Latent Variables Research Fellowship
A call for research on AI and human adaptation
AI is accelerating what organizations can change. Their ability to absorb that change is struggling to keep pace. New tools reshape roles, routines, and expectations, with consequences that ripple across teams. We believe one of the defining challenges of this transition is helping people develop the understanding, confidence, and agency to shape what comes next.
Up to $25,000 per fellow Approximately 14 weeks Approximately 20 hours per week
About 5 minutes. No cover letter required.
Our research mission
Latent Variables is an applied-research lab building AI to help people and organizations adapt to AI and other changes. Our ambition is to help secure a future of work in which employees can learn, contribute, and thrive as their organizations evolve. We are inviting ambitious doctoral researchers to help build the scientific and practical foundations for that work.
Our lab has roots at the University of Michigan. Through our agentic voice systems, we investigate how people experience change, what gets in their way, and what would help them move forward. We turn those conversations into evidence that helps leaders respond. The fellowship connects rigorous research with the systems through which organizations listen, understand, and act.
The research opportunity
How can AI help organizations understand change from the perspective of the people living through it? How can a conversation reveal what a survey misses, support reflection, and inform a useful response? You will own a focused project within this broader agenda, working directly with our founders to translate research into improvements used in real organizational settings.
Your work will combine inquiry with hands-on experimentation. You will examine conversations, develop hypotheses, refine AI instructions, and evaluate the results. Our engineering team will support implementation. A software engineering background is optional; the willingness to work directly with AI systems and test your ideas is essential.
Research tracks
Understanding the lived experience of change
Investigate how AI interviews can uncover the experiences, concerns, and practical barriers that shape adaptation at work. Study which questions and follow-ups elicit concrete evidence without leading participants. Translate your findings into adaptive interview prompts and evaluations that hold up across organizational contexts.
Conversations that support reflection and adaptation
Study how an AI conversation can help people articulate uncertainty, reflect on their experiences, and identify possible next steps. Examine the role of trust, responsiveness, and pacing, including when further probing helps and when it becomes intrusive. Build and test improvements to the conversational behavior of our agentic voice systems.
Turning employee experience into organizational action
Investigate how AI can synthesize qualitative evidence into conclusions that help leaders respond to change. Preserve context, disagreement, and important minority perspectives while identifying actionable patterns. Develop readouts and evaluations that distinguish a compelling narrative from a supported, useful insight.
Who we are looking for
We welcome ambitious PhD students and candidates in Human–Computer Interaction, Information Science, Organizational Behavior, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication, Linguistics, Psychology, and related fields. We are especially interested in qualitative and mixed-methods researchers who want their work to shape how AI supports people in the workplace.
- Strong evidence of careful interviewing, qualitative analysis, or research on human–AI interaction, conversation, or organizational life.
- Clear writing and the ability to distinguish an interesting interpretation from a conclusion supported by evidence.
- Experience experimenting with AI tools, or a concrete demonstration of your ability to learn and build with them.
- Intellectual independence, close attention to detail, and sustained curiosity about how people experience and adapt to change.
- A realistic plan to sustain the agreed fellowship commitment alongside your doctoral responsibilities.
Candidates approaching completion and exploring an industry research career are particularly welcome. We also consider earlier-stage doctoral researchers whose experience and availability fit the project. We value rigorous thinking, initiative, and a desire to see research make a practical difference.
How the fellowship will work
The anticipated format is one academic term, approximately 14 weeks at 20 hours per week. We intend to include regular in-person collaboration with the team. Location, start date, and the working schedule will be confirmed before an offer, with attention to academic calendars and university requirements.
At the outset, we will agree on a project brief, baseline examples, and criteria for improvement. You will then run a series of focused experiments with weekly feedback from the founders and technical support from our engineering team. The fellowship will conclude with an implemented improvement, an evaluation of its performance and limitations, and documentation the team can continue to use.
You will have access to appropriate product tools and approved research materials. Data access, confidentiality, intellectual property, and any proposed academic publication or dissertation use will be agreed before the project begins. Academic use of customer material requires separate approval.
What fellows receive
- Compensation of up to $25,000 per fellow. Individual compensation will reflect the agreed project scope and time commitment and will be confirmed in writing before acceptance.
- Direct mentorship. Regular research reviews with the founders and collaboration with our engineering team.
- Research tools and technical support. Access to the AI tools and compute needed for the agreed project, with engineering support to turn ideas into working experiments.
- Applied research. Work on questions grounded in organizational challenges, with access to relevant practitioners and approved research materials where available.
- A substantive output. Develop an evaluation, prototype, research report, or draft paper. Publication and portfolio opportunities will be agreed at the outset, subject to confidentiality and data permissions.
- Potential to continue. Opportunities for continued collaboration or a future full-time role, depending on mutual fit and available openings.
Participation is subject to applicable university approvals, funding conditions, and work authorization; we will work with candidates to establish a feasible arrangement. A full-time position is not guaranteed, and taking leave from a PhD is not an expectation.
Apply for the fellowship
Tell us a little about your research and what you would like to explore with us. A few sentences are enough. No cover letter is needed.
Shortlisted candidates may be invited to discuss their research and a work sample with us, followed by a short paid collaborative exercise for finalists. We will explain the scope and time commitment in advance.