AI Safety Berlin Visiting Researcher Pilot

Berlin, Germany

Short-term residencies (2–4 weeks) that bring high-context AI safety researchers to work at AI Safety Berlin’s coworking hub to connect with local researchers and career-transitioners and seed a European relocation pipeline.

Project Details

AI Safety Berlin runs a daily coworking hub at the CIC in Berlin, co-located with the Foresight AI Node. The hub has 10 daily coworking members and averages 20–25 attendees at its twice-monthly open coworking days.

This pilot funds travel and accommodation for a small cohort of visiting AI safety researchers to spend 2–4 weeks each living in Berlin and working from the hub alongside the local community.

We are looking to host high-context researchers who will engage with local members via presentations, feedback and/or collaborations to energize, network and upskill AI Safety talent in Berlin.

In exchange, we’ll fund travel to and from Berlin, accommodations while here and a daily coworking desk within our coworking hub. This is for working researchers, so no salaries or stipends will be provided.

What this ask is

Develop an AI safety researcher visiting program for the AI Safety Berlin coworking hub.

Funding would enable developing the application and coordination processes for a visiting researcher program and acceptance of 3–6 researchers into the program during a 6-month pilot (3 researchers at minimum funding level; 6 researchers at ideal funding level).

The program would subsidize visiting researchers for a 2–4 week stay in Berlin, including:

Travel to and from Berlin
Local public transportation
AirBnB accommodation
Coworking

In addition, funding would cover paying a coordinator to manage the program and coordinate each researcher’s visit, plus a welcome party for the researcher.

Theory of Impact

The European Union lacks a top-tier AI safety hub like London or the Bay Area. AI Safety Berlin aims to make Berlin into such a hub; a visiting researcher program would energize and accelerate the growth of our existing community.

While researchers can often still get visas to the US and the UK, recent changes have made the process more difficult and less palatable. Researchers who remain in the EU are scattered across Europe without strong in-person networking and collaboration opportunities. A vibrant AI safety coworking hub within the Schengen area would provide opportunities for these researchers and others outside the EU to connect and collaborate.

As the capital of Germany, the largest economy in the EU, Berlin is well connected geographically within the EU and has vibrant English-speaking professional and social cultures that reduce friction for international visitors.

Bringing high-context AI safety researchers to Berlin enables local AI Safety Berlin members in bulk to learn about the latest research, get feedback on their work, and develop relationships with international researchers that may lead to collaboration and funding opportunities. This comes at a fraction of the cost for all those members to travel to London or the Bay Area for these benefits.

People

Organizer

Organizer

Organizer

Organizer

Funding Details

Start Date: -
End Date: -
Expected Duration: 6 months
Funding Raised to Date: -
Annual Budget: -
Monthly Burn Rate: -
Current Runway: -
Funding Goal: -
Funding Stage: Seeking first grant
Fiscal Sponsor: -

Track Record

AI Safety Berlin started as a private Signal group that hosted intermittent events. In November 2024, the Signal group was migrated to a Telegram multi-channel community and a web site, aisafety.berlin, was launched.

Since then, AI Safety Berlin has continued to host events, meetups and hackathons as well as grow our Telegram community to over 300 members.

Coworking expanded from biweekly open coworking events in the summer of 2025 to a daily coworking hub with 3 people in October 2025. In April 2026, we moved into the office next to the Foresight Institute at the CIC Berlin. In the last 3 months, we have grown from 4 to 10 daily coworking members with additional applications in the pipeline. We continue to host twice-monthly open coworking, now hosting 20–25 attendees on average.

Grants Received– no grants recorded

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Funding Asks

grantmaking.ai Launch Round

Applied

Minimum

$18,300

Ideal

$33,600

What this ask is

This pilot funds travel and accommodation for a small cohort of visiting AI safety researchers to spend 2–4 weeks each living in Berlin and working from the hub alongside the local community.

We are looking to host high-context researchers who will engage with local members via presentations, feedback and/or collaborations to energize, network and upskill AI Safety talent in Berlin.

How the money will be spent

Per researcher costs will be about $4,250, broken down into:

accommodation: $2,400
roundtrip & local travel: $900
coworking: $200
welcome party: $250
admin coordination: $500

One-time program setup costs would be $2,500 for a local coordinator.

Based on these costs, with a contingency of 20% to account for price and exchange rate variances, and other unaccounted costs, the minimum and ideal funding levels would be:

Minimum ($18,300) for program setup and 3 researchers, broken down as:

Direct Researcher Costs: $12,750
One-Time Setup Costs: $2,500
Contingency: $3,050

Ideal ($33,600) for program setup and 6 researchers, broken down as:

Direct Researcher Costs: $25,500
One-Time Setup Costs: $2,500
Contingency: $5,600

No salaries or stipends will be paid to the researcher. Costs for the coordinator are based on freelancer rates for program coordination in Berlin. AI Safety Berlin already runs a coworking hub in Berlin, so aside from the per-desk cost, no overhead is required for the coworking itself.

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