{"id":35227,"date":"2016-04-05T11:27:59","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T11:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=35227"},"modified":"2024-11-06T15:09:08","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T15:09:08","slug":"global-priorities-research","status":"publish","type":"problem_profile","link":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Global priorities research"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_white no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Table of Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#what-is-global-priorities-research\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> What is global priorities research?<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#foundational-global-priorities-research\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">1.1<\/span> Foundational global priorities research<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#applied-global-priorities-research\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">1.2<\/span> Applied global priorities research<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#why-work-on-global-priorities-research\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> Why work on global priorities research?<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#1-some-problems-are-far-more-pressing-than-others\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">2.1<\/span> 1. Some problems are far more pressing than others<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#2-we-may-discover-new-even-more-pressing-global-problems\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">2.2<\/span> 2. We may discover new, even more pressing global problems<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#3-billions-of-dollars-could-be-redirected-to-more-pressing-problems\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">2.3<\/span> 3. Billions of dollars could be redirected to more pressing problems<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#4-global-priorities-research-is-a-highly-neglected-field\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">2.4<\/span> 4. Global priorities research is a highly neglected field<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#5-the-field-has-a-track-record-of-success-in-redirecting-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">2.5<\/span> 5. The field has a track record of success in redirecting hundreds of millions of dollars<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#what-are-the-major-arguments-against-this-problem-being-pressing\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">3<\/span> What are the major arguments against this problem being pressing?<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#the-research-may-be-too-difficult\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">3.1<\/span> The research may be too difficult<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#the-research-may-be-ignored\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">3.2<\/span> The research may be ignored<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#what-is-most-needed-to-solve-this-problem\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">4<\/span> What is most needed to solve this problem?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#what-can-you-concretely-do-to-help\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">5<\/span> What can you concretely do to help?<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#how-to-enter\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">5.1<\/span> How to enter<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#what-are-some-top-career-options-within-this-area\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">5.2<\/span> What are some top career options within this area?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#which-organisations-could-you-work-at\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">5.3<\/span> Which organisations could you work at?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#find-opportunities-on-our-job-board\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">5.4<\/span> Find opportunities on our job board<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#where-can-you-donate-to-help-global-priorities-research\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">5.5<\/span> Where can you donate to help global priorities research?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#learn-more\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">6<\/span> Learn more<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#top-recommendations\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">6.1<\/span> Top recommendations<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#further-recommendations\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">6.2<\/span> Further recommendations<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"what-is-global-priorities-research\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>What is global priorities research?<\/h2>\n<p>The field of global priorities research is about rigorously investigating what the most important global problems are, how we should compare them to each other, and what kinds of interventions best address them. For example, how do we compare the value of more work on climate change vs global health vs preventing future pandemics?<\/p>\n<p>We might distinguish between <em>foundational<\/em> global priorities research on the one hand, and <em>applied<\/em> global priorities research on the other.<\/p>\n<p>We think both kinds of global priorities research can be very important, and this profile is about both.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"foundational-global-priorities-research\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Foundational global priorities research<\/h3>\n<p>Foundational global priorities research mainly lies at the intersection of economics and moral philosophy, though it may also involve tools from other disciplines. It looks at the highest-level issues concerning which global priorities most further the social good, especially from a long-term perspective. This means it would include topics like investigating the value of reducing <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/existential-risks\/\">existential risk<\/a> vs other ways of doing good, how much to prioritise &#8216;broad&#8217; interventions that positively affect many different issues at once vs more &#8216;targeted&#8217; interventions that focus on a single issue, and what methodologies we should use to answer these questions.<\/p>\n<p>There are also more exotic-sounding topics for foundational global priorities research that nonetheless seem like they might be very important to us \u2014 for example: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simulation-argument.com\/\">What&#8217;s the chance that we are in some sense living in a simulation<\/a>? Should we try to engage in &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lesswrong.com\/tag\/acausal-trade\">acausal trade<\/a>&#8216;?