MATS Winter 2027
The Winter 2027 program will run for 12 weeks, from January 19th to April 10th, in Berkeley, CA and London, UK, with remote options also available. Fellows will receive mentorship from world-class researchers at organizations like Anthropic, Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Redwood Research, and ARC, with the option to apply for a 6–12 month funded extension beyond the main program.
Applications are now closed.
Program phases
Key dates for the application and admissions timeline
Applications typically open several months before the program begins. Applicants complete a multi-stage admissions process, beginning with a general application. Depending on the tracks, streams, and mentors they apply to, applicants may also complete additional evaluations such as interviews, work tests, coding assessments, or writing samples before final admissions decisions are made. More information can be found on the apply page.
In Stage 1, applicants apply to one or more tracks (broad research areas): Empirical, Theory, Strategy & Forecasting, Policy & Governance, System Security, Biosecurity, and Founding & Field-Building. In Stage 2, advancing applicants choose specific streams within those tracks, each led by one or more mentors with their own research agenda. You can view this list below or as a grid here.
This stream will focus on evaluating dangerous capabilities in language models and detecting deception and dishonesty.
The team's focus is on stress-testing model alignment to detect and understand model propensities relevant to loss-of-control risks, and includes work on building realistic alignment evaluations, measuring and mitigating evaluation awareness, inferring hidden propensities and developing automated algorithms to search for misalignment behaviour. We perform pre-deployment alignment testing across frontier AI companies. See e.g.:
- https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/cheating-behaviour-in-frontier-model-evaluations
- https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/evaluating-whether-ai-models-would-sabotage-ai-safety-research
- https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/investigating-models-for-misalignment
- https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.12747
This stream is for the UK AISI Red-team. The team focuses on stress-testing mitigations for AI risk, including misuse safeguards, control techniques and model alignment red-teaming. We plan to work on projects building and improving methods for performing these kinds of evaluations and methods.
This stream focuses on forecasting, real world applications of world modeling with LLMs, formal & semiformal verification, capability evaluations design, coordination mechanisms, collective intelligence applications, and gradual disempowerment.
Conceptual research on deceptive alignment, designing realistic scheming propensity evaluations and honeypots. The stream will run in person in London, with scholars working together as a team.
The MATS Program is supported by a diverse and highly respected group of mentors — top-tier researchers, engineers, and thinkers working across AI alignment, governance, interpretability, and security.
Application
What are the key dates for MATS Winter 2027?
The timeline for the MATS Winter 2027 program is:
- Application final deadline: September 6th, 2026
- Evaluations: September, October and early November
- Offers sent: Early to mid-November
- Program dates: January 19th to April 10th. The Winter 2027 Program has a time commitment of 40 hours per week over 12 weeks and takes place in-person in Berkeley, CA and London, UK. Remote or part-time participation is a possibility depending on your circumstances and mentor.
- Extension phase: Possible 6 or 12-month extension for select fellows after the 12-week program, starting in December.
What if I am accepted by multiple streams?
Based on stream rankings of applicants and applicant rankings of streams, a final matching process uses both sides' rankings to send out a single offer.
How long does the application process take?
Stage 1 applications open on August 18th and close on September 6th, end of day anywhere on Earth. Offers go out in early to mid-November, and the program starts on January 19th.
Finances
What does “financial support” concretely entail?
MATS provides a stipend of $1600 per week for participation in the main program ($19,200 for the full 12-week program). Scholars who are participating and performing research for less than 40 hours/week and/or for less than 12 weeks will receive stipends proportional to their level of participation.
Separately from this stipend, MATS will provide scholars with travel to and from Berkeley or London, housing, office space, and lunch and dinner on weekdays.
Do I have to pay taxes on the grant I receive for the MATS Program?
MATS participants may have to pay taxes on their grants based on the rules of the countries in which they are a resident for tax purposes. The grants should be regarded as private grants from a non-profit entity provided to individuals for the purpose of independent research and participation in a US-based educational seminar program.