Duolingo Research Opportunities - Learn how to get involved
contribute to research
Get involved in research, meet our team, and help us improve our products!
research grants
Duolingo is excited to support external research, because a stronger research community benefits everyone!
Dissertation grants
Duolingo’s annual dissertation grant program provides awards to doctoral students doing research on second language learning, mathematics, and music.
See our past winners from 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Our 2026 program is accepting applications until May 31, 2026. For more information, see our calls for research in language learning, math, and music, and the FAQs.
Duolingo data for research
We are happy to share an anonymized Spanish-learning dataset with the broader research community.
our researchers
Our team includes experts in learning sciences, AI and machine learning, and linguistics. We work closely with product teams to build innovative features based on world-class research.
Badr Albanna(He/him)AI Research Engineer IILinkedIn | Google Scholar
- PhD in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley
- Expertise in recurrent neural networks, complex systems, and information theory
Klinton Bicknell(He/him)Head of AILinkedIn | Google Scholar
- PhD in Linguistics and Cognitive Science from UC San Diego
- Expertise in AI, cognitive science, and language
Lauren Bilsky(She/her)Senior AI Research EngineerLinkedIn
- A.B. in Linguistics and Applied Math - Economics from Brown University
- Expertise in ML, NLP and prompt engineering
Xiangying Jiang(She/her)Lead Learning ScientistLinkedIn | Google Scholar
- PhD in Applied Linguistics from Northern Arizona University
- Expertise in efficacy of app-based language learning, language assessment, and L2 reading
- Associate Professor in TESOL and applied linguistics at WVU before Duolingo
Audrey Kittredge(She/her)Senior Learning ScientistLinkedIn | Google Scholar
- PhD in Cognitive Psychology from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Expertise in psycholinguistics, educational psychology, and early childhood education
- Postdoc in education at University of Cambridge and experience consulting for UNICEF
Jackie Lee(She/her)Staff AI Research ScientistLinkedIn
- PhD in Computer Science from MIT
- Expertise in machine learning and natural language processing
Kevin Lenzo(He/him)Senior Staff AI Research ScientistLinkedIn
- PhD in Robotics from CMU
- Expertise in speech technology, machine learning, and linguistics
- 30 years industry experience including my own company
Stephen MayhewSenior AI Research EngineerGoogle Scholar
- PhD in Computer Science from University of Pennsylvania
- Expertise in multilingual and low-resource NLP, NER
- Experience with student modeling and personalization
Will Monroe(He/him)Senior AI Research ScientistGoogle Scholar
- PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University
- Expertise in natural language processing and speech recognition
Farrah Neumann(She/her)Senior Learning DesignerLinkedIn | Google Scholar
- PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from University of Pittsburgh
- Expertise in L2 phonetic learning, pronunciation training, and speech perception
- Former college and high school instructor of Spanish and Linguistics
Bozena Pajak(She/her)Vice President of Learning and CurriculumLinkedIn | Google Scholar
- PhD in Linguistics from UC San Diego
- Expertise in the cognitive mechanisms underlying learning
- Postdoc in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at University of Rochester
Ryan Peters(He/him)Senior Learning ScientistLinkedIn | Google Scholar
- PhD in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from Purdue University
- Expertise in language learning and development, applied psycholinguistics, and attention
Ben Reuveni(He/him)Senior Learning ScientistLinkedIn
- PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from Northwestern University
- Expertise in learning, memory, and decision making
- Experience with reward processing, gamification, and data analysis
Gabriella Skitalinska(She/her)AI Research Engineer IILinkedIn | Google Scholar
- PhD in Computer Science from University of Bremen, Germany
- Expertise in natural language processing and computational social science
Ziheng Zeng(He/him)AI Research Engineer II
- PhD in Computer Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Expertise in natural language processing
Siwei Zhu(He/him)Senior AI Research EngineerLinkedIn
- Master’s in Applied Math from University of California, Los Angeles
- Expertise in recommendation systems and NLP
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