LADDER Project & PhD Students
To prepare LIS faculty, nine doctoral students will be selected as LADDER Fellows at the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin over three years. Each year, the PIs and three doctoral students will collaborate with librarians across three library contexts: public, school, and academic libraries. These participating libraries will serve as living learning labs where librarians and cohort members will build AI-based tools and develop innovations. The students will be trained as future LIS faculty by publishing their projects in LIS journals and conferences, and by increasing networking opportunities through collaboration with PIs, peer fellows, librarians, and Advisory Board members.
To be considered for selection as a LADDER fellow, apply to the PhD Program at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information. LADDER Fellows will be required to form a doctoral committee where each member assumes a specific mentoring role: research mentor, professional engagement mentor, and teaching mentor. This collaborative mentoring approach is designed to provide a comprehensive educational experience, helping doctoral students develop into strong researchers and capable educators who understand the importance of applying their knowledge to real-world library contexts.
