FAQ: Global Fellowship Programme on AI & Market Power

No. Applications should be submitted by individuals. You can be hosted by an organisation, but it is not a requirement, and all applications should be submitted in the name of the individual or individuals, not the organisation. If you are applying as a team, all team members should be named in a single application form, and a resume for each individual should be attached.

If the applicant is affiliated with an organisation and would like the organisation to handle the grant, it is possible to disburse the payment to the organisation as a third party, on behalf of the grantee. This would require that the organisation register with IIE in their vendor system (only at the stage where application is successful).

In most cases, yes. If a person is not based in the country where the sanctions are imposed, and they have a bank account in their new location, the restriction wouldn’t apply. Please contact our team to clarify your individual situation. We are working with the Institute of International Education and subject to their guidelines which prohibit granting fellowships in areas subject to US sanctions as identified by the Office for Foreign Assets Control.

You may only submit one application. In case of more than one application being submitted by an individual, the expert panel will read and evaluate only one application and disregard other applications submitted by the same applicant.

We're looking for sharp analytical research and methodology which is based on analysing primary evidence. We expect that your work will contribute to developing a deeper understanding of the market power dynamics in the current AI ecosystem and help create a strong evidence base to design interventions in the public interest.

The intention of this programme is very practical – to address the concentration of power over AI infrastructure in the hands of a few corporations. We expect that your research questions are also practical and not solely theoretical. You should also be able to demonstrate that you have the skills and expertise to realistically carry out the research you propose and a clear plan for how you plan to communicate and disseminate your findings to your intended audiences.

We have defined four areas of interest under this Fellowship and your research should address one or more of these topics:

1. The nature of the partnerships between firms developing large-scale AI and infrastructure actors.
2. The business models of large-scale AI systems providers.
3. The impacts of concentration and abuse of market power by incumbent firms on third-party application developers and business deployers.
4. The avenues for challenging market power.

We used the phrase “Administrative Expenses” (rather than using the term “salary”) for cases where a fellow may want to bring on additional help (research assistant, transcriber, someone to help with interviews, etc.).

We would discourage applicants from applying a flat rate; rather, the line item should correspond to a charge for a specific cost.

There is no limit to the administrative expenses, but we would expect the bulk of the budget to be for research stipends and materials.

Teaching buyout (replacing the potential fellow at their university during the fellowship) can be included in the proposal as a stipend.

The grant will require a narrative report that includes information about how the funds were spent.

In the case of a consortium, a lead applicant will receive the funds and will manage the budget and reporting. We suggest that you indicate who is a lead applicant when applying, in case of a consortium.