Open Philanthropy just re-opened applications for our early-career funding for individuals interested in improving the long-term future.
Apply here.
Applications are open until further notice and will be assessed on a rolling basis.
From the description:
This program aims to provide support - primarily in the form of funding for graduate study, but also for other types of one-off career capital-building activities - for early-career individuals who want to pursue careers that help improve the long-term future and who don’t qualify for our existing program focused on careers related to biosecurity and pandemic preparedness.
See the program page for further information about the funding criteria, the application process, and how this opportunity relates to other Open Philanthropy programs.
Please contact longtermfuturescholarship@openphilanthropy.org with any questions/suggestions.
Is there a strong reason to close applications in January?
I'm only familiar with the deadlines for economics graduate school, but for that you get decisions back from graduate school in February-March along with the funding package. Therefore, it would be useful to be able to apply for this depending on the funding package you receive (e.g. if you are fully funded you don't need to apply, but if you are given little or no funding, it would be important to apply) .
The main reason has to do with capacity/turnaround times. Our experience is that a lot of candidates apply very close to the deadline, and prospective grad students typically have to accept their offers in mid-April, so if we had set our deadline in, say, mid-March instead, this would have given us only c.4 weeks to process these applications (which as it happens is already going to be a busy period for the relevant team members for other reasons). The earlier deadline gives us more wiggle room, although it does come at the cost you highlight. Candidates who don’t apply in time for our deadline and find out in February/March that they’ll require funding may want to consider applying to the Long-Term Future Fund.