Arena's mission is to measure and advance the frontier of AI through open, rigorous, and community-driven evaluation. Independent academic research is central to that mission, and this program exists to support it directly.
The program provides funding of up to $50,000 per project to tenure-track faculty at U.S.-based universities pursuing research in evaluation and ranking methodology, measurement and validity, learning from human preference, or safety and alignment. Responses are typically sent within 8 weeks of the submission deadline. Teams and individuals are encouraged to apply.
If you're doing independent research on the scientific foundations of AI evaluation, submit a proposal here.
Read more about the first cohort of Arena Academic Fellows: Spring 2026 recipients and their research projects here.
