---
title: "I'll be in Berkeley for SERI MATS for the next 2 months"
description: "A short note from July 2022 saying I was heading to Berkeley for SERI MATS, and that I would like to meet people while I was there."
published: 2022-07-22
tags: ["Learning and research practice"]
importance: 1
docStatus: "notes"
cover: "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1462395418450-4cb21f57af86?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDIzfHxiZXJrZWxleXxlbnwwfHx8fDE2NTg1MTExNjM&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&q=80&w=2000"
coverAlt: "Looking up at a red brick building under a pale sky, its weathered blue and gold sign reading Berkeley Cafe."
audio: "https://pub-4ee2f71bc29541a7a6e8d9694f0a1b21.r2.dev/62daddfe3bc733057f458531/audio.mp3"
author: "Jacques Thibodeau"
canonical: "https://jacquesthibodeau.com/ill-be-in-berkeley-for-seri-mats/"
---
This is a quick post to mention that I'll be in Berkeley attending the SERI MATS program to work on aligning language models. At the time of writing, my research will likely involve studying ways to make language models valuable for accelerating alignment (like distillations) and running experiments to see how things go. This work will directly feed into my more practical work of building tools for other alignment researchers (or people trying to enter the field).
If you are in Berkeley during the next 2 months, let me know, I'd love to meet people over coffee or a drink. Potential collaborations would be amazing too!
Also, EAG SF is next week so if you attending, don't be shy to say hello!
## Terms used
The author's own definitions for the glossary terms this piece uses. These are his words,
not a standard reference.
- **EAG** — Effective Altruism Global: the conference series where much of this community meets in person.
See also:
- **MATS** — ML Alignment Theory Scholars: a mentorship programme that pairs new alignment researchers with established ones.
See also:
- **SERI** — Stanford Existential Risks Initiative, which ran the research programme that became MATS.
See also: