ATLAS Research Fellowship
2026 Call for Proposals
Doctoral students from accredited US and Canada-based institutions should apply for this unique opportunity! Awarded applicants will conduct research and evaluation projects in support of technology-based learning and assessment systems.
2026 Dates & Deadlines
Requirements
Applicants should meet the following requirements before applying to the ATLAS Research Fellowship program.
- Current enrollment at an accredited institution based in the US or Canada
- Enrollment in a doctoral-level program in one of the following fields
- Educational research
- Measurement
- Statistics
- Computer science
- Evaluation
- Other related field
- Willing faculty advisor from your institution
Applicants MUST submit a 500-word project Abstract via Qualtrics Link by March 27, 2026.
Only applicants whose abstracts address one the priority areas for 2026-2027 and are relevant to ATLAS work and additional criteria will be invited to submit a full proposal.
Additional criteria include a statement of the purpose of the research and research questions, an overview of the proposed methodology, and a description of the potential implications of the research for ATLAS.
Applicants who are notified their project abstract was selected will be invited to submit a proposal by May 15, 2026. The proposal consists of an application and a 2,000-word proposal that will be submitted via a Qualtrics link. We will announce funding decisions the week of June 16, 2026.
The application must include the following elements.
- Brief cover letter expressing interest in the fellowship and providing the following information:
- Graduate-level courses you have completed relevant to your proposal
- Professional or academic experiences relevant to your proposal
- Available resources that will allow completion of your research (e.g., computing cluster)
- Anticipated timeline
- Additional information to be considered for your submission
- A letter from the fellowship faculty advisor acknowledging their familiarity with the proposal, the fellowship requirements, and their willingness to supervise the work.
- The online Qualtrics form
The full proposal of 2,000 words must include the following:
- A review of the literature highlighting the gap this proposal seeks to fill
- Proposed research questions/methodology (or methods for systematic literature review if applicable)
- A conclusion section that explains the significance of the work, including the potential application for operational assessment programs
- An abstract
Applicants will submit their proposal via Qualtrics Link, which will become available after the application period.
Applicants should indicate their preferred funding period: a one-semester project (i.e., fall 2026, spring 2027, or summer 2027) or a two-semester project (i.e., fall 2026 and spring 2027or spring 2027 and summer 2027). The scope of the proposed work should be appropriate to the funding period. See the Funding Periods and Deliverables section on this webpage.
The scope of the proposal should be broad enough to allow for approximately 15 hours of work per week for the semester. Applicants should further demonstrate that they have the resources necessary to complete the study in their submission materials (e.g., access to computing cluster).
For applicants who apply for the two-semester project, continuation of the fellowship in the second semester is contingent on successful progress during the first semester. Remaining funding is provided at the end of the fellowship when the final report is submitted.
The faculty sponsor will receive funding in the amount of $1000 per full semester.
If work created during the fellowship is anticipated to result in a conference presentation or publication, ATLAS staff must approve the content prior to proposal submission.
Applicants may send questions about the fellowship program, priority areas, or other topics to atlas-aai@ku.edu.
Applicants should meet the following requirements before applying to the ATLAS Research Fellowship program.
- Current enrollment at an accredited institution based in the US or Canada
- Enrollment in a doctoral-level program in one of the following fields
- Educational research
- Measurement
- Statistics
- Computer science
- Evaluation
- Other related field
- Willing faculty advisor from your institution
Applicants MUST submit a 500-word project Abstract via Qualtrics Link by March 27, 2026.
Only applicants whose abstracts address one the priority areas for 2026-2027 and are relevant to ATLAS work and additional criteria will be invited to submit a full proposal.
Additional criteria include a statement of the purpose of the research and research questions, an overview of the proposed methodology, and a description of the potential implications of the research for ATLAS.
Applicants who are notified their project abstract was selected will be invited to submit a proposal by May 15, 2026. The proposal consists of an application and a 2,000-word proposal that will be submitted via a Qualtrics link. We will announce funding decisions the week of June 16, 2026.
The application must include the following elements.
- Brief cover letter expressing interest in the fellowship and providing the following information:
- Graduate-level courses you have completed relevant to your proposal
- Professional or academic experiences relevant to your proposal
- Available resources that will allow completion of your research (e.g., computing cluster)
- Anticipated timeline
- Additional information to be considered for your submission
- A letter from the fellowship faculty advisor acknowledging their familiarity with the proposal, the fellowship requirements, and their willingness to supervise the work.
- The online Qualtrics form
The full proposal of 2,000 words must include the following:
- A review of the literature highlighting the gap this proposal seeks to fill
- Proposed research questions/methodology (or methods for systematic literature review if applicable)
- A conclusion section that explains the significance of the work, including the potential application for operational assessment programs
- An abstract
Applicants will submit their proposal via Qualtrics Link, which will become available after the application period.
Applicants should indicate their preferred funding period: a one-semester project (i.e., fall 2026, spring 2027, or summer 2027) or a two-semester project (i.e., fall 2026 and spring 2027or spring 2027 and summer 2027). The scope of the proposed work should be appropriate to the funding period. See the Funding Periods and Deliverables section on this webpage.
The scope of the proposal should be broad enough to allow for approximately 15 hours of work per week for the semester. Applicants should further demonstrate that they have the resources necessary to complete the study in their submission materials (e.g., access to computing cluster).
