Applications for Neel Nanda’s Stream Due December 23
All other stream applications are expected to open in late December.
Neel Nanda
Senior Research Scientist, Google DeepMind
Neel leads the mechanistic interpretability team at Google DeepMind, where he tries to understand how models work and why they act the way they do, and figure out how we can use this understanding to make future models, including AGI, safe.
Neel takes a pragmatic approach to interpretability: identify what stands between where we are now and where we want to be by AGI, and then focus on the subset of resulting research problems that can be tractably studied on today's models. This can look like diving deep into the internals of the model, or simpler black box methods like reading and carefully intervening on the chain of thought - whatever is the right tool for the job. This could look like studying how to detect deception, understanding why a model took a seemingly concerning action, or fixing weak points in other areas of safety, e.g. using interpretability to stop models realising they are being tested. You can learn more about Neel's approach in this podcast.
He has spent far too much time having MATS scholars, and has worked with ~60 so far - he’s excited to take on even more!
Application process
Steps in the application process
Create an application account. You’ll use this to access all applications materials.
Submit applications to the MATS streams and/or selection groups you want to work with. You must submit at least one stream application for your MATS application to be considered. You can and should apply to all of the MATS streams that interest you!
Complete additional evaluations. Depending on the streams you apply to, you may be required to complete a coding screen, interviews, or other evaluations after submitting your application.
Tips for applying
Make sure to check your spam folders for emails! We recommend automatically filtering for emails from applications@matsprogram.org to ensure you don’t miss any emails.
Submit your application materials early. In the past, some applicants have had technical problems in the hour leading up to the application deadline.
Mentors will primarily evaluate candidates based on the submission of their own stream-specific applications, though all mentors will have access to application materials submitted to other streams.
Check out our Getting Into MATS page for more tips.
Complete our EOI to hear when the full Summer 2026 application round is launched.
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Neel Nanda
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