Programme Structure
Kick-Off Weekend
Location: Meridian, 54 Sidney Street, Cambridge
Connect with fellows from other research tracks
Build essential research skills through interactive workshops
Meet supervisors who will present their project proposals
Indicate your preferences for projects that interest you
Be assigned to a team and paired with a supervisor
Hold your first team meeting to discuss project direction and scope
10:45 - 11:15 AM
Setup and informal socialising.
11:15 - 12:00 PM: Introduction to CHIRP
Program structure, timeline, and support systems for your eight-week research project
12:00 - 1:00 PM: What Makes a Project "High-Impact"?
Christine Tan on evaluating research through an EA lens and prioritizing impact
1:00 - 2:00 PM: Lunch & Icebreakers
Get to know your cohort through speed updating and casual conversation
2:00 - 3:30 PM: Meet Your Mentors - Project Planning & Premortems
Workshop project ideas with external mentors from biosecurity, AI safety, global health, and animal welfare organizations. Scope research questions and select team leads.
3:30 - 4:00 PM: Lightning Talks and Goodbyes
Sanu, Mike, and Hugh share research experiences and lessons learned
5:00 - 7:00 PM: Project Based Fellowship Conference (Optional but recommended)
Alicia Pollard from Impact First speaks on taking initiative without waiting for permission in research and career development.
Browse and discuss completed fellowship projects, including:
AI safety and alignment research
Women's health charity analysis in Nigeria
Cost-effectiveness of neurotechnologies
Cultivated meat development
Cross-context behavioral testing for AI systems
And more across global health, biosecurity, and animal welfare
7:00 PM: Dinner
Group dinner to wrap up
Sunday 25th January, 10am-12pm
The office will be open all day, and mentors will be around in this period to help you get started on a project plan! This will be crucial for understanding what everyone will be working on for the next 8 weeks so we require you to be there from 10-12! Join us for lunch afterwards and feel free to keep working
Saturday 24th January, 2026
All fellows are expected to attend the programme’s kick-off weekend, which will take place at the Meridian Office.
Research Phase
Each participant is expected to dedicate at least 5 hours per week to their project, though each team can determine the exact time commitment. Based on previous cohorts, the most successful teams tend to include members who can commit up to 10 hours per week.
Every week, your team will submit written work to your mentor for review ahead of your progress meeting. During these meetings, you will update your mentor on your work, and they will provide constructive feedback to guide your next steps.
For in-depth information about your role as mentee, see the mentee handbook
26th January - 2nd March, 2026
Final Submission
At the end of the programme, each team will submit a final written report, which will be evaluated by a panel of industry experts.
Following this, all teams will be invited to the final prize-giving ceremony, where they will deliver short presentations summarising their work.
The expected output of the programme is a 3000 word research report.
Final rankings will be based on the combined scores from the written report and presentation. The winning team will receive a £1000 cash prize with additional prizes awarded to runners-up and participants who particularly impressed the judges. With permission, the top three projects will be featured on our website, and we encourage all teams to share their work publicly on platforms such as the EA Forum or LessWrong.