<\/p>\n<p>All these questions are relevant to the issue of which problems we should prioritise working on right now if we want to do as much good as we can, though some are more relevant than others \u2014 and the tractability of these questions also varies. To get some sense of the range, see the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016183830\/https:\/\/globalprioritiesinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/gpi-research-agenda.pdf\">research agenda<\/a> produced by the Global Priorities Institute at Oxford, and <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/research-questions-by-discipline\/#Global-priorities-research-research-questions\">a few examples of foundational global priorities research questions we&#8217;ve collected<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"applied-global-priorities-research\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Applied global priorities research<\/h3>\n<p>Applied global priorities research also seeks to determine what we should prioritise, but is focused on taking the lessons of the more foundational research and applying them to the particular situations we happen to be in. It often also uses more empirical methods and focuses less on philosophy.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if foundational global priorities research told us that reducing existential risk is a top priority, applied global priorities research might ask which specific risks are biggest and easiest to mitigate (e.g. climate change vs pandemic risk). Or let&#8217;s say we wanted to pursue broad interventions \u2014 which interventions really do affect a broad range of issues in a robustly positive way? How much do they cost? Another valuable kind of applied global priorities research is <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/explore-a-potentially-pressing-global-issue\/\">investigating an underexplored problem area to see how pressing it seems<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We think many of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openphilanthropy.org\/research\/research-reports\/\">Open Philanthropy&#8217;s research reports<\/a> represent especially high-quality examples of applied global priorities research.<\/p>\n<p>You also can find lots of great contributions along similar lines on the <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/\">effective altruism forum<\/a> \u2014 e.g. posts on <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/posts\/bsE5t6qhGC65fEpzN\/growth-and-the-case-against-randomista-development\">Growth and the case against randomista development<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/posts\/GsjmufaebreiaivF7\/what-is-the-likelihood-that-civilizational-collapse-would\">What is the likelihood that civilizational collapse would directly lead to human extinction (within decades)?<\/a>. In general, because of its focus on doing as much good as possible with limited resources, applied global priorities research has been a strong focus of the <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/community\/\">effective altruism community<\/a> over the past decade.<\/p>\n<p>There isn&#8217;t a sharp line between foundational and applied global priorities research; rather it is a spectrum. But very roughly speaking, more foundational research is more likely to be done in an academic setting like the Global Priorities Institute, and more applied research is more likely to be done at a <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/think-tank-research\/\">think tank<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/grantmaker\/\">grantmaking institution<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/work-in-effective-altruism-organisations\/\">effective altruist organisation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"why-work-on-global-priorities-research\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Why work on global priorities research?<\/h2>\n<h3><span id=\"1-some-problems-are-far-more-pressing-than-others\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>1. Some problems are far more pressing than others<\/h3>\n<p>Intuitively, you might think that if we rated the world&#8217;s problems on how pressing they are, and put them on a graph, we&#8217;d end up with something like this \u2014 some problems are more pressing than others, but most are quite pressing:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/80K_gaussiangraph-01.png\" alt=\"Log-normal distribution of problems by effectiveness\"\/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But when we used <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/problem-framework\/\">our framework<\/a> to evaluate different problems we found that it looks more like this &#8212; some problems are <em>far<\/em> more pressing than others:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/80K_paretograph-01.png\" alt=\"Gaussian distribution of problems by effectiveness\"\/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For example, in rich countries like the US or Switzerland, the marginal cost to save a life through spending on healthcare is over $1 million. By contrast, the marginal cost to save a life in sub-Saharan Africa through distributing antimalarial bed nets is estimated to be less than $10,000. This suggests that if a foundation is focused on health in developing countries rather than in rich countries, it could save about 100 times as many lives.<\/p>\n<p>If such big differences in effectiveness exist, then it is crucial to identify the best areas to focus on. Finding a more effective area could mean we achieve 10 or 100 times as much. Choosing poorly could mean achieving only 1% as much. The aim of global priorities research is to enable decision-makers to avoid this mistake.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"2-we-may-discover-new-even-more-pressing-global-problems\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>2. We may discover new, even more pressing global problems<\/h3>\n<p>The differences in effectiveness between working on different problems could be bigger if there are problems that humanity hasn&#8217;t even thought of yet. And it seems likely that we haven&#8217;t discovered all the serious global problems that exist.<\/p>\n<p>When we look at the history of the human race, we see many examples of major moral problems that most people were completely oblivious to. These include slavery, the deplorable treatment of foreigners, the subjugation of women, the persecution of people who aren&#8217;t heterosexual, and the gross mistreatment of animals. It is unlikely that we&#8217;re the first generation to have discovered all the serious moral problems that exist, meaning there are probably major global problems we aren&#8217;t even aware of today.<\/p>\n<p>Global priorities research could have a huge impact if it identified new pressing problems that we&#8217;re not aware of, and redirected money and talent towards working on them.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"3-billions-of-dollars-could-be-redirected-to-more-pressing-problems\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>3. Billions of dollars could be redirected to more pressing problems<\/h3>\n<p>Organisations whose stated purpose is to pursue the common good spend tens of trillions of dollars each year (out of a global GDP of around $75 trillion), most of which is spent by governments domestically. Foreign aid spending is over $135 billion each year, and private philanthropy in the US totals $350 billion each year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption\" >\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-07-at-16.05.07.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1154\" height=\"534\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-36799\" srcset=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-07-at-16.05.07.png 1154w, https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-07-at-16.05.07-300x139.png 300w, https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-07-at-16.05.07-768x355.png 768w, https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-07-at-16.05.07-1024x474.