In addition to our general open call for fellowships, we invite researchers to submit proposals that focus on the following topic:
Futures of Work: Shaping Human-Centered Digital Transformation
The digital transformation of work is reshaping economies, organizations, and everyday labor practices across sectors and diverse global contexts. Advances in artificial intelligence, automation, and data-driven systems create new opportunities for innovation and efficiency. At the same time, they pose significant challenges concerning sustainability, equity, and workers’ agency in diverse labor contexts, including platform economies and informal work.Societies as well as public and private organizations face the challenge of balancing efficiency, sustainability, and human-centered approaches to organizing work. This includes aligning digital technologies with ethical principles while addressing regulatory uncertainties and emerging forms of inequality associated with platform-based work, algorithmic management, and data-driven labor practices. Trust in emerging technologies can be strengthened through transparency and ethical design. At the same time, new approaches to education and training are essential for ensuring people’s participation and agency in the digital transformation of work.
We invite fellowship proposals from all disciplines that advance cutting-edge research and foster inter- or transdisciplinary exchange (e.g., with unions, companies, civil society organizations, or
policymakers). Proposals should explore how the digital transformation of work can be shaped in socially responsible, participatory, human-centered, and sustainable ways. We particularly encourage projects that examine these transformations across different global and socio-economic contexts.
Proposals may address questions such as:
– How do AI systems, data-driven forms of work, automation, and platform economies reshape work processes and conditions in different world regions and labor contexts?
– How can digital transformation of work be ethically justified, and which values should be prioritized when sustainability, social responsibility, efficiency, and profit orientation come into conflict?
– Which societal, organizational, and economic conditions foster or impede human-centered digital transformation of work?
– What forms of governance and regulation are needed to strengthen participation, fairness, and accountability in digitally transformed workplaces?
– What role does corporate social responsibility (CSR) play in promoting ethical business practices and fair working conditions in contexts of digital transformation?
– Which ethical, legal, and social challenges (e.g., bias, data privacy concerns) arise from the use of AI in the workplace, and how can trustworthy systems be designed to support transparency,
fairness, and accountability?
– What ethical and social challenges reduce trust in AI-supported learning, and how can they be addressed?
– What skills, forms of knowledge, and educational approaches are necessary to prepare people for working with AI while ensuring that technology augments rather than replaces human capabilities?
– How can participatory design approaches ensure that employees have agency in shaping their digital work environments?
Please submit your application by 31 August 2026 via the application form on our website. Further information on the fellowship program and the application process can be found in our general open call.