AI researchers collaborating on cutting-edge machine learning research

AI researchthat shapesthe future

Summer 2026

The premier research fellowship for early-stage (high school, undergraduate, and professional) AI researchers. Produce publication ready work for CVPR, NeurIPS, ICML, and top venues worldwide.

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47.6062° N

122.3321° W

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

CVPR

IEEE

WACV

IJCAI

Interspeech

arXiv

ICMI

IEEE DSN

Microsoft Research Asia

Google

Google Research

Finnish Parliament (SITRA)

Nanjing University

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Diego

Zhejiang University

Cornell University

Wuhan University

Oakland University

Microsoft Research Asia

Google

Google Research

Finnish Parliament (SITRA)

Nanjing University

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Diego

Zhejiang University

Cornell University

Wuhan University

Oakland University

Microsoft Research Asia

Google

Google Research

Finnish Parliament (SITRA)

Nanjing University

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Diego

Zhejiang University

Cornell University

Wuhan University

Oakland University

Microsoft Research Asia

Google

Google Research

Finnish Parliament (SITRA)

Nanjing University

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Diego

Zhejiang University

Cornell University

Wuhan University

Oakland University

Microsoft Research Asia

Google

Google Research

Finnish Parliament (SITRA)

Nanjing University

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Diego

Zhejiang University

Cornell University

Wuhan University

Oakland University

Microsoft Research Asia

Google

Google Research

Finnish Parliament (SITRA)

Nanjing University

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Diego

Zhejiang University

Cornell University

Wuhan University

Oakland University

Microsoft Research Asia

Google

Google Research

Finnish Parliament (SITRA)

Nanjing University

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Diego

Zhejiang University

Cornell University

Wuhan University

Oakland University

Microsoft Research Asia

Google

Google Research

Finnish Parliament (SITRA)

Nanjing University

Carnegie Mellon University

University of Pennsylvania

University of San Diego

Zhejiang University

Cornell University

Wuhan University

Oakland University

Our Vision

Artificial intelligence advances through open research and shared discovery. Student researchers are the foundation of this progress.

Astral Fellows trains young researchers to produce rigorous work that gets published at top venues and cited by leading researchers, building a visible track record that opens doors to top universities, jobs, and graduate programs.

Our fellows have already reached the global stage: presenting at CVPR, IEEE, WACV, and IJCAI, publishing across top AI venues, earning citations from Microsoft Research Asia and the Finnish Parliament's innovation lab, and receiving recognition from Google Research.

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Journey

Your 12-week research journey

From ideation to publication, we guide you through every phase of the research process with structured mentorship and peer collaboration.

Phase 1

Research Foundations & Topic Development

Weeks 1–4

Build a clear research direction, sharpen your question, and leave this phase with a complete proposal, a feasible plan, and the foundations you’ll need to execute with rigor.

Week 1

Orientation, Mentor Matching & Research Foundations

Students begin with program orientation, are matched with a mentor based on research interests, and receive foundational instruction on the research process. This stage covers how to identify a meaningful problem, read papers effectively, understand venue expectations, and begin thinking in terms of contribution, methodology, and publication standards.

Week 2

Literature Review & Topic Narrowing

Students conduct an initial literature review with mentor guidance, identify relevant prior work, and narrow broad interests into a viable research direction. By the end of this stage, each student should understand the surrounding research landscape, potential contribution space, and the feasibility of the project within the fellowship timeline.

Week 3

Research Question, Scope & Project Planning

Students refine their core research question, define the scope of the project, and establish success criteria. Mentors help translate the idea into a concrete research plan, including datasets, baselines, evaluation strategy, technical requirements, and a realistic execution timeline.

Week 4

Proposal Finalization & Research Setup

Students finalize a research proposal and implementation roadmap. This includes the project objective, methodology outline, dataset selection, experiment plan, and milestone schedule. Initial tooling, repositories, writing documents, and project infrastructure are set up so the work can move cleanly into active development.

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Philosophy

Four principles that guide every researcher we mentor

Research Excellence

Every paper begins with rigorous methodology. We work with mentors who have published at top venues, guiding you from literature review through final submission, to even after publication.

Mentorship First

We match you with practicing researchers as mentors based on your research interests. Weekly lectures, peer groups, and optional office hours ensure you're never navigating the research process alone.

Publication Focus

Our target venues include ICML, CVPR, IJCAI, NeurIPS, EMNLP workshops and other IEEE main tracks. We guide you through venue matching, paper writing, mock peer review, and rebuttal preparation.

Career Impact

Research exists to create lasting impact. Every experiment, every citation, every collaboration is designed to launch your career in AI research, produce impactful research, and get recognized by industry leaders.