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1154px) 100vw, 1154px\" \/><figcaption >Official development assistance (ODA) is widely used as an indicator of spending on international aid. Chart from oecd.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption\" >\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-07-at-16.13.53.png\" \/><figcaption >Giving by individuals, foundations, and corporations in the US in 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Probably only a small fraction of these tens of trillions of dollars is genuinely intended to improve the world as much as possible, rather than promote the interests of a specific group (e.g. a voting bloc within a specific country). And only a small fraction of that would be responsive to higher-quality research.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, if billions of dollars could be redirected to problems that are larger in scale, more neglected, or easier to solve, this could provide huge gains.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, many people also want to <em>work<\/em> on the world&#8217;s most pressing problems \u2014 that&#8217;s why our website exists! \u2014 meaning that total resources are even greater than solely monetary totals convey.<\/p>\n<p>And since differences in effectiveness can be so large, even if research only influences a comparatively small amount of resources, it can be highly effective. As one example, the charity evaluator GiveWell produces research which, in 2015 alone, led individuals to give $15.5 million to the highly effective charity Against Malaria Foundation. These donations will likely save around 2,000 lives through the distribution of bed nets that protect people from malaria. Only around <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016185259\/https:\/\/www.charitynavigator.org\/index.cfm\/bay\/content.view\/cpid\/42\">4% of US charitable donations<\/a> go to international causes. This makes it likely that the majority of the $15.5 million GiveWell redirected would have gone to charities working in the US, which, on average, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016185320\/https:\/\/www.givewell.org\/giving101\/Your-dollar-goes-further-overseas\">do far less to improve lives<\/a> than charities working internationally.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"4-global-priorities-research-is-a-highly-neglected-field\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>4. Global priorities research is a highly neglected field<\/h3>\n<p>Despite the importance of this research, it&#8217;s also highly neglected. As of 2018, organisations focused on directly comparing different global problems (e.g. farm animal welfare vs nuclear war vs improving scientific research) had a collective budget of less than $10 million per year:<\/p>\n<div id=\"tablepress-67-scroll-wrapper\" class=\"tablepress-scroll-wrapper\">\n<table id=\"tablepress-67\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-67 tablepress-responsive\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n<th class=\"column-1\"><\/th>\n<th class=\"column-2\">Estimated budget in 2015<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Open Philanthropy<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">$2.5 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Future of Humanity Institute<br \/>\n(fraction on global priorities research)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">$800,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Copenhagen Consensus Center<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\">$1\u20132 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n<td class=\"column-1\">Centre for Effective Altruism<br \/>\n(considering only activities focused on global priorities research)<\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\"><$1 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>Total<\/strong><\/td>\n<td class=\"column-2\"><strong>$5\u20136 million<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>However, interest in this area is growing, so the total is definitely higher today. We should also note that there is also research being done which indirectly helps with setting global priorities \u2014 for example, work done by some academic economists, and groups that run trials and compile data on specific policy areas.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"5-the-field-has-a-track-record-of-success-in-redirecting-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>5. The field has a track record of success in redirecting hundreds of millions of dollars<\/h3>\n<p>The field of global priorities research is young, but it has already succeeded in influencing how resources are spent. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>GiveWell<\/strong> \u2014 in 2015 redirected at least $39.7 million in donations from individual donors to their recommended charities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Open Philanthropy<\/strong> \u2014 advised the foundation Good Ventures to make grants totaling $76.7 million in 2015.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Global Priorities Project<\/strong> \u2014 the UK Department for International Development reallocated \u00a32.5 billion (US $3.6 billion) to fund research into treating and responding to the diseases that cause the most suffering. The Global Priorities Project was advocating for this change (though of course the policy process has many inputs, of which they were only a small part).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Copenhagen Consensus Center<\/strong> \u2014 its cost-benefit analysis helped convince the United States Bush administration to launch the $1.2 billion President&#8217;s Malaria Initiative, among <a href=\"http:\/\/www.copenhagenconsensus.com\/our-impact\">many other successes<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span id=\"what-are-the-major-arguments-against-this-problem-being-pressing\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>What are the major arguments against this problem being pressing?<\/h2>\n<h3><span id=\"the-research-may-be-too-difficult\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>The research may be too difficult<\/h3>\n<p>You might think that global priorities research will not be able to reach more accurate results than our current best knowledge, due to the large amounts of uncertainty, ambiguity and judgement calls involved. Perhaps the reason this research is neglected is that it&#8217;s simply too difficult.<\/p>\n<p>We think this is a reasonable concern. However, the small amount of global priorities research done so far, has already led to significant progress, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016190001\/https:\/\/blog.givewell.org\/2011\/12\/22\/my-favorite-cause-for-individual-donors-global-health-and-nutrition\/\">GiveWell identifying global health<\/a> as a promising area to look for outstanding donation opportunities.<\/li>\n<li>Identifying the importance of taking into consideration the <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/future-generations\/\">effects on future generations<\/a> when comparing different global problems.<\/li>\n<li>The development of better methodologies for prioritisation, like <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016190106\/http:\/\/globalprioritiesproject.org\/2015\/02\/project-overview-problems-of-unknown-difficulty\/\">how to assess the value of working on problems of unknown difficulty<\/a>, for example research into cold fusion, or institutional reform through political lobbying.