Arena Launches Academic Partnerships Program to Advance AI Evaluation Research

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Arena today announced the launch of its Academic Partnerships Program, a new initiative aimed at advancing research in AI evaluation, rankings, and measurement. 

As AI models continue to improve and adoption accelerates, new scientific principles are needed to ensure reliable deployment and evaluation. Arena’s Academic Partnerships Program reflects the company’s commitment to strengthening the scientific foundations of AI evaluation.

“The topic of AI evaluation and reliability remains a fundamental research challenge, touching areas from statistical methodology to AI systems, which academics are uniquely positioned to pursue,” said Anastasios Angelopoulos, co-founder and CEO of Arena. “To succeed in solving the challenges ahead, we must support a thriving academic ecosystem of the strongest minds in the world. Arena itself was born as an academic project at UC Berkeley, and we are proud to give back to the research community through our grant program.”

The Academic Partnerships Program is designed to support a broad range of research topics related to AI evaluation, including (but not limited to) evaluation and ranking methodology, measurement and validity, learning from human preference, and safety and alignment. Arena welcomes work that deepens understanding, proposes new methods, or rigorously examines existing approaches.

The program will provide up to $50,000 per project in research funding. In addition to financial support, Arena may provide selected projects with access to Arena datasets under appropriate agreements, clearly scoped conditions, and in alignment with applicable data protection standards.

Proposals will be reviewed on a quarterly basis. The first submission deadline is March 31, 2026.

More information about the Academic Partnerships Program, including eligibility and application details, is available on the Arena blog. Applicants can submit proposals here. 

About Arena
Arena.ai is an open platform where everyone can access and interact with the world’s leading AI models and contribute to AI progress through real-world feedback. Built with scientific rigor and transparency at its core, Arena enables developers, researchers, knowledge workers and enthusiasts to compare model outputs, uncover performance differences and advance the reliability of AI systems. With a commitment to open access, reproducible methods and diverse human judgment, Arena is building the foundation for the world to understand, shape, and benefit from AI.

Contact:
Nick Karoglou
Head of Communications
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SOURCE Arena