Hi, I'm a recently graduated Chinese researcher who frequently translates bioinformatics papers as part of my job. Mandarin is my first language. I've noticed that the translation of new terms is often done on an ad-hoc basis (to the point that there is no common Chinese term for "gene panel". We just use the English term). Would making some kind of codex of good translations/list of terms that should remain in English be an acceptable project? For example, it is considered ambiguous and bad form to translate "logistical regression" as “对数几率回归” instead of “logistical回归”. I'm sure it can be useful for improving future translation productivity and clarity.
Hi Lao, thanks for the question! I imagine that something like this would qualify toward the accountability cohorts, but I think that a full project would likely need to be making translations as well. One reason is that it seems quite hard to make sure that people who we want to make translations for ML work/biosecurity would learn about the codex enough to popularize them. Another reason is that the projects would be taking up at least ~50 hours of time. But, making translations of useful texts and including recommended word-specific translations like you mention would be more along the lines of what I’m looking for! I’d possibly change my mind if it seems like there’s a big market of people looking for a translation codex, but the current bottleneck to me seems like the full translations themselves.
TLDR: I'm launching Good Futures Initiative, a winter project internship to sponsor students to take on projects to upskill, test their fit for career aptitudes, or do impactful work over winter break. You can read more on our website and apply here by December 11th if interested!
The Good Futures Initiative is a 4.5 week internship in which students can use their winter break to lead high-EV projects. Projects could take many forms, but each project produces a final product while accomplishing one of these three goals:
Good Futures takes place remotely from December 18th-January 25th, with a minimum of 12 hours of work per week. Accepted applicants will receive a $300 stipend and up to $1000 in funding for additional time or project fees. I expect to accept ~12 interns. The final number will depend largely on my capacity, but I may offer a lower-effort version of the program for promising applicants who I can’t fully fund/support (with a cohort for weekly check-ins and invites to guest speaker events).
These project examples are far from perfect. At the start of the internship, I'd work with each intern to be sure they're doing the best project fit for their goals. That being said, I’m excited by projects similar to (and better than!!) these.
In addition to leading a focused project, interns will have weekly one-on-one progress check-ins with me (accountability), guest speaker events (expertise), and a meeting with a cohort of ~5 other interns working on projects (community).
Our projects are student-directed. Although there will be guest speakers who have expertise in various topics, weekly advising/mentorship will be focused on helping students learn to self-sufficiently lead projects and build skills, rather than technical help executing the projects. E.g.: Accountability, increasing ambition, figuring out how to increase a project’s EV, making sure interns focus on the right metrics each week. Students are encouraged to apply for technical projects that will help them upskill/test their fit for technical work and reach out to additional mentors during the internship.
This internship fills a few gaps the EA community has in the process of getting students/recent grads to seriously pursue high-impact work.
This internship has a focus on supporting students interested in reducing existential risk. Other project topics/aptitude testing for impactful careers will be considered, but the projects need to meet the same bar for effectiveness.
Since this internship is aiming to help people better understand their aptitudes and skills in order to pursue high-impact work in the future, it’s very helpful for the admissions process for us to have an understanding of why a person wants to pursue a project. You’re encouraged to email alarichardson@berkeley.edu to talk about your ideas if you have a project to propose. I might request a meeting with you to get a better understanding. Alternatively, you can meet with me (Aris Richardson) at EAGx Berkeley to discuss your project ideas in person!
Applicants will fill out this project proposal form and turn it in as part of the application. There’s a project type called “Professor Bertozzi’s” – this is a project that’s separate and available to UC Berkeley students who have already applied for the project, so please ignore this.
Non-students can apply, but this internship is generally designed for students and recent graduates.
Finally, if you're in doubt about whether you're "good enough" to apply but are hoping to use your winter for impact, just apply! I even have an option in the application for people to apply for accountability even if they aren't accepted into the full internship. (This accountability would likely mean that an applicant joins a group of other students to check in with weekly during the winter.)
There are many ways researchers, community builders, and other experts can be helpful in making this a great learning experience for the interns if they’d like to!
I’m still seeking:
If you’re a researcher working on existential risk interested in helping with any of the above, I’d love to hear from you! For example, you could let me know if you’re interested in having a student assist you in your research or take on an easier project that you wish someone would do. You could provide mentorship in whatever capacity works best for you.