccine Outreach) – no response

  • Center for Democracy & Technology internship – no response

  • Schuman traineeship (Parliament) – no response

  • EFSA traineeship – interview but no feedback (I indicated HERA preference, so not surprised)

  If anyone needed a reminder: rejection is normal and to be expected, not a sign of your inadequacy. It only takes one “yes.”

  📄 Key EA Forum posts that informed and inspired me

  • “EAs interested in EU policy: Consider applying for the European Commission’s Blue Book Traineeship”

  • “What I learned from a week in the EU policy bubble” – excellent perspective on the EU policymaking environment

  🔍 Where to find EU traineeships

  All together here:
  🔗 https://​​eu-careers.europa.eu/​​en/​​job-opportunities/​​traineeships?institution=All

  Includes Blue Book, Schuman, and agency-specific roles (EMA, EFSA, ECDC...).

  Traineeships are just traineeships: don’t underestimate what you can aim for, especially if you already have some experience or a strong application.

  🚀 Other promising entry routes

  • JPD (Junior Professionals Delegation): EU delegations worldwide: great if you want diplomatic field experience.

  • JPP (Junior Professionals Programme) – perfect next step after a Blue Book traineeship or another contract position at the EU, for those with less than three years of experience post‑bachelor.

  💼 How EU hiring actually works

  To understand EPSO, CAST, competitions, etc., check the free webinar ‘Overview Of EU Career Opportunities In Brussels and Beyond’ on this page.

  Very briefly, here’s a shortlist of acronyms and keywords to know when exploring EU recruitment:

  • EPSO: European Personnel Selection Office—organises competitions for Permanent Staff positions (keep an eye out for the upcoming AD5 competition, to be announced after the summer)

  • CAST: Contract Agents Selection Tool—rolling open calls for profiles, more decentralised

  • Temporary staff: shorter, sometimes higher-paid roles

  🔍 Who’s working externally on EU policy?

  EA-aligned organisations active in EU policy (not in order of importance or impact):

  • Center for Democracy & Technology: tech and digital policy advocacy (also where I applied and got rejected)

  • Centre for European Policy Studies: leading think tank and forum for debate on EU affairs

  • Eurogroup for Animals: leading EU-level animal welfare lobby

  • Talos: offers a fellowship aimed at launching European policy careers focused on AI

  • And many more: Impactful Policy Careers, The Future Society, Pour Demain, Center for Future Generetions, etc.

  For more on EUxAI, see this and this.

  🤔 Why I’m pursuing this (despite doubts)

  Is it the best path to impact? I’m honestly not sure. I still have a bunch of open questions:

  • How much can one individual influence anything in the EU machinery?

  • Would advocacy work from outside (e.g. think tanks, interest groups) be more effective?

  • These roles are highly selective, so maybe the counterfactual impact is low?

  Still, I think that if someone manages to “hack” the recruitment process by showing perfect alignment with the selection criteria, gets in, and then pushes for underexplored topics (like shrimp welfare or far-UVC disinfection), the impact could be very real. And if you don’t have better immediate opportunities for higher impact, working at the EU is probably a strong credential and a great chance to better understand how policies are shaped and what influences them.

  🙏 I’d love your feedback

  If you’ve worked in or around EU institutions, or explored EA-aligned routes, I’d greatly appreciate your thoughts on:

  • Working inside vs outside the EU

  • Other effective paths to influence EU policy

  • Ways to navigate EPSO, CAST, AD5 competition, etc.

  • Any promising programmes or organisations I missed

  I hope this is useful to someone. If you’d like to get in touch and chat more about this or anything else, I’m up for a virtual coffee break.

• Vincent Niger🔸 8 May 2025 12:11 UTC

  2 points

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  on: EAs in­ter­ested in EU policy: Con­sider ap­ply­ing for the Euro­pean Com­mis­sion’s Blue Book Traineeship

  Hi everyone,

  I have an interview soon for a 12-month paid traineeship at EFSA, and I may also be selected for a Blue Book traineeship at the European Commission. I would love to hear from effective altruists who have explored or worked with EFSA, or who can compare these two programmes in terms of learning, impact, and long-term career capital for someone with a nursing and public health background focused mainly on biosecurity but with an interest in animal welfare. If you are willing to share insights or have a short call, please comment below or send me a DM. Thank you!

• Vincent Niger🔸 18 Feb 2025 16:53 UTC

  1 point

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  in reply to: Marius L T’s comment on: Does the Global Health Se­cu­rity In­dex Drive Policy Change? Help Me Find Out

  Thank you for your comment Marius, this is super useful!

Does the Global Health Se­cu­rity In­dex Drive Policy Change? Help Me Find Out

Shar­ing in­sights from my mas­ter’s work on the Global Health Se­cu­rity In­dex: seek­ing feed­back and re­search directions

• Vincent Niger🔸 25 Oct 2024 10:47 UTC

  1 point

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  on: Crit­i­cal Re­view of Model­ling Strate­gies against Pandemics

  Thank you, Jérémy, for this excellent piece of work! It inspires me to delve further into simulation models for wargaming exercises. I believe these drills offer numerous benefits, particularly for maintaining pandemic risk awareness among stakeholders, including those who may be skeptical about scenarios involving non-naturally occurring threats. Do you think such exercises could still be impactful without relying on the highest-risk, most detailed dual-use simulation models?