Tianxia Fellowship Programme Details

(天下学者计划)

About the Fellowship

Humanity might be facing ever more complex and high-stakes problems. It does not seem that any country can solve them on their own. “Tianxia (天下) ”, an ancient Chinese concept modernised by contemporary philosophers , embodies the idea of a universal civilisational order for all humanity. In such an order, multiple civilisations seek dialogue and the achievement of shared commonality through equal interactions. We resonate with the modern interpretation of the term and believe that international cooperation is crucial to making long-term progress on the challenges we all face.

To further the goals of our organisation, the Fellowship aims to cultivate leaders dedicated to affecting the long-term future through “macrostrategy-driven work”. This type of work is grounded on a robust understanding of macrostrategic considerations such as which technologies are most likely to be transformative at a timescale of decades and what the largest levers in the world are for affecting these. During the programme, fellows are expected to gain knowledge about China, AI safety, global catastrophic biological risks, and risks from great power conflicts, by visiting relevant organisations and engaging with prominent thinkers in the fields. After programme completion, fellows may continue to have access to mentorship and opportunities for collaboration.

To increase the chances of making a long-term difference on any single problem, it is important to have an understanding of many cause areas and crucial considerations. For example, the timelines of global catastrophic biological risks and great power conflicts could be relevant to making progress on AI safety. We therefore welcome applications from people who would like to gain robust coverage of various pressing causes while zeroing in on a focus area.

Programme Structure

The programme aims to equip fellows with big-picture thinking, connections, and career planning insights crucial to their pursuit of macrostrategy-driven work. Through the programme, fellows will engage deeply with researchers and staff at organisations which share our goals, and acquire the latest insights and strategic thinking on improving the world’s pressing problems in the China context. The programme is structured by the below activities, and we expect fellows to attend all of them:

Programme Sponsorship

Expenses incurred in the above events are covered by the programme. If a further stipend is needed, please let us know in the application email. We do not want anyone to miss out on this opportunity because of financial constraints. Please reach out to the Programme Manager Alicia Huang (aliciahuangty@gmail.com) if you have any questions or concerns.

Opportunities Afterwards

We hope that fellows will be in a better position to go into various fields of macrostrategy-driven work after the fellowship: directly pursuing research or facilitating research; community-building; grant-making; advising Chinese and foreign organisations. Fellows can continue participating in our network of China specialists and receiving support from us on their macrostrategy-driven work.

Here are some opportunities and examples of macrostrategy-driven work that fellows might like to explore after the programme:

Who we are looking for?

We welcome people from different backgrounds and levels of seniority. The programme is particularly a good fit for people who are keen to acquire big-picture thinking and pursue macrostrategy-driven work. We will primarily consider candidates who are:

Though not a requirement, candidates who have strong expertise in a pressing cause area will stand out.