After completing the learning phase of our courses, many participants work on independent projects of their choosing. We want these projects to be excellent - and we try to remove barriers wherever we can.
One common barrier is lacking the resources to do the project well. Today we’re updating our updated rapid small grants program for participants and facilitators on our courses. It’s aimed at people who, without funding, couldn’t reasonably afford what they need for their chosen project.
If you’re unsure whether to apply: apply.
How it works
At all times, only assume we’ll cover costs we’ve confirmed in writing for your specific project. If you’re ever uncertain, contact us before spending money you expect us to reimburse.
Submit a proposal here (under 15 minutes for most applications). We’ll respond within 5 working days with one of three outcomes:
Accepted: We’ll confirm exactly what spending we’ve approved.
Clarification needed: We’ll ask follow-up questions to evaluate your request.
Not approved: We don’t think this meets our criteria, or we’re unable to approve for another reason.
Do your project, confident you can spend on what we’ve approved.
Claim reimbursement. We process most claims within 5 working days. If you didn’t end up spending the money, no problem - just don’t submit a claim.
What we’d likely fund
We expect most grants to fall between £50 and £1,000. Amounts toward the higher end typically require evidence of initial traction - a strong proof of concept or promising preliminary results.
These examples are illustrative; all decisions are at our discretion:
Compute for a technical AI safety project
Access to paywalled articles, research papers, or textbooks
Moderate travel and tickets for relevant conferences or events
Software tools that save significant project time
Project-specific equipment (e.g., a quality microphone for an AI safety YouTube channel)
Participant recruitment for empirical experiments
Hosting costs for your application
What we typically wouldn’t fund
Compensation for your time on the project
Core equipment you’d reasonably already have (laptops, phones, etc.)
Personal expenses, even productivity-enabling ones (meals, drinks, childcare)
High-cost travel or conference expenses
Anything without a clear link to your project
Other funders may cover some of these - see our resources page for AI safety funding opportunities, or apply to our AGI Strategy Fund - which makes out grants between $10k - $50k.
Eligibility
You must be a current participant or facilitator on a BlueDot Impact course.
We reimburse via bank transfer (Wise) or PayPal (UK), so we cannot send payments to sanctioned countries.
Questions or feedback? Contact us.
Apply
Submit your proposal here - it takes under 15 minutes for most applications, and we’ll get back to you within 5 working days.
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