Community building

To build systems that work for everyone, we must include everyone.

Topos believes that science is best conducted as an inclusive, public enterprise. Our initiatives include:

Topos also assists with the administration of the following community projects, which support our values of open science, inclusivity and diversity, and public engagement:

Topos Summer Research Program

The Topos Summer Research Program offers early career researchers a chance to work under the mentorship of Topos-affiliated experts.

Summer Research Associates are resident in our Berkeley Office, and receive a stipend for the summer. The goal of the program to help build a diverse community of researchers capable of producing and following outstanding interdisciplinary research.

Projects are selected collaboratively between research associates and Topos mentors, with the aim of finding the best way for the research associate to contribute to the Topos mission. Research areas explored in the program include mathematics, especially category theory and mathematical logic; programming language theory and software systems; and philosophy, especially ethics of science and technology.

Previous projects include David Jaz Myers’ book on Categorical Systems Theory, Nelson Niu’s course on Polynomial Functors, and Alejandra Arciniegas’ work on strategies for ethically oriented pursuit of research and technology. For more information on previous cohorts and their projects, see here.