A note from JueYan Zhang, who recommended this grant:

S is a researcher at a top US university who was offered a short-term contractor role at the UK AI Safety Institute on one of their Dangerous Capabilities Evaluations teams. However, owing to the short-term nature of the contract, the UK AISI was unable to sponsor the prerequisite visa to enable S to work in the UK.

S was referred to me by a UK AISI affiliate who had previously referred to me strong AI governance related grants. After two reference checks and some discussion with S, I judged that this support to S would help:

1) build state capacity in AI evaluations

2) inform thoughtful and effective regulation

3) help build S’s career capital for future roles in AI auditing

In addition, this grant is high leverage, as S’s pay is funded by the UK AISI. I am happy to recommend this grant to S, as part of my support for secondments and related programs, and believe that the UK AISI is a key institution in this space.