The AI & Advanced Computing Institute at Schmidt Sciences supports fundamental research in artificial intelligence (AI), the application of AI and data science across a wide variety of disciplines, and the creation of high-impact research platforms that can speed discovery. Our AI at Work program aims to spur exceptional research exploring how adoption of AI may affect the nature of work and the operation of the labor market. We will support both descriptive work that gauges causal impacts, and prescriptive work that field-tests the design of tools, training, and policies that may produce desirable outcomes.   .

Currently, there are too few high-quality field experiments and quasi-experiments that examine the real-world effects of introducing AI tools in the workplace. Stakeholders, such as AI tool developers, government agencies and businesses, need reliable information on how AI systems perform in practice and what their implementation means for employees and the labor market. The AI at Work program is designed to address this need by funding research that provides clear and trustworthy estimates of the effect of the deployment of AI tools in the workplace.

AI at Work will support early career economists and other quantitative social scientists, including graduate students, with up to USD 200,000 to conduct and analyze field experiments and quasi-experiments exploring the effects of AI tools on the workplace. To help identify promising candidates and projects, we are partnering with five leading economists and research institutions, each of whom has contributed to shaping our 2026 research agenda and will be helping to identify promising applicants. 

In 2026, the program has two funding priorities: 

1. The Impact of AI on Worker Displacement & Adjustment

2. The Impact of AI on Scientific Productivity 

For more details, please see the full 2026 AI at Work research agenda. Proposals outside these priorities will be considered on a case-by-case basis. FAQs can be found here. 

Program Structure

Applicants should submit a CV and a brief expression of interest (EOI) by Apr 10, 2026. The EOI is designed to help us learn about the specific research problem you want to tackle and its scientific importance, the study design you imagine, the people and organizations you would be working with, and about your promise as a future senior researcher. 

Applicants who submit an expression of interest are eligible for Proposal Development Awards of USD 10,000. The goal of the Proposal Development Awards is to support travel and legal costs common in developing a data partnership. Schmidt Sciences expects to award Proposal Development Awards to up to 30 applicants. 

Selected applicants will be invited to apply for full awards of up to USD 200,000, for projects lasting up to 2 years. This stage is by invitation only. To be eligible at this stage, applicants must have a data partnership or Memorandum of Understanding in place with a data partner— an organization where an awardee would run a field experiment. Schmidt Sciences will make up to 15 awards at this stage during the second half of 2026. 

Many exciting proposals will require a data partner—an organization where an awardee would run a field experiment. Securing data partnerships is challenging and takes time. While applicants are responsible for forming their own data partnerships, both Schmidt Sciences and several of the program partners will help to facilitate introductions. 

Proposal Development Workshop 

Schmidt Sciences will invite all recipients of the Proposal Development Awards to a required workshop on June 1 - 4, 2026 in Scottsdale, AZ. The goal of this gathering will be to workshop prospective proposals, meet possible data partners, and learn best practices for developing data partnerships. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Please find our FAQs here.

Office hours

We welcome the opportunity to discuss your ideas with you. To sign up for office hours with our team, please find a time here. 

Timeline

Selection process and criteria

The Program Partners above have agreed to work with Schmidt Sciences to shortlist responses of the Expressions of Interest, and to provide advice on suitability of full proposals for the program.

Proposals will be assessed by Schmidt Sciences and our program partners. Key considerations include: 

• Fit: The research question fits this year’s research agenda. 

• Scientific importance: The research problem is important and underexplored. If the research proposal were to be executed to a very high standard, it would likely be accepted by a top journal. 

• Credible research design: The proposed research design would produce meaningful results in helping us to understand the impact of AI on the labor market.

• Quality of data partnership: The proposed data partnership (or data collection strategy) will enable the proposed research design. The applicant has a credible path to securing the research partnership. 

• Strength of applicant: The primary applicant has a strong research track record relative to peers at a similar career point. 

Schmidt Sciences will also look to create a portfolio of research projects that have a diversity of research targets, research designs, and data partnerships. 

Program Partners

Past Awardees

The 2025 AI at Work awardees can be found here.