Funding

Partial / Stipend

Program dates

TBA

Fellowship•USA · Cambridge · Hybrid

CRA Trustworthy AI Research Fellowship

Computing Research Association (CRA)

Application Deadline

Closed · March 31, 2026

Reopens ~Mar 2027

Official Page

The CRA Trustworthy AI Research Fellowship is run by the Computing Research Association and funded by Microsoft. It supports early-career computing researchers — one to three years past their PhD — whose work on trustworthy AI draws on the humanistic social sciences, such as anthropology, communication studies, history, political science, science and technology studies, or sociology. Inspired by the 2022 National Academies report “Fostering Responsible Computing Research”, the fellowship builds an interdisciplinary community through an intensive in-person field school and a year of virtual convenings and mentoring, while fellows remain in their positions at U.S. institutions. The second cohort runs from June 2026 through August 2027; the first cohort (2025–2026) counts nine fellows.

Benefits & funding

  • $17,000 stipend over the 12-month fellowship.
  • Travel, lodging, and meals covered for the four-day, in-person Trustworthy AI Field School (2026 edition: July 26–31 at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, co-located with the Sloan Foundation’s Metascience & AI Summer School and Northeastern’s AIDE program).
  • Quarterly virtual convenings to sustain collaboration across the cohort.
  • Cross-disciplinary mentoring and professional development, plus access to CRA partner institutions and member networks.

Eligibility

  • Hold a primary doctoral degree in a computing-related discipline (e.g., computer science, computer engineering, data science, information systems).
  • Be one to three years post-PhD — for the 2026–2027 cohort, a PhD conferred between May 1, 2023 and July 1, 2025.
  • Have secondary training or substantial research experience in at least one humanistic social-science discipline (e.g., anthropology, communication studies, history, labor studies, political science, science and technology studies, sociology).
  • Hold a faculty, postdoctoral, or visiting researcher position at an institution of higher education in the United States.
  • No nationality requirement is stated; the position must be at a U.S. institution.

Can you apply?

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  • Residence required

    USA

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  • Education required

    PhD

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  • Experience required

    1–3 yrs

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Application process

  1. 1
    Prepare a CV.
  2. 2
    Complete the brief online application form when a cycle is open.
  3. 3
    Submit short written responses covering your interdisciplinary background, your interest in the fellowship, and your experience with (or interest in) community-based and public-interest approaches to trustworthy AI.
  4. 4
    Await selection decisions; the program year opens with a virtual kickoff meeting.

Program timeline

  1. Application deadline for the 2026–2027 cohort (midnight PT) — now closed

    Mar 31, 2026

  2. Virtual kickoff; fellowship year begins

    2026-06

  3. Trustworthy AI Field School, Microsoft Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Jul 26, 2026 – Jul 31, 2026

  4. Quarterly

    Virtual convenings across the year

  5. Second-cohort fellowship ends

    2027-08

  6. Early 2027 (expected, based on this year’s cycle)

    2027–2028 applications open