Open opportunities

We are recruiting PhD students to join our lab at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education (GSE) starting in Fall 2027! Candidates should have a strong background at the intersection of data science, social science/education, and human-computer interaction, and interest in exploring one or more of the following:

1. Computational approaches to school assignment — can algorithms help us discover school assignment policies that school systems might implement in order to foster more equitable access to quality education?

2. Constructive community-centered educational policymaking — can we help facilitate constructive dialogue and collaboration between diverse communities to achieve more empathy, understanding, and progress in public education policymaking? 

3. Fostering friendships across lines of difference — can we understand school-level drivers of friendship segregation and address them in order to enhance social cohesion in schools?

4. Connecting school districts to collaborate and solve problems together — can we analyze school board meeting discussions and other policy documents to identify key themes and challenges across school districts and bring district leaders together to solve problems of mutual interest?

If you are interested, please feel free to reach out to ngillani@stanford.edu with more information about your background/experiences/interests and how they relate to the group's work (please mention which of the group's projects and/or publications are most connected to your interests). We look forward to hearing from you!

If you decide to apply, please apply through Stanford GSE's admissions portal (here) and mention PI Nabeel Gillani in your application as a potential PhD advisor. The deadline to apply is November 16, 2026.