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Moreover, there are many &#8216;low-hanging fruit&#8217; opportunities for global priorities research still available. For example, researchers could aggregate expert opinions on the severity of different global problems, and gather existing empirical data on the relative scale, neglectedness, and solvability of different global problems.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"the-research-may-be-ignored\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>The research may be ignored<\/h3>\n<p>You might think that politicians and donors won&#8217;t be motivated to act on the results of global priorities research. Maybe they&#8217;ll care more about securing reelection or will instead respond to emotional appeals and gut judgements.<\/p>\n<p>This is a reasonable concern, but we think that if good evidence is presented, at least some will act on the results, as demonstrated by the examples mentioned above.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"what-is-most-needed-to-solve-this-problem\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>What is most needed to solve this problem?<\/h2>\n<p>Most needed are researchers, and in particular:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Researchers trained in economics, mathematics, or philosophy to develop the methodology for setting global priorities.<\/li>\n<li>Researchers trained in social and natural sciences with the ability to collect data and analyse specific global problems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Additional researchers can not only enable more progress on these questions, but they also demonstrate that this area is of academic interest, which can bring in more researchers in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Also needed are <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/research-management\/\">academic project managers<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/operations-management\/\">operations staff<\/a> to help scale up existing institutes and found new ones.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, it&#8217;s less of a bottleneck, but funding is also needed. Funding could be used to scale up and found new research centres. It would also be useful to fund scholarships for individuals, and it would be ideal for one or two funders to specialise in evaluating research proposals in this area.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"what-can-you-concretely-do-to-help\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>What can you concretely do to help?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"well bg-gray-lighter margin-bottom margin-top padding-top-small padding-bottom-small\">\n<h3 class=\"no-toc\">Want to work on global priorities research? We want to help.<\/h3>\n<p>We&#8217;ve helped a number of people formulate their plans on how to work on global priorities research. If you want to work on global priorities research, particularly if you could get into or are in a relevant graduate programme:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/advising\/?int_campaign=problem-profile__global-priorities\" title=\"\" class=\"btn btn-primary\">Get in touch<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span id=\"how-to-enter\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>How to enter<\/h3>\n<p>If you want to work in this area as a researcher, you&#8217;ll need training in the relevant disciplines.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you are an undergraduate, you can major in or take classes in mathematics, economics, statistics, or analytic philosophy. If you are out of university, you can take online classes in these subjects, for example <a href=\"https:\/\/smart.ly\/course\/learn-microeconomics-i-supply--demand--smartly\/95437d2a-0211-4899-825d-e2107c6729e6\">this introduction to microeconomics<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>In general, for foundational global priorities research the best graduate subject is an <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/economics-phd\/\">economics PhD<\/a>. The next most useful subject is philosophy, followed by decision-making psychology, scientific subjects relevant to emerging technologies, and topics like public policy, political science, and international relations. People have also entered this field from maths, computer science, and physics. For applied global priorities research, radically different backgrounds could be useful, depending on the specific problems investigated. <\/li>\n<li>Note that obtaining advanced degrees and positions in many of these fields, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/philosophy-academia\/\">academic philosophy<\/a>, can be very demanding and competitive.<\/li>\n<li>You should read the existing work of organisations working on global priorities research to get up to speed, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openphilanthropy.org\/research\/research-reports\/\">Open Philanthropy&#8217;s cause reports<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span id=\"what-are-some-top-career-options-within-this-area\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>What are some top career options within this area?<\/h3>\n<h4>Research paths<\/h4>\n<p>The only major academic centre currently focused on this research is the <a href=\"https:\/\/globalprioritiesinstitute.org\/\">Global Priorities Institute at Oxford<\/a>, so if you want to pursue this path as an academic that&#8217;s the ideal place to work. That said, we expect that other centres will be established over the coming years, and you could also pursue this research in other academic positions.<\/p>\n<p>One downside of academia, however, is that you need to work on topics that are publishable, and these are often not those that are most relevant to real decisions. This means it&#8217;s also important to have researchers working elsewhere on more practical questions.<\/p>\n<p>We think the leading centre of this applied research is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openphilanthropy.org\/\">Open Philanthropy<\/a>, and the advantage of working there is that your findings will directly feed into how billions of dollars are spent (disclaimer: they are our largest funder). However, you can also pursue this research at other effective altruism organisations. At 80,000 Hours, for instance, we do a form of applied global priorities research focused on career strategy. <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkpriorities.org\/\">Rethink Priorities<\/a> is another great place to do applied global priorities research.<\/p>\n<p>There have also been people who have pursued global priorities research independently, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/reflectivedisequilibrium.blogspot.com\/\">Carl Shulman<\/a>. These researchers often start with blogging, and then take freelance work from donors and organisations.<\/p>\n<h4>Non-research paths<\/h4>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t want to pursue one of the research paths above, you can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Work as an <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/operations-management\/\">academic manager or administrator<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/research-management\">research manager<\/a>, or in other support roles at organisations conducting global priorities research (listed below).