Pivotal Research Fellowship

Pivotal Research, formerly known as the Swiss Existential Risk Initiative (CHERI), is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing global catastrophic risks from advanced AI and biotechnology. The organization was established in Switzerland around 2021, initially running a research program in Geneva in collaboration with ETH Zurich and the EA community. It ran its first fellowship cohort in 2022, and by 2024 had rebranded as Pivotal Research and relocated its primary operations to London. A UK legal entity, Pivotal Research Ltd (Company No. 16440066), was incorporated in England and Wales in May 2025. The core program is a 9-week, fully-funded, in-person research fellowship held twice per year (Q1 and Q3) at the London Initiative for Safe AI (LISA). By early 2026 the program had reached its 7th cohort. Fellows receive a stipend of £6,000 (or £8,000 for Senior Fellows with PhDs or equivalent experience), plus travel, accommodation support, weekday meals, and a compute budget. They work directly with mentors who are established researchers at leading AI safety organizations. The fellowship spans technical AI safety, AI governance and policy, technical AI governance, and AI-biosecurity research. Research output typically takes the form of papers, blog posts, or other formats. Alumni have gone on to join organizations including GovAI, UK AISI, Google DeepMind, and the Alan Turing Institute, and have founded organizations such as KIRA, Catalyze Impact, and Prism Eval. The organization is led by Co-Directors Tobias Häberli (formerly Program Director at CHERI) and Tilman Räuker (formerly Technical AI Safety Research Manager at ERA Cambridge). Naomi Nederlof, the founding Director of CHERI, now serves as an advisor while working as Community Building Grants Manager at CEA. The team includes research managers for both AI governance and technical AI safety tracks, plus operations and community health staff.