Rochester AI Safety Collective

AI Alignment 102

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Deepen your expertise with cutting-edge research topics and advanced methodologies in AI alignment. This completely free 9-week advanced course builds on foundational knowledge to explore frontier research areas.

⚠️ Prerequisites Required

  • Completion of AI Alignment 101 (or equivalent background in AI safety fundamentals)
  • Strong technical foundation in machine learning and mathematics
  • Programming experience in Python (preferred) or similar language
  • Familiarity with research papers and ability to engage with technical literature

Not sure if you’re ready? Start with AI Alignment 101 or contact us for guidance.

🚀

Advanced Course

9 Weeks • Advanced Level • Research Mentorship
Dive deep into the frontiers of AI alignment research. This advanced program covers cutting-edge topics, recent breakthroughs, and ongoing challenges in the field. You’ll work directly with leading researchers and contribute to advancing our understanding of AI safety.

Advanced Topics

Our advanced curriculum explores:

Advanced Supervision Task decomposition, constitutional AI, and scalable oversight methods
Preventing Misgeneralization Robustness, distributional shift, and out-of-distribution detection
Deep Interpretability Mechanistic understanding, feature visualization, and circuit analysis
Meta-Reasoning Reasoning about reasoning systems and recursive self-improvement
Eliciting Latent Knowledge Advanced techniques for extracting implicit model knowledge
Scientific Applications AI alignment considerations in scientific discovery and automation

Program Structure

Duration 9 weeks total
(7 weeks study + 2 weeks research project)
Format Advanced cohorts with
researcher mentorship
Time Commitment 4-6 hours per week
(papers + discussions + research)
Capstone Project Original research contribution
with publication potential

What Makes This Advanced

  • Recent Research Papers: Engage with cutting-edge publications from top AI safety labs
  • Guest Researchers: Direct interaction with leading figures in AI alignment
  • Original Research: Conduct novel research with potential for publication
  • Collaborative Projects: Work on real problems facing the AI safety community
  • Technical Depth: Mathematical rigor and implementation details

Research Areas You Might Explore

  • Novel interpretability techniques for large language models
  • Robustness evaluation methods for AI systems
  • Alignment techniques for multi-agent systems
  • Scalable oversight for scientific discovery AI
  • Theoretical foundations of AI alignment

Next Steps After Completion

  • Transition to independent AI safety research
  • Join ongoing research collaborations and working groups
  • Apply for AI safety research positions and fellowships
  • Publish your research in top-tier venues
  • Mentor future cohorts as an advanced facilitator

📋 Apply for AI Alignment 102

Next cohort starts: October 2025 • Application deadline: September 15, 2025

1

Detailed Application

Submit technical background, research interests, and prerequisite verification

2

Technical Interview

45-minute discussion of research experience and technical knowledge

3

Research Matching

Get paired with research mentor and advanced cohort

4

Begin Research

Start advanced study and research collaboration

Apply Now →

Program Schedule

2025 Cohorts January, April, July, October
Application Deadlines 2 weeks before each start date
Response Time 1 week after application

Questions?

Contact us at contact@rocaisc.org or schedule a call with our admissions team.

This program is offered at no cost as part of our commitment to democratizing AI safety education.