Applications for the 2026-Q1 contributor cohort are now open. The cohort runs March through June at the Colombo anchor, with the second 2026 cohort scheduled for the Bay Area in autumn. Application deadline: 7 February 2026; selection decisions by 21 February; cohort starts 9 March.
The contributor cohort is alphabell's structured onboarding program for new contributors. It runs for 14 weeks, in alternating anchor locations, with a target intake of approximately 12 cohort members per cycle. Cohort members work on a pair-programming basis on cell tooling, complete a project rotation across two cells outside their primary interest area, and produce a written response to the research-conduct charter before signing-in.
What we look for. The application is unfortunately less straightforward than we would like it to be. We look for technical capacity in at least one of the four research axes; we look for capacity to write clearly about technical work; we look for evidence that the applicant has, in some prior context, been part of a project that they did not lead and to which they made substantive contributions; and we look for the temperament to take the lab's structural commitments seriously rather than as obstacles to clever work.
What the cohort produces. By the end of the 14 weeks, each cohort member has: completed at least one tooling contribution to an open-source alphabell repo; produced at least one written internal-index entry as a co-author (lab governance gives cohort members co-authorship rights on collaborative cell work in which they materially participated); spent at least three weeks paired with a cell other than the one they most expected to want to join; and signed in formally to a cell, if a cell offers and they accept.
What the cohort does not promise. We do not promise that every cohort member is offered a cell. In the seven cohorts we have run, the rate at which cohort members were offered placement has averaged 8-of-12. We do not promise stipends comparable to industry research positions; the cohort stipend is the lab standard ($9,400/month) prorated over the 14 weeks. We do not promise relocation support beyond a small one-time travel allowance.
What we are doing differently this cycle. Two changes. First: we have moved the project-rotation phase from weeks 4-6 to weeks 6-8, after feedback from prior cohorts that the earlier rotation was too early to be productive. Second: we are running a one-week pre-arrival reading block to surface the lab's structural commitments before the cohort starts, rather than relying on the in-person discussion-only format we used previously.
We do not promise that every cohort member is offered a cell.
Who we expect from. Applications come from many places. The largest fraction is recent Ph.D. graduates working on AI safety, alignment, or interpretability. The second-largest is mid-career engineers from production systems backgrounds who have a specific interest in agent infrastructure. We accept applications from earlier-career applicants and continue to find some of our strongest contributors among them.
How to apply. Applications open at alphabell.com/contribute/cohort from 14 January 2026. The application is one written essay (1,000 words; on a question the application page will provide), a portfolio or set of writing samples, and a single 60-minute live conversation that we use to verify that the written application is accurately the applicant's own thinking.
What the conversation is for, briefly. We do not use the live conversation as a technical interview. We use it to talk through how the applicant would handle one or two specific scenarios that have come up in past cohorts — usually involving disagreement with a cell steward, or a piece of work that needed to be reframed mid-rotation. The conversation is meant to surface temperament and approach, not technical fluency. We say this explicitly because some applicants prepare for it as if it were a technical screen; that preparation does not help.
This note is signed by Ada Karim, cohort steward.
For the protocol details behind anything mentioned above, see /governance and /charter. For the structural commitments, /about.