About us

We aim to assist students in their thesis topic choice and direct their attention to areas that have the potential to greatly improve the world.

Choosing a final thesis topic is an important step that can influence the rest of a researcher’s career, yet there doesn’t seem to be much assistance provided through standard channels. Moreover, consideration of how much progress on a given question could improve the world often receives little attention. See our key ideas to find out more about our thinking.

Effective Thesis has received funding from the Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund, the Survival and Flourishing Fund, and some smaller donors. It is based on the principles of Effective Altruism, specifically with regard to how to use one’s resources to do the most good. It is also informed by the career advice organisation 80,000 Hours on how to use one’s career to significantly improve the world.

Meet Our Team

  • JOËL CHRISTOPH

    DIRECTOR

    joel@effectivethesis.org

  • HANA MCMAHON-COLE

    DIRECTOR OF CONTENT

    hana@effectivethesis.org

  • CONOR SPENCE

    DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

    conor@effectivethesis.org

Our Board Members

  • DAVID JANKU

    Founder of Effective Thesis. Now, Analyst at the Czech Science Foundation and Sociology of Science PhD candidate at Charles University in Prague

  • JULIA MICHAELS

    Executive Director of the Center for Public University Transformation

  • Jérémy Andréoletti

    Co-founder of EffiSciences

  • RENAN ARAUJO

    Research Manager at Rethink Priorities' Existential Security team

  • SVEN HERRMANN

    Sven is Head of Research Operations at the Global Priorities Institute at Oxford University

  • DANIEL HNYK

    Operations manager for the European Summer Program on Rationality

Get Involved.

Contribute to our mission of helping students have more impact with their research careers. 

Join our Slack community, contribute to our Research Question database and/or please reach out to us directly. We’re always excited to think about new ways to amplify our impact.