2025-26 AY (Winter-Spring) PT Research Fellowship: Strengthening Social Capital Among Refugee Entrepreneurs: Testing AI Tools for Tie Formation and Maintenance
The Stanford King Center on Global Development’s Academic Year Part-Time Research Fellowship Program connects King Center faculty affiliates and affiliated researchers with undergraduate students committed to providing research support during winter, and spring quarters.
Students have the opportunity to engage in world-class research that has real-world impact. Undergraduate student research fellows are paid $19/hour*. Students must be enrolled full-time to participate and must be able to commit to research 8-10 hours per week.
*Students must attend orientation and submit an I-9 form to verify employment and receive payment. Students who cannot accept pay may be allowed to receive academic credit for this research.
Research Project Description:
While previous programs have focused on business training or startup capital, they rarely address these social barriers. Entrepreneurs may attend events or workshops, but without the skills or structure to sustain new ties, the momentum quickly dissipates. As a result, many refugee-owned businesses operate in isolation, missing out on information, collaboration, and trust-based referrals.
Recent research shows that social capital can be built deliberately, and that structured coaching on soft skills, such as empathy, listening, and effective follow-up, can enhance an entrepreneur’s ability to initiate and sustain valuable business relationships. However, in-person mentoring is costly and difficult to scale.
This project tests a new approach: using artificial intelligence to deliver personalized, lightweight support for relationship building. By equipping refugee entrepreneurs with AI-enabled tools that guide them in initiating conversations and maintaining follow-up, we explore whether scalable digital interventions can strengthen their networks and improve business outcomes.
Primary Research Mentor: Charles Eesley, Professor, SoE - Management Science & Engineering Department
Co-Research Mentor: Xilan Zhang, PhD student, SoE - Management Science & Engineering Department
Stanford undergraduate students in good academic standing and enrolled full-time are eligible to apply. Co-term students must have undergraduate student status; if co-terms are in graduate billing status (after 12 quarters) they are ineligible to participate.
All majors are welcome!
Students Responsibilities:
- Help with literature reviews, research design, stakeholder management, logistics, grant writing and participation in research meetings.
Students qualifications:
- Basic data handling skills, statistics, knowledge of Arabic language is helpful but not necessary
Time Commitment:
The time commitment is 8-10 hours per week (equivalent to a 3-unit course) each academic quarter. The expectation is that students will work Winter and Spring quarters with the project mentors. Students planning on studying abroad are not eligible.
To Apply:
Along with the application, applicants are asked to submit:
- a cover letter
- resume or CV
- unofficial Stanford transcript (first quarter frosh do not need to submit transcripts for autumn quarter applications)
Research Mentor Questions for Applicants:
