Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute (AIEI) has opened its fourth global research call, inviting PhD-holding researchers at universities and research institutions worldwide to study how AI is changing jobs and organisations. Selected teams join the AIEI Senior Fellows cohort and receive a research grant of about US$75,000, plus the chance to publish a chapter in an edited book on the AI economy. Proposals are due 30 November 2026 at 6 pm Pacific time.
This is a strong opportunity for African economists, management scholars and social scientists studying how AI affects work in their countries — comparative and regional perspectives are explicitly preferred.
Key Details
- Funder: Microsoft AI Economy Institute (Microsoft Research)
- Programme: AIEI Senior Fellows, Cohort 4
- Theme: AI and Jobs — designing for augmented work
- Grant: about US$75,000 per selected proposal
- Duration: about 12 months
- Results: December 2026
- Deadline: 30 November 2026, 6 pm Pacific (3 am WAT / 5 am EAT on 1 December)
Research Themes
- The “everyone-a-manager” shift: delegation, judgement and accountability when AI does routine work
- Designing for augmentation: how tasks, skills and roles change, and new kinds of work
- Organisations and workflows people embrace: adoption, governance and value from AI
- Building expertise and the “first rung”: what AI means for entry-level jobs and how future experts are trained
- plus related questions on when AI complements, substitutes or creates work
Benefits
- a research grant (reported at US$75,000)
- bi-weekly virtual convenings and an in-person workshop with fellows and Microsoft leaders
- a chapter in an edited volume on the AI economy (book publication planned for July 2027)
- support towards a manuscript for a high-quality academic journal
- independence: findings are the authors’ own, not Microsoft’s
Eligibility
- affiliated with an accredited university or research institution anywhere in the world
- Principal Investigators must hold a PhD or equivalent terminal degree (e.g. MD, JD, DrPH)
- up to two PIs per proposal (one award per proposal); interdisciplinary teams encouraged
Preferred: interdisciplinary work, novel or AI-enabled methods, use of existing datasets, comparisons across countries or regions, and practical insights. Qualitative, quantitative, theoretical and mixed methods are all accepted.
How Proposals Are Scored
- Scientific strength — 25%
- Feasibility — 25%
- Practical applicability — 25%
- PI productivity (track record) — 25%
How to Apply
- Read the full call on the official Microsoft AIEI Open Call 4 page.
- Choose one theme and design a feasible, roughly 12-month study.
- Submit through the AIEI proposal portal before 30 November 2026, 6 pm Pacific.
Tips
- African data is a strength — compare your country with another region.
- Show you already have access to data or partners to collect it quickly.
- Highlight your publication record; it’s a quarter of the score.
- Keep the scope realistic for 12 months.
Related Opportunities
- AERC Call for Proposals 2026 (Up to US$10,000)
- How to Write a Winning CODESRIA Research Grant Proposal
- Mozilla Human-Scale AI Incubator (Up to US$500,000)
Deadline: 30 November 2026, 6 pm Pacific time.
