Hi Leplen,

I'm only assisting on CSER on a casual basis but here are some rough notes that should at least be helpful.

As you point out, the job description is general because the enterprise is interdisciplinary and there are a lot of ways that people could contribute to it. Projects apart from those specified would be significantly designed to match the available personelle and their expertise. If someone wanted to contribute to some specific technology, such as nanotech, that you've previously written about on this forum, and had a credible background that was relevant to that risk, then we wouldn't be left wondering why you were applying. Still, I agree that we should make future job postings more specific, and expect that will do this.

In relation to who would be available to supervise applicants in areas other than those advertised, it can be helpful to look at CSER's Cambridge-based advisory. In policy, for example, there is not only Robert Doubleday from the Centre for Science and Policy but also others who are advising, so this would obviously be a strong area. Another example is that Huw Price, who is a founder, is significantly interested in the application of decision theory to AI safety, and so opportunities may arise in that area over time.

It doesn't seem immediately likely that domain experts would be used by passing around existing projects because CSER is actively interested in performing thorrough and ongoing analysis of relevant risks, and how to promote the safe development of relevant technologies.

If you have a question about whether CSER is interested in performing research and has capabilities for supervision of X area of research,