Effective Altruism Intro Program
How can we do the most good? The program is an eye-opening and rewarding 5 week program for university students and other people interested in improving the world.
The program is an introduction to the principles of effective altruism. Group discussion meetings follow weekly readings. They are excellent opportunities for deeply engaging with ideas and strategies for effectively improving the world with the resources we have, and a chance to meet with like-minded people.
The participants will combine the head and the heart, as they apply rigour and rationality to questions regarding morality and altruism.
We are looking for students who will not be content with doing some good and have the ambition and drive to do the most good they can.
Applications for the autumn 2024 intro program are now closed.
FAQs
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The program is organised live in multiple cities in Finland as well as remotely.
To get the most out of this program, Effective Altruism Intro Program participants will be:
- Willing and able to commit~3-4 hours per week during the whole 5-week program
- Passionate about helping others
- Open-minded and flexible, eager to update their beliefs in response to persuasive evidence
We are committed to building a diverse cohort of participants. There is some evidence suggesting that underprivileged individuals tend to underestimate their abilities. We do not want the application process to dissuade potential candidates and we strongly encourage interested students to apply regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, etc. We also encourage both undergraduate, graduate and vocational students, as well as individuals from all intellectual backgrounds and majors to apply. -
Round 1: Fill out the application form. We will let you know whether you will proceed to Round 2.
Round 2: Complete a short reading, and tell more about yourself in the second stage.
Don’t forget to apply on time! We look forward to reading your application! -
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Effective altruism is global movement and philosophy focusing on finding out how we can use our resources to help others the most.
Effective Altruism Finland is a welcoming community dedicated to inspiring and supporting one another to achieve our altruistic goals. The program will be organized by local groups in Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Kuopio, and Turku. -
Every week you will have reading to do and a 90 min discussion session. In addition to that, we will organise social events where you can get to know participants outside your discussion group. We also encourage you to have 1-on-1 chat with a facilitator where you can discuss any question.
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All the readings are in English, so it’s good if you are used to reading in English. However, you don’t need to be a native English speaker, and nor are we. Many of our facilitators are Finnish speaking, so we run some Finnish discussion groups too. Anyway, we encourage you to have an open mindset. This could also be a good opportunity to improve your English skills, as you learn and talk with others about interesting topics!
Testimonials
80% of the spring 2021 program participants said they would highly recommend the program to their friends.
“The program was well organised, discourse oriented, and surprisingly thorough. I received important insights on the topical socio-political and existential issues, and gained lots of inspiration for my studies and future career as an aspiring economist. What I appreciated especially was the multidisciplinary setup of the groups!”
— Ilkka Lähde, Economics Student
“Taking part in the Fellowship was a very rewarding experience. The group discussions gave interesting new viewpoints every week, and I was happy to get to meet like-minded people from different fields and hear their insights on our topics. Many thanks to the EA Helsinki Fellowship team, and our group leader in particular!”
— Sara Mansnerus, Law and Music Student
“The program enables you to actively learn EA concepts and stress test your understanding in a safe environment every week. Highly recommended!”
— Aayush Kucheria, Data Science Student
“Parasta programissä oli oppia ja keskustella mielenkiintoisista ja merkityksellisistä asioista samanhenkisten, mutta kuitenkin erilaisten ihmisten kanssa. Opin samalla paljon myös itsestäni.”
— Iris Kause, Engineering Physics Student
“We read unbelievably good, perspective-widening materials, and had very interesting conversations on the most important topics of life. The greatest thing was meeting awesome, smart and like-minded people. I can recommend a program to everyone whether you are a first year student or finished your studies years ago.”
— Tapio Lahtiharju, Medicine Postgraduate
Contact us
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to eafinland@altruismi.fi