){kind=avatar}
Assistant Research Professor
Institute for Technology and Humanity, University of Cambridge
Technology Strategy Roleplay
Biography
Shahar Avin is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Cambridge Institute for Technology and Humanity (across the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence), where he has studied catastrophic risk, primarily from AI, for a decade. He co-founded Technology Strategy Roleplay (TSR), a charity spin-out from academic work that designs and runs roleplay simulation exercises about AI futures for decision makers, including Intelligence Rising and Science 2030, and serves as its Chief Science Officer. In 2025–26 he worked at the UK AI Security Institute on Systemic Safety and Societal Resilience.
Prior to CSER, Shahar worked at Google for a year as a mobile/web software engineer. His PhD was in philosophy of science, on the allocation of public funds to research projects. His undergrad was in physics and philosophy of science, which followed a mandatory service in the IDF. He has also worked at and with several startups over the years.
Interests
- Existential Risk
- Artificial Intelligence
- Simulations and Games
- Science Funding
Education
-
PhD in History and Philosophy of Science, 2014
University of Cambridge
-
BA + MSci in Natural Sciences, 2010
University of Cambridge
