United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) Women in AI Fellowship 2026 for women diplomats (Fully Funded to Geneva, Switzerland)

Application Deadline: 24 February, 2026

Applications are actually open for the 2026 UNIDIR Women in AI Fellowship. The program is designed as a capacity-building intervention that endows women diplomats with up-to-the-minute data of the coverage, authorized and technical facets of AI. Women in AI Fellows purchase the knowhow, abilities, sources and networks required to have interaction successfully in multilateral AI dialogue in the sphere of worldwide peace and safety.

Structure

The Women in AI Fellowship includes a week-long, in-person coaching in Geneva. The fellowship is structured round three key pillars for a holistic and efficient programme of studying:

1. Education: UNIDIR supplies the fellows with a substantive introduction to AI know-how, together with its strengths and limitations; an outline of the attainable and noticed use circumstances of AI in safety purposes; associated worldwide safety considerations surrounding AI; background to and present multilateral discussions round AI coverage and governance; and insights into the hyperlinks between army AI and issues of regulation, ethics and gender. Learning actions are led by UNIDIR researchers in collaboration with related specialists and stakeholder organizations.
2. Exploration: Apart from lectures, UNIDIR facilitates the fellows’ interactions with stakeholders participating in sensible purposes of AI in technical and tutorial settings. This will permit fellows to obtain focused briefings and to acquire a greater sense of the ecosystems concerned in AI design, improvement, deployment and governance.
3. Networking: UNIDIR additionally streamlines fellows’ engagements with related stakeholders to allow the forging of sturdy connections with the diplomatic neighborhood, the non-public sector and civil society. This features a) the group of a reception with the diplomatic neighborhood in Geneva, and b) a collection of digital conferences with a gaggle of multi-sectoral specialists working on the intersections of gender, safety and know-how. The fellows additionally profit from and turn into part of the UNIDIR Alumni Network and the UNIDIR Expert Network on the Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain.

Selection standards

• The fellowship is open to women diplomats and authorities representatives who:
  • are junior to mid-career stage
  • are representatives of UN Member States
  • have a robust command of each written and spoken English
  • have an curiosity in safety, know-how and/or gender
•  Applications might be rigorously screened by UNIDIR on the idea of the standards specified above, and candidates might be knowledgeable of the results of their application no matter their choice standing.
• The fellowship is delivered freed from cost. Financial assist for journey to and lodging in Geneva for the week-long coaching programme might be obtainable for a choose variety of members. Fellows from creating nations might be prioritized for this assist.

Application necessities

UN Member States and Delegations of worldwide or regional organizations are invited to nominate women diplomats and authorities representatives for the fellowship by their respective diplomatic illustration. While a number of nominations from Member States and Delegations are attainable, UNIDIR will choose just one fellow per entity to guarantee regional variety.

Please submit the next supporting paperwork by electronic mail to [email protected] with the topic line “2026 UNIDIR Women in AI Fellowship Application”:

• Copy of passport;
• Curriculum vitae of not more than two pages;
• Two advice letters, one in all which ought to be from the applicant’s nationwide authorities or diplomatic illustration to the UN;
• A one-page letter of curiosity detailing the applicant’s expertise and curiosity in the areas lined by the fellowship, in addition to an overview of how they envisage utilizing data gained throughout the programme.

Please make sure that the applicant’s electronic mail deal with is included in the CC subject of the e-mail to UNIDIR.

Key dates

• Tuesday, 24 February – Deadline for submission of purposes (midnight, CET)
• Mid-March – Announcement of chosen fellows
• Monday, 8 June – Friday, 12 June – In-person coaching in Geneva

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UNIDIR Women in AI Fellowship.