<\/li>\n<li>Take a high-earning job and donate a percentage of your income to fund the research performed by the groups above. <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/earning-to-give\/\">Read our advice on how to maximise the amount you&#8217;re able to donate<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can also see <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/job-board\/global-priorities-research\/\">roles supporting global priorities research<\/a>, and some <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/2020\/08\/global-priorities-research-update\/#contribute-to-GPR\">ways to help in addition to working on global priorities research as a career<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"well well-person pull-right clearfix align-center  padding-top-small padding-bottom-small\">\n<p class=\"no-margin-bottom\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-circle well-person__portrait\" height=300 width=300 src=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/jpegscreen_shot_2019-03-21_at_4.39.16_pm.jpg\" alt=\"Example of someone pursuing this path: Luisa Rodriguez portrait\"><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"no-margin-top\">Example of someone pursuing this path: Luisa Rodriguez<\/h4>\n<p>Luisa studied international development throughout school and thought she wouldn&#8217;t have the right background to do global priorities research. But she decided to try her fit as a researcher at <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkpriorities.org\/\">Rethink Priorities<\/a>, and found she was able to make meaningful contributions to research into global catastrophic risks. This led to a job as a research assistant (and later Chief of Staff) to <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/will-macaskill-paralysis-and-hinge-of-history\/\">Will MacAskill<\/a>. She then joined 80,000 Hours as a researcher, and now works as one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/\">podcast<\/a> hosts.<br \/>\n<a href=\"\/podcast\/episodes\/luisa-rodriguez-why-global-catastrophes-seem-unlikely-to-kill-us-all\/\" class=\"btn btn-tertiary\">Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<h3><span id=\"which-organisations-could-you-work-at\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Which organisations could you work at?<\/h3>\n<p>We know of only a small number of groups doing research that tries to compare global problems at the highest level (e.g. climate change vs global health). Our top recommends here include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/jobs.80000hours.org\/organisations\/open-philanthropy\"><strong>Open Philanthropy<\/strong><\/a>, which advises Good Ventures, a several-billion &#45;dollar foundation, on its philanthropy. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.openphilanthropy.org\/careers\/\">See current vacancies<\/a>. (<em>Disclaimer of conflict of interest: Open Philanthropy is our largest funder.<\/em>) You could also consider working at their partner organisation, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.givewell.org\">GiveWell<\/a>, which carries out priorities research within international development.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/jobs.80000hours.org\/organisations\/rethink-priorities\"><strong>Rethink Priorities<\/strong><\/a> has research teams in animal welfare, global health and development, and longtermism and existential risk reduction.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/jobs.80000hours.org\/organisations\/oxford-university-global-priorities-institute\"><strong>Global Priorities Institute at Oxford<\/strong><\/a> is the leading academic research centre focused on this topic (note that our cofounder, Will MacAskill, is a researcher there). <a href=\"https:\/\/globalprioritiesinstitute.org\/opportunities\/\">See current vacancies<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/jobs.80000hours.org\/organisations\/forethought-foundation-for-global-priorities-research\"><strong>Forethought Foundation<\/strong><\/a>, where Will MacAskill is director, supports global priorities research through offering scholarships and research fellowships.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some other relevant organisations include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk<\/strong> houses academic experts studying different risks to human survival, which then facilitates comparisons among them. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cser.ac.uk\/about-us\/careers\/\">See current vacancies and subscribe to get notified of new job openings.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/jobs.80000hours.org\/organisations\/founders-pledge\"><strong>Founders Pledge<\/strong><\/a> creates cause reports to help their pledges choose where to donate.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.happierlivesinstitute.org\/\"><strong>Happier Lives Institute<\/strong><\/a> researches different ways to increase people&#8217;s wellbeing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Copenhagen Consensus Center<\/strong> brings together top economists to assess which solutions to global problems are most effective, with a focus on international development. However, we have reservations about their work on climate change. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.copenhagenconsensus.com\/careers\">See current vacancies and subscribe to get notified of new job openings<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/gcrinstitute.org\/\"><strong>Global Catastrophic Risk Institute<\/strong><\/a> compares different global catastrophic risks. <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/jobs.80000hours.org\/organisations\/center-on-long-term-risk\"><strong>Center on Long-Term Risk<\/strong><\/a> researches ways to reduce suffering risks especially.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/futureoflife.org\/\"><strong>Future of Life Institute<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A wider range of groups run trials or collect and compile data in specific policy areas. We don&#8217;t regard this as equally neglected, but it is a very complementary form of research:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsipp.wa.gov\/\">Washington State Institute for Public Policy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewtrusts.org\/en\/projects\/pew-macarthur-results-first-initiative\">The Pew-Macarthur Results First Initiative<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.impact.upenn.edu\/\">The Center for High Impact Philanthropy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/what-works-evidence-centres-for-social-policy\">What Works Network<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.campbellcollaboration.org\/\">Campbell Collaboration<\/a> publishes meta-analyses that draw on large numbers of studies to determine the effectiveness of different types of social interventions<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bi.team\/\">Behavioural Insights Team<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.povertyactionlab.org\/\">Poverty Action Lab<\/a> is an academic network that specifically studies the effectiveness of interventions designed to alleviate poverty<\/li>\n<li>Many other social scientists or medical researchers run trials on ways of improving wellbeing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span id=\"find-opportunities-on-our-job-board\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Find opportunities on our job board<\/h3>\n<p><script>\n    function getLocationString(arr) {\n      if (arr.length <= 3) { \n        return arr.join(\"<br \/>\");\n      }\n      return arr.slice(0, 3).join(\"<br \/>\") + \"...