Announcing a change in strategy for the AIM Research Program

Summary: AIM will discontinue the AIM Research Program (ARP) and replace it with a longer, more focused fellowship starting January 2026. This decision will enable us to focus more on our core research and recruitment activities. It does not reflect on the program's quality for participants. We are excited to deliver the final round of the program in September. 

AIM has been operating the AIM Research Program since 2023. As part of our regular strategy and delivery assessment process, we have decided to discontinue the ARP in its current format beginning in January 2026. We are excited about welcoming our last cohort in September 2025. 

We take great pride in our accomplishments with the program. Ongoing evaluations indicate that alumni highly value it. Additionally, the program has facilitated significant career advancements. We enjoy offering the program alongside our research activities, but recognize that its delivery demands considerable attention and an intensive recruitment process. 

The decision to discontinue the program is linked to our broader objectives as we prepare to increase the number of ideas we recommend and organizations we evaluate for the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program (CEIP). Ending the ARP will enable us to concentrate on building internal capacity, enhancing research activities, and freeing up recruitment resources to support the CEIP. 

We truly enjoy mentoring other researchers and believe the program delivers exceptional value by creating the right environment for developing and practicing the skills and behaviors essential to becoming a successful applied researcher. 

While we acknowledge the importance of training future applied researchers, this does not directly align with our internal Theory of Change, which focuses on identifying organizational ideas and evaluating organizational applications for the CEIP. Given the increased demands on our time due to our scaling strategy, we believe continuing the ARP does not serve those objectives. If any other organizations are interested in delivering this learning environment, we are happy to share our learnings with them. 

We still appreciate working with talented researchers who may benefit from our team's experiences, and believe we will continue to require some flexible capacity. Therefore, we will implement an extended fellowship (up to six months) with a limited number of spots available each year. More information about this new format will be released soon.