EleutherAI opens applications for its Summer of AI Research 2026 program, a fully online event running July 13 to August 16 that invites newcomers to contribute to open-source AI projects under mentor guidance

The Summer of AI Research 2026 is now accepting applications! Work on an open science AI research project between July 13 and August 16. In this fully online event we invite people with little research experience to contribute to open source under the mentorship of experienced researchers.

Very excited to be launching the next iteration in our summer program to bring novice researchers into the open science community!

How to apply? You will find the list of projects and the link to the application form: https://www.eleuther.ai/soar

The deadline for applications is on June 8 2026. Due to the amount of interest in the event, we encourage you to apply early.

How to apply? You will find the list of projects and the link to the application form: https://eleuther.ai/soar The deadline for applications is on June 8 2026. Due to the amount of interest in the event, we encourage you to apply early.

Who should apply? - Programmers with industry experience interested in transitioning to AI research - Master/PhD students in CS, Math, Physics, or related fields - Self-taught researchers looking for structured mentorship - Anyone with technical skills wanting to contribute to open science

SOAR is intended to be a gateway to doing research in AI, pairing novices with EleutherAI staff and community members to do research with the aim of producing a paper to be submitted to a conference or workshop. Last year's one-month research sprint produced four workshop papers, and several more projects ultimately spun out into larger projects that are going to be coming out soon.

In addition, we have released a short post on last year’s SOAR and the impact it had for mentees. You can read it https://www.eleuther.ai/news/a-short-retrospective-on-the-eleutherai-summer-of-open-ai-research

Huge thank you to genetyx8 on Discord for organizing SOAR last year and this year, and to all the mentors for volunteering their time.

We are doing our best to acquire coming resources for all these great projects, but if you're interested in sponsoring SOAR with cash or compute please reach out to soar@eleuther.ai

SOAR is intended to be a gateway to doing research in AI, pairing novices with EleutherAI staff and community members to do research with the aim of producing a paper to be submitted to a conference or workshop. Last year's one-month research sprint produced four workshop papers, and several more projects ultimately spun out into larger projects that are going to be coming out soon.

This event will take place here in the EleutherAI discord https://discord.com/channels/729741769192767510/1390779760493334548. Ask any questions about the program in that channel.

Who should apply? - Programmers with industry experience interested in transitioning to AI research - Master/PhD students in CS, Math, Physics, or related fields - Self-taught researchers looking for structured mentorship - Anyone with technical skills wanting to contribute to open science

@AiEleuther Is this paid?

This event will take place here in the EleutherAI discord https://discord.com/channels/729741769192767510/1390779760493334548. Ask any questions about the program in that channel.

In addition, we have released a short post on last year’s SOAR and the impact it had for mentees. You can read it https://www.eleuther.ai/news/a-short-retrospective-on-the-eleutherai-summer-of-open-ai-research

Huge thank you to genetyx8 on Discord for organizing SOAR last year and this year, and to all the mentors for volunteering their time.

We are doing our best to acquire coming resources for all these great projects, but if you're interested in sponsoring SOAR with cash or compute please reach out to soar@eleuther.ai

@Die_Healthy No.

@AiEleuther "summer of AI research." i remember my first summer. i just wanted a girlfriend. still do.

@BlancheMinerva pick me! ✨👩‍🔬