While a throwaway account might help personal protection for the coordinator, it also makes increases the risk of the coordinator not being trustworthy. Previously, we often had people who write an anonymous post but who are seasoned community member write the mods to have them vouch for the account being owned by a community member.
A LessWrong user with an established account (multiple posts and comments, having modest karma) contacted me and claimed this as their post and throwaway account. I do not know them personally but I think this user/post is most likely trustworthy.
It would be useful to list concrete ways to help. For instance, I expect many LWers to have social networks in research institutions/universities, the question is how to use such resources.
Specifically, what kinds of help are these researchers looking for? Some ideas:
I'm looking mostly for job openings and help with relocation; venture funding is also an option, i think.
I am looking for a python coder. The project is in Object Detection (finding Lego Blocks) - but I am looking rather for someone junior. I still do it just by myself - no company established - so I cannot help with visa sponsorship or something - but it can be fully remote and I could help with the other aspects of relocation to Poland (if for some reason Warsaw was attractive for any Russians fleeing the empire).
I can't help directly, but I've been interacting with a lot of people trying to leave, so I'm aware of a bunch of resources that exist. You've probably seen many or all of these, and they're not AI-specific, but maybe it will still help.
The most important thing I can say is, get out fast. Don't count on whatever works to get out now to still work in a month. The borders aren't closed yet, but they might be soon, especially for military age men. (I think the chance of this has gone down some, but it remains a live possibility.) If it's at all possible for you financially, get out first and figure out what to do long-term after that.
With that said, here's my list:
Good luck!!!
MS/PhD/internship in CS/ML
Alexander Golovlev has launched an aggregator of MS/PhD/internship positions in CS/ML for young researchers, leaving Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Relevant for students, starting new studies or transferring from the stage they currently at, eg M1. If your group/lab has an open position, or you are a prospective student, please sign up.
Tech jobs from Global Tech Talent Pool
We are an international group of founders, investors, and tech executives from well-known companies who want to help all these people find a job in the European tech industry. Read more about us at https://bit.ly/3I7Znxx. <...> It can be remote work or relocation to UK or EU. We welcome tech talents from Ukraine 🇺🇦, Belarus 🇧🇾 and Russia 🇷🇺: software engineers, data scientists, product managers, consultants, analysts, marketing, designers, etc.
Hello;
Throwaway account for obvious reasons.
A lot of AI researchers from Russia are looking for a new home. NLP, CV, etc.
If you can help in any way or know anyone who can help please DM me.
P.S. I think it would be a net positive for AI Safety to relocate as many people as possible.