Dr. Nevena Toporova

Short biography

Research Interest

• Behavioral Economics
• Labor Economics
• AI & work
• Decision-making
• Human-AI Interaction
• HR management
• Experimental methods    

Research Projects

AI@Work
How AI reshapes cognitive, motivational, and social processes at work
This project investigates how AI use affects six core dimensions of work: critical thinking, motivation and commitment, stress experience, feedback culture, moral behavior, and willingness to learn. For each area, we compare working with and without AI – at both the individual and organizational level, using laboratory experiments, field studies, and biomarker assessments.
AI Work Design derives concrete implications for organizations: how must AI be implemented to unlock its benefits at scale, while retaining top talent?

Behavioral economics; Lab experiments; Biomarkers; Work design; Field studies

AI@School  
Research-based AI literacy in schools
TUM students spend one month working alongside AI experts from research and industry. In the second month, they translate this into didactically sound workshop formats. In the third month, they deliver these workshops in schools – helping students understand how AI works, what effects it has, and how to engage with it critically. The cycle restarts with a new topic.
In planned summer schools at TUM, students become researchers themselves: together with TUM students they run their own experiments on how AI affects motivation, creativity, learning, and feedback.
AI School Design translates findings into recommendations for educational institutions: how should AI education be structured to foster critical competence and ensure equity of access?

Knowledge transfer; Peer learning; Summer schools; Student researchers; ExperimenTUM

Talent Acquisition in Family Businesses
Stiftung Familienunternehmen – attracting and retaining talent in family-owned firms
In collaboration with the Stiftung Familienunternehmen, this project examines how family businesses can successfully attract and retain talent in a competitive labor market. We investigate the specific challenges family firms face in employer branding and recruitment, and develop evidence-based strategies to strengthen their position as employers of choice.

Family businesses; Talent acquisition; Employer branding; Labor economics

Funding & Training
Science Manager · Professional Training · TUM: Advanced training program for science management at the Technische Universität München, covering leadership, strategy, and organizational development in research institutions.
TUM Lehrfond · Innovationsfond · TUM: Funding for innovative teaching and examination projects at the Technische Universität München, supporting the development of new formats, structures, and content in teaching – from course redesign and new examination methods to e-learning formats.
YourInnovation · Doctoral Fellowship Program · ThyssenKrupp: Doctoral fellowship within ThyssenKrupp's YourInnovation program, supporting applied research at the interface of management and industry practice.

Roles & Responsibilities
Manager, experimenTUM, Laboratory for Experimental Economics: Responsible for managing the TUM laboratory for experimental economics (experimenTUM), coordinating infrastructure, participant recruitment, and research support for experimental studies. 
Coordinator, Project Studies: Coordinates the project studies program at the Chair of Corporate Management, connecting students with companies and research questions for semester-long applied research projects.
Project Lead, AI@Work & AI@School: Leads two interconnected research and transfer initiatives: AI@Work investigates how AI reshapes individual and organizational processes; AI@School brings this knowledge into schools through a student-driven rolling model and summer school formats at TUM.
Project Lead, Stiftung Familienunternehmen: Leads research in collaboration with the Stiftung Familienunternehmen on talent acquisition and retention strategies in family-owned firms.
 

Publications

Grund, C., Minten, A., & Toporova, N.: Motivation Assessments of Temporary Agency Workers – an Empirical Analysis Based on Appraisals Compiled by Hiring Companies. management revue 30 (1), 2019, 5-39.

Hopp, C., Minten, A., & Toporova, N.: Signaling, selection and transition: empirical evidence on stepping-stones and vicious cycles in temporary agency work. The International Journal of Human Resource Management (27(5)), 2016, 527-547.

Toporova, N.: Das Gender-Paradoxon der Arbeitsmotivation bei atypisch beschäftigten Arbeitnehmern - empirische Untersuchungen am Beispiel der Zeitarbeit. Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice 77 (1), 2023, 42-66.

Bör, M., Katz, C., Minrath, I., Toporova, N.: Kommunikation in digitalen Lehr- und Lernsettings im Online-Semester 2020. In: Hochschulen in der Pandemie. transcript Verlag, 2022.