Explore research agendas related to the topics we recommend
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Research agendas
On this page, you can find the research agendas of organisations and researchers from or adjacent to effective altruism. If you want a quick introduction to why these causes are particularly important from an effective altruist perspective, see this TED video or read this article.
Collections covering multiple cause areas
- A central directory for open research questions on the EA forum by Michael Aird
- Collection of example research questions with potentially high social impact by 80,000 Hours
- Psychology for Effectively Improving the Future from the EA Psychology Lab
Animal Welfare, Advocacy and Alternative Protein
- The Good Food Institute: 2020 Consumer Research Priorities
- Animal Advocacy Africa:research agenda
- Animal Charity Evaluators: focus areas
- Faunalytics: research agenda
- Sentience Institute: research agenda
- Fish Welfare Initiative: Thesis ideas
- Capacity for Welfare & Moral Status by Jason Schukraft of Rethink Priorities
- Wild Animal Initiative: 2020 research agenda and this deep dive into wildlife contraception and welfare.
AI and Other Existential and Global Catastrophic Risks
AI governance
- AI Impacts: promising research projects and possible empirical investigations
- Governance of AI program at Future of Humanity Institute: Alan Dafoe’s AI governance research agenda
- Center for a New American Security: Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Initiative Research Agenda
- Future of Life Institute: A survey of research questions for robust and beneficial AI (+ some aspects also fall into technical AI safety)
- Luke Muehlhauser’s list of research questions to improve our strategic picture of superintelligence (2014)
- Center on Long-Term Risk: open research questions
- The section on AI in Legal Priorities Research: A Research Agenda, Legal Priorities Project
- Some AI Governance Research Ideas (2021) compiled by Markus Anderljung and Alexis Carlier
Technical AI safety research
- Center for Human Compatible Artifical Intelligence: annotated bibliography of recommended reading materials
- Machine Intelligence Research Institute: Agent Foundations for Aligning Machine Intelligence with Human Interests (2017) and Alignment for Advanced Machine Learning Systems research agendas
- Center on Long-Term Risk: Cooperation, Conflict, and Transformative Artificial Intelligence: A Research Agenda(+ includes some questions related to AI governance)
- Paul Christiano’s research agenda summary (and FAQ and talk) (2018)
- Stuart Armstrong’s research agenda (2019), example use and talk.
- Vanessa Kosoy’s research agenda (2018)
- Global Priorities Institute’s Philosophy: Risks and opportunities from artificial intelligence (draft, November 2023)
Other existential and catastrophic risks
- Alliance for Feeding The Earth in Disasters: research priorities and Effective Thesis research topics
- Center on Long-Term Risk: open research questions
- Happier Lives Institute: research agenda
- Qualia Research Institute: ideas for further research
- Innovations for Poverty Action: A Research Agenda for the Next Wave of Graduation Programs
- International Growth Centre’s research priorities (more detailed PDF)
- Esther Duflo’s Research Agenda for Development Economics
- Global Priorities Institute’s Philosophy: The philosophy of mind and well-being (draft, October 2023)
Improving Institutional Decision-Making
- EA Geneva: questions related to improving institutional decision making
- Global Priorities Institute at Oxford University: research agenda
- Research projects suggested by the Forethought Foundation
- Open Philanthropy: Technical and Philosophical Questions That Might Affect Our Grantmaking
- Legal Priorities Project: A Research Agenda
- Humanities Research Ideas for Longtermists by Lizka Vaintrob
- The Life You Can Save: research they would like to see more of
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