\";\n    }\n  <\/script><script>\n    function getUniqueCompanyJobs(jobs, limit) {\n      const uniqueCompanies = new Set();\n      const uniqueJobs = [];\n      const additionalJobs = [];\n      for (const job of jobs) {\n          const company = job.company_name;\n          if (!uniqueCompanies.has(company)) {\n              uniqueCompanies.add(company);\n              uniqueJobs.push(job);\n          } else {\n              additionalJobs.push(job);\n          }\n      }\n      return uniqueJobs.concat(additionalJobs).slice(0, limit);\n    }\n  <\/script><script>\n    window.addEventListener(\"load\", function() {\n        const container = document.querySelector(\"#vacancies-1\");\n        if (container) {\n          const searchClient = algoliasearch(\"W6KM1UDIB3\", \"d1d7f2c8696e7b36837d5ed337c4a319\");\n          searchClient.initIndex(\"jobs_prod\"); \n          const search = instantsearch({\n            indexName: \"jobs_prod\",\n            searchClient,\n          });\n          search.addWidget(\n            instantsearch.widgets.configure({\n              facetFilters: [[\"tags_area:Global priorities research\"]],\n              hitsPerPage: 10,\n            })\n          );\n          search.addWidget({\n            render(options) {\n              const results = getUniqueCompanyJobs(options.results.hits, 5);\n              results.forEach(item => {\n                item.post_pk = DOMPurify.sanitize(item.post_pk);\n                item.company.logo_url = DOMPurify.sanitize(item.company.logo_url);\n                item.title = DOMPurify.sanitize(item.title);\n                item.company.name = DOMPurify.sanitize(item.company.name);\n                item.card_locations = DOMPurify.sanitize(getLocationString(item.card_locations));\n                item.posted_at_relative = DOMPurify.sanitize(item.posted_at_relative);\n              });\n              container.innerHTML = results.map(item => {\n                return `<\/p>\n<li class=\"vacancy border\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/jobs.80000hours.org\/?jobPk=${item.post_pk}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"vacancy-summary pt-2 pb-2\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<div class=\"row\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-8\" style=\"overflow: hidden;\">\n<div class=\"vacancy__org-logo\">\n                              <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"${item.company.logo_url}\">\n                            <\/div>\n<div class=\"vacancy__job-title-and-org-name\">\n<h5 class=\"vacancy__job-title tw--line-clamp-2\">${item.title}<\/h5>\n<p class=\"vacancy__org-name tw--line-clamp-2\">${item.company.name}<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-sm-4 text-right hidden-xs vacancy__location-and-date-listed\">\n<p class=\"pr-1\">${item.card_locations}<br \/>${item.posted_at_relative}<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>                    <\/a>\n                  <\/li>\n<p>`;\n              }).join(\"\");\n            }\n          });\n          search.start();\n        }\n      });\n    <\/script><\/p>\n<p>Our job board features opportunities in <a href=\/job-board\/global-priorities-research\/>global priorities research<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul id=\"vacancies-1\" class=\"!tw--p-0 no-visited-styling\"><\/ul>\n<p><a href=https:\/\/jobs.80000hours.org\/?refinementList%5Btags_area%5D%5B0%5D=Global%20priorities%20research class=\"btn btn-primary\" target=\"_blank\">View all opportunities<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"where-can-you-donate-to-help-global-priorities-research\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Where can you donate to help global priorities research?<\/h3>\n<p>You can donate to most of the organisations listed above, where currently the Global Priorities Institute seems like the best option (you can donate at the bottom of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.campaign.ox.ac.uk\/philosophy\">the Oxford Faculty of Philosophy page<\/a>). Open Philanthropy isn&#8217;t funding constrained.<\/p>\n<p>(To make a tax deductible donation to the Global Priorities Institute from the US, go <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordna.org\/donate\">here<\/a>, select &#8220;Humanities division,&#8221; and write<br \/>\n&#8220;Global Priorities Institute&#8221; in the textbox.)<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"learn-more\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Learn more<\/h2>\n<h3><span id=\"top-recommendations\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Top recommendations<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>YouTube playlist: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLwp9xeoX5p8ON91HeCTHLN_MwYkTuW7V2\">23 talks on global priorities research from EA Globals<\/a>, including an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tgzdgbYV1X8&#038;list=PLwp9xeoX5p8ON91HeCTHLN_MwYkTuW7V2&#038;index=1\">introduction to the field.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/ajeya-cotra-worldview-diversification\/\">Ajeya Cotra<\/a> on worldview diversification and how big the future could be<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/phil-trammell-patient-philanthropy\/\">Phil Trammell<\/a> on how becoming a &#8216;patient philanthropist&#8217; could allow you to do far more good<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span id=\"further-recommendations\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Further recommendations<\/h3>\n<h4 class=\"no-toc\">Research<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>See the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016183830\/https:\/\/globalprioritiesinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/gpi-research-agenda.pdf\">research agenda<\/a> produced by the Global Priorities Institute in Oxford.<\/li>\n<li>Here&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/research-questions-by-discipline\/#Global-priorities-research-research-questions\">shorter list of example research questions<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>And check out <a href=\"https:\/\/globalprioritiesinstitute.org\/talks\">talks from the Global Priorities Institute<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>For examples of global priorities research, see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.openphilanthropy.org\/research\/cause-reports\">Open Philanthropy&#8217;s cause reports<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fhi.ox.ac.uk\/cost-effectiveness-of-research-overview\/\">this series of posts on how to prioritise research<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"panel panel-default panel-collapse\">\n<div class=\"panel-heading\">\n<h4 class=\"panel-title\"><a class=\"no-visited-styling collapsed\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#-0\">Podcast episodes with global priorities researchers<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"-0\" class=\"panel-body-collapse collapse\" data-80k-event-label=\"Podcast episodes with global priorities researchers\">\n<div class=\"panel-body\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/christian-tarsney-future-bias-fanaticism\/\">Christian Tarsney<\/a> on future bias and a possible solution to moral fanaticism<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/hilary-greaves-global-priorities-institute\/\">Hilary Greaves<\/a> on moral cluelessness, population ethics, probability within a multiverse, and harnessing the brainpower of academia to tackle the most important research questions<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/toby-ord-the-precipice-existential-risk-future-humanity\/\">Toby