Fellowships

Drawing of person holding a lightbulb next to"Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowship Program"

About the Fellows Program

Discoveries in science and technology are moving quickly from basic research to real-world applications, sometimes with societal-scale impact, and scientists are increasingly encountering challenges that fall outside their expertise. We need a new kind of training that prepares scientists to confront the current and future ethical challenges of their fields, and that creates social scientists, philosophers, journalists, and policymakers who are able to work with scientists and diverse communities to ensure that the applications of scientific discoveries protect and advance fundamental human interests. The Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public aims to build a transdisciplinary community of research and learning that breaks down barriers between disciplines and across academia and society, to work together to envision the futures we want our scientific advances to create. 

The fellowship program is aimed at graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and professional schools who are interested in exploring ethical challenges, advancing solutions, and identifying ways of involving impacted communities and the public in science and technology. Fellowships are awarded for up to two years with funding available to work and study in the center and be a part of a new kind of community. 


The work that I have done studying philosophy and ethics [in the Kavli Center], both broadly and within my discipline have reflected back directly on how I conduct my research and how I teach about CRISPR, specifically as an instructor for the CRISPR course with the African Plant Breeding Academy.

Headshot of Nicholas Karavolias 

Nicholas Karavolias2023 Ethics, Science, and the Public Graduate Fellow; plant genome editing scientist in the Staskawicz Lab


How to Apply

Graduate Students

**The 2024 applications are now closed.** 

We expect to open applications for our next cohort toward the end of the 2025 spring semester.

Postdoctoral Scholars/Researchers

  1. We are hiring for one Postdoc in AI, Ethics, and the Public. The next review date is Sept. 30th, with a subsequent review date for additional applications on Oct. 21. 
  2. Though we are not running a full cohort application for postdocs this year, we are accepting applications for visiting scholars or for those interested in a postdoc position who can bring their own funding (for example, NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), international postdoc mobility awards such as the EU Global Postdoctoral Fellowships, or existing grants under a current postdoc supervisor). Those with their own funding interested in a postdoctoral position should email KCESP-Fellowships@berkeley.edu.

Questions

Please direct any questions to KCESP-Fellowships@berkeley.edu