Research Scientist - Educational AI & Machine Learning

Duolingo is the world's most popular learning app, on a mission to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. Our AI Research team solves fundamental challenges at the intersection of artificial intelligence, natural language processing (NLP), cognitive science, and personalized learning for over half a billion students.

As a Research Scientist at Duolingo, you will apply cutting-edge machine learning and artificial intelligence methods to our most ambitious product challenges. You will work across multidisciplinary teams—collaborating daily with software engineers, product managers, and UI/UX designers—to identify high-impact educational problems, prototype algorithmic solutions, evaluate ROI, and deploy production ML models at global scale. Additionally, you will publish research breakthroughs and share findings with both internal engineering teams and the broader international AI/ML research community.

Key Responsibilities

• Applied R&D & Prototyping: Formulate and execute creative, interdisciplinary research strategies using machine learning, deep learning, NLP, or generative AI to personalize and improve learning outcomes.
• Production Scalability: Translate research prototypes into production-ready algorithmic solutions that serve millions of daily active learners worldwide.
• Cross-Functional Execution: Partner closely with Product Management, Engineering, and Design teams to bring experimental AI capabilities seamlessly into the Duolingo product ecosystem.
• Academic & Industry Publication: Publish novel findings in top-tier machine learning, NLP, or AI conferences and journals while representing Duolingo in the broader research community.
• Data-Driven Evaluation: Design rigorous offline and online evaluation frameworks to assess model performance, ROI, and educational efficacy.

Requirements

Academic & Technical Background

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Linguistics, Data Science, or a related quantitative technical field (or expected graduation by August 2027).
• Impactful Research Portfolio: Demonstrated track record of impactful work via peer-reviewed publications (e.g., NeurIPS, ACL, EMNLP, KDD, ICML), open-source contributions, or industry AI research internships.
• Programming & Debugging Depth: Strong critical thinking skills paired with hands-on coding and debugging proficiency in modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Python).
• Entrepreneurial R&D Mindset: Creative, interdisciplinary approach to research with a focus on solving practical product challenges.

Work Logistics

• Ability to relocate to and work onsite in Pittsburgh, PA or New York, NY.

Preferred Qualifications

• Research expertise in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Large Language Models (LLMs), Computer Vision, Adaptive Learning Systems, or Speech Recognition.
• Experience deploying machine learning models into high-concurrency production environments.
• Prior experience working on educational technologies, human-computer interaction (HCI), or cognitive modeling.

Total Rewards & Benefits

• Compensation & Equity: Base salary of $137,700 – $186,300 USD + competitive equity grants.
• Food & Well-Being: Catered in-house breakfast and lunch, language learning opportunities, monthly social events, and active social clubs.
• Comprehensive Healthcare: Top-tier medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage options.
• Time Off & Innovation: Company-wide annual Hackathon, generous PTO, and paid company holidays.