For applicants who apply for the two-semester project, continuation of the fellowship in the second semester is contingent on successful progress during the first semester. Remaining funding is provided at the end of the fellowship when the final report is submitted.
The faculty sponsor will receive funding in the amount of $1000 per full semester.
If work created during the fellowship is anticipated to result in a conference presentation or publication, ATLAS staff must approve the content prior to proposal submission.
Applicants may send questions about the fellowship program, priority areas, or other topics to atlas-aai@ku.edu.
Innovate with us
ATLAS is a leader in education research and innovation with a wide range of research projects and operational alternate assessments. We drive progress through partnerships and collaborations with organizations that share our focus and commitment.
2026-2027 Priority Topics
ATLAS promotes learning and improved outcomes by creating accessible and academically rigorous technology-based learning and assessment systems for all students with a special focus on students with disabilities, struggling learners, and their teachers through several projects focused on improving student outcomes.
Our learning map models, assessment design, and teacher resources are informed by the center’s research projects and by innovations in psychometrics that support the measurement of map-based learning. We foster partnerships with diverse organizations that share our focus and commitment.
We are interested in the following areas of research and ways in which AI can support advancements in these areas.
- Producing automated, real-time personalized feedback to students, parents, and/or teachers about assessment performance
- Supporting student choice opportunities during assessment
- Improving technical properties of diagnostic classification models (DCMs) (e.g., classification accuracy, classification consistency, certainty of mastery classifications)
- Analyzing and summarizing teacher responses to open-ended questions on annual surveys with methods such as natural language processing applications or sentiment analysis
- Measuring the similarity of the text descriptions for each of the assessed skills.
- Measuring the similarity of distractors using response option text
- Using item content (e.g., text prompt, item features, linkage-level alignment) and historical psychometric properties to learn and predict relationships between content and psychometric behavior.
Literature synthesis on dashboard designs that effectively foster intended teacher cognition and action (e.g., within data-based instructional cycles)
Funding Periods & Deliverables
During the fellowship appointment, the fellowship recipient will submit written briefs at the end of each month to update ATLAS staff on progress towards the research goals.
For the one-semester project, recipients will submit a final research report at the conclusion of the appointment. For the two-semester project, students will submit one progress report at the end of the first semester and one final research report at the conclusion of the appointment. For applicants who apply for the two-semester project, continuation of the fellowship in the second semester is contingent on successful progress during the first semester.
ATLAS also requires delivery of related materials created during the project, such as data analysis scripts, coding protocols, annotated bibliographies, etc. at the conclusion of the appointment.
The scope of the proposal should be broad enough to allow for approximately 15 hours of work per week for the semester. Applicants should demonstrate in their submission materials that they have the resources necessary to complete the study (e.g., access to computing cluster).
If the research conducted during the fellowship is anticipated to result in a conference presentation or publication, ATLAS staff must approve the content prior to proposal submission.
The amount of funding is determined by the funding period. Half of the funding amount is provided at the beginning of the funding period, contingent on receipt of the finalized proposal. Remaining funding is provided at the end of the fellowship when the final report is submitted. The faculty sponsor will receive funding in the amount of $1000 per full semester.
One Semester
Recipients will submit a final research report at the conclusion of the appointment.
Funding amount: $8,000
- Funding period begins (08/01/2026)
- Monthly progress brief (08/30/2026)
- Monthly progress brief (09/30/2026)
- Monthly progress brief (10/31/2026)
- Final research report and related materials (12/2/2026)
Funding amount: $8,000
- Funding period begins (01/02/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (01/31/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (02/28/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (03/31/2027)
- Final research report and related materials (04/30/2027)
Funding amount: $4,000
- Funding period begins (05/19/2027)
Monthly progress brief (06/30/2027) - Monthly progress brief (07/31/2027)
- Final research report and related materials (08/29/2027)
Two Semesters
Recipients will submit one progress report at the end of the first semester and one final research report at the conclusion of the appointment. Continuation of the fellowship in the second semester is contingent on successful progress during the first semester.
Funding amount: $16,000
- Funding period begins (08/01/2026)
- Monthly progress brief (08/30/2026)
- Monthly progress brief (09/30/2026)
- Monthly progress brief (10/31/2026)
- Research progress report (12/02/2026)
- Monthly progress brief (01/31/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (02/28/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (03/31/2027)
- Final research report and related materials (04/30/2027)
Funding amount: $12,000
- Funding period begins (01/02/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (01/31/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (02/28/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (03/31/2027)
- Research progress report (04/30/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (05/30/2027)
- Monthly progress brief (06/30/2027)
- Final research report and related materials (07/31/2027)
Additional Information
- ATLAS requires the delivery of related materials created during the project, such as data analysis scripts, coding protocols, annotated bibliographies, etc. at the conclusion of the appointment.
- Half of the funding amount is provided at the beginning of the funding period, contingent on receipt of the finalized proposal.
- The remaining funding is provided at the end of the fellowship when the final report is submitted.
- The faculty sponsor will receive $1,000 per full semester.
- In the fellowship application, applicants should indicate their interest in presenting their final project at a virtual meeting.
- The presentation is optional and will not influence funding decisions.
- If the project created during the fellowship is anticipated to result in a conference presentation or publication, ATLAS staff must approve the content prior to proposal submission.