Ord<\/a> on the precipice and humanity&#8217;s potential futures<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/will-macaskill-paralysis-and-hinge-of-history\/\">Will MacAskill<\/a> on the moral case against ever leaving the house, whether now is the hinge of history, and the culture of effective altruism<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/will-macaskill-ambition-longtermism-mental-health\/\">Will MacAskill<\/a> on balancing frugality with ambition, whether you need longtermism, and mental health under pressure<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/andreas-mogensen-deontology-and-effective-altruism\/\">Andreas Mogensen<\/a> on whether effective altruism is just for consequentialists<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/after-hours-podcast\/episodes\/marcus-davis-rethink-priorities\/\">Marcus Davis<\/a> on Rethink Priorities<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/bob-fischer-comparing-animal-welfare-moral-weight\/\">Bob Fischer<\/a> on comparing the welfare of humans, chickens, pigs, octopuses, bees, and more<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<h4 class=\"no-toc\">Other articles and podcasts<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/2017\/12\/michelle-hutchinson-global-priorities\/\">Michelle Hutchinson hopes to shape the world by shaping the ideas of intellectuals. Will global priorities research succeed?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/your-choice-of-problem-is-crucial\/\/\">The world&#8217;s biggest problems and why they&#8217;re not what first comes to mind<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/economics-phd\/\">Career review: Economics PhD<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/why-the-long-run-future-matters-more-than-anything-else-and-what-we-should-do-about-it\/\">Why the long-term future of humanity matters more than anything else, and what we should do about it, according to Oxford philosopher Dr Toby Ord<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/policy-oriented-civil-service-uk\/\">Working in the government you can have a big impact on pressing global problems. Here&#8217;s how to get started.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/work-in-effective-altruism-organisations\/\">Career review: Help build the effective altruism community<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/improving-institutional-decision-making\/\">The psychologists in the race against collective stupidity and how you can join them<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/problem-framework\/\">Our problem prioritisation framework<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/2017\/11\/talent-gaps-survey-2017\/\">Leaders survey: What are the most important talent gaps in effective altruism \u2014 and which problems are most impactful to work on?<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/2017\/10\/nick-beckstead-giving-billions\/\">You want to do as much good as possible and have billions of dollars. What do you do?<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/james-snowden-givewell-research\/\"target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Finding the best charity requires estimating the unknowable. Here&#8217;s how GiveWell tries to do that, according to researcher James Snowden.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/articles\/extinction-risk\/\">Why despite global progress, humanity is probably facing its most dangerous time ever<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016192606\/https:\/\/blog.givewell.org\/2012\/05\/02\/strategic-cause-selection\/\">GiveWell on strategic cause selection<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"well bg-gray-lighter margin-bottom margin-top padding-top-small padding-bottom-small\">\n<h3 class=\"no-toc\">Want to work on global priorities research? We want to help.<\/h3>\n<p>We&#8217;ve helped a number of people formulate their plans on how to work on global priorities research. If you want to work on global priorities research, particularly if you could get into or are in a relevant graduate programme:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/advising\/?int_campaign=problem-profile__global-priorities\" title=\"\" class=\"btn btn-primary\">Get in touch<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"small\">Or join our newsletter and get notified when we release new problem profiles. <\/p>\n<form data-80k-object-id=\"\" data-80k-form-action=\"newsletter__subscribe\" action=\"\/\" method=\"post\" class=\"form-newsletter-signup form-newsletter-signup-step-1 margin-bottom-smaller\">\n<div class=\"mc-field-group input-group compact-input-group \"> <input type=\"email\" value=\"\" name=\"email\" required class=\"form-control email\" placeholder=\"Email address\" id=\"input_email\"> <span class=\"submit input-group-btn input-group-btn-right\"> <input type=\"submit\" id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe\" value=\"Sign up\" class=\"btn btn-primary \" \/> <\/span> <\/div>\n<div> <input name=\"_eightyk_action\" value=\"mailchimp_add_subscriber\" type=\"hidden\"> <input name=\"redirect_path_after_step_2\" value=\"\/newsletter\/welcome\/\" type=\"hidden\"> <\/div>\n<div style=\"position: absolute; left: -5000px;\"> <input type=\"text\" name=\"b_abc12f58bbe8075560abdc5b7_43bc1ae55c\" tabindex=\"-1\" value=\"\"> <\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":35228,"parent":0,"menu_order":15,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"[fn 1] \r\nTable 1, Page 60 in Hall, Robert E., and Charles I. Jones. \"The value of life and the rise in health spending.\" *The Quarterly Journal of Economics* 122.1 (2007): 39-72. \r\n[Archived link](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20170207165956\/https:\/\/web.stanford.edu\/~chadj\/HallJones2007.pdf)\r\nTable 3 page 147 in Felder, Stefan, and Andreas Werblow. \"The Marginal Cost of Saving a Life in Health Care: Age, Gender and Regional Differences in Switzerland.\" *Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics* (SJES) 145.II (2009): 137-153.\r\n[Archived link](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016192726\/https:\/\/www.academia.edu\/22812752\/The_Marginal_Cost_of_Saving_a_Life_in_Health_Care_Age_Gender_and_Regional_Differences_in_Switzerland)\r\n\r\n[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 2] \r\n\"We estimate that it costs the Against Malaria Foundation approximately $7,500 (including transportation, administration, etc.) to save a human life.\" [Archived link](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016185320\/https:\/\/www.givewell.org\/giving101\/Your-dollar-goes-further-overseas)\r\n  \r\n[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 3] \r\n[GiveWell's impact page](http:\/\/www.givewell.org\/about\/impact).\r\n[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 4]\r\n\"...we spent approximately $3.8 million on our operations, of which $1.3 million was spent on GiveWell's traditional work and $2.5 million on Open Philanthropy.\" [Archived link](https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221016192906\/https:\/\/blog.givewell.org\/2016\/04\/05\/givewells-progress-in-2015\/)\r\n\r\n[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 5]\r\n[Conversation with Robert Wiblin on the Copenhagen Consensus Center](https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/sh\/f3zb23ztowqmw6i\/AAB2UJ8k0Ji3pqCVdmYQulKHa\/PDF?dl=0&preview=Robert+Wiblin+on+The+Copenhagen+Consensus+Center+(public).pdf)\r\n\r\n[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 6]\r\nPage 6 [GiveWell Metrics Report 2015](https:\/\/files.givewell.org\/files\/metrics\/GiveWell_Metrics_Report_2015.pdf)\r\n[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 7]\r\nPage 2 [GiveWell Metrics Report 2016](https:\/\/files.givewell.org\/files\/metrics\/GiveWell_Metrics_Report_2016.pdf)\r\n[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 8]\r\n[New UK aid strategy \u2013 prioritising research and crisis response](http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20170207171250\/http:\/\/globalprioritiesproject.org\/2015\/12\/new-uk-aid-strategy-prioritising-research-and-crisis-response\/)\r\n[\/fn]\r\n\r\n[fn 9]\r\n[Copenhagen Consensus - Our Impact](http:\/\/www.copenhagenconsensus.com\/our-impact)\r\n[\/fn]\r\n"},"categories":[344,1240,24,1189,1241,291],"class_list":["post-35227","problem_profile","type-problem_profile","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-priorities-research","category-promising-interventions","category-in-research","category-research-into-global-priorities","category-top-recommended-organisations","category-world-problems"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Global priorities research - 80,000 Hours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Global priorities research seeks to use new methods to determine in which causes funding to improve the world can have the biggest impact, and make a convincing case about this to people in a position to redirect large amounts of money.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How would you spend $500,000,000,000?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With a track record of already influencing hundreds of millions of dollars, future research into global priorities could lead to billions of dollars being spent many times more effectively. As a result, we believe this is one of the highest impact fields you can work in.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"80,000 Hours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/80000Hours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-06T15:09:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Caen-120613-165622-e1462541283635.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"855\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"How would you spend $500,000,000,000?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"With a track record of already influencing hundreds of millions of dollars, future research into global priorities could lead to billions of dollars being spent many times more effectively. As a result, we believe this is one of the highest impact fields you can work in.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@80000hours\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"18 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/\",\"name\":\"Global priorities research - 80,000 Hours\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Caen-120613-165622-e1462541283635.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-05T11:27:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-06T15:09:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"Global priorities research seeks to use new methods to determine in which causes funding to improve the world can have the biggest impact, and make a convincing case about this to people in a position to redirect large amounts of money.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Caen-120613-165622-e1462541283635.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Caen-120613-165622-e1462541283635.jpg\",\"width\":1140,\"height\":855},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Global priorities research\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/\",\"name\":\"80,000 Hours\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"80,000 Hours\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/og-logo_0.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/og-logo_0.png\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":785,\"caption\":\"80,000 Hours\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/80000Hours\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/80000hours\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/eightythousandhours\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Global priorities research - 80,000 Hours","description":"Global priorities research seeks to use new methods to determine in which causes funding to improve the world can have the biggest impact, and make a convincing case about this to people in a position to redirect large amounts of money.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How would you spend $500,000,000,000?","og_description":"With a track record of already influencing hundreds of millions of dollars, future research into global priorities could lead to billions of dollars being spent many times more effectively. As a result, we believe this is one of the highest impact fields you can work in.","og_url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/","og_site_name":"80,000 Hours","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/80000Hours","article_modified_time":"2024-11-06T15:09:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1140,"height":855,"url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Caen-120613-165622-e1462541283635.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"How would you spend $500,000,000,000?","twitter_description":"With a track record of already influencing hundreds of millions of dollars, future research into global priorities could lead to billions of dollars being spent many times more effectively. As a result, we believe this is one of the highest impact fields you can work in.","twitter_site":"@80000hours","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"18 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/","name":"Global priorities research - 80,000 Hours","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Caen-120613-165622-e1462541283635.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-05T11:27:59+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-06T15:09:08+00:00","description":"Global priorities research seeks to use new methods to determine in which causes funding to improve the world can have the biggest impact, and make a convincing case about this to people in a position to redirect large amounts of money.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Caen-120613-165622-e1462541283635.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Caen-120613-165622-e1462541283635.jpg","width":1140,"height":855},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/global-priorities-research\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Global priorities research"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/","name":"80,000 Hours","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#organization","name":"80,000 Hours","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/og-logo_0.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/og-logo_0.png","width":1500,"height":785,"caption":"80,000 Hours"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/80000Hours","https:\/\/x.com\/80000hours","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/eightythousandhours"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/problem_profile\/35227"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/problem_profile"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/problem_profile"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/problem_profile\/35227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88049,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/problem_profile\/35227\/revisions\/88049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}