Information Science Research Labs

From designing creative learning experiences for families to combating information overload, our faculty-led labs are hubs for innovative, cross-disciplinary research. Together, our faculty and students are undertaking projects meant to move the field of information science forward toward a more equitable, inclusive and ethical future for all.

Al-Adala Lab

Al-Adala عدالة is the Arabic word for justice, fairness and equality. The Al-Adala Lab, or (ADA)LAb, draws on critical approaches and perspectives (e.g. critical race and postcolonial theory) to create a just, fair and equal digitally mediated society.

Led by: Bryan Semaan

Colorado Laboratory for Users, Media, and Networks (COLUMN)

The Colorado Laboratory for Users, Media, and Networks (COLUMN) explores the emerging relationships connecting users and media. We are a theoretically and methodologically interdisciplinary group and participate in scholarly conversations within computational social science, social computing, and human-centered data science.

Led by: Brian Keegan

Creative Communities Group

The Creative Communities research group explores how we can engage people to create, play and learn together. We are researchers, students, designers and educators committed to designing and studying learning experiences for young people to create things they care about, develop identities as creators and shape the world around them.

Led by: Ricarose Roque

Identity Lab

Identity Lab focuses on studying and designing how identity is designed, represented and experienced in technology.

Led by: Jed Brubaker

Internet Rules Lab (IRL)

The Internet Rules Lab (IRL) focuses on the intersection of technology and governance. Our work includes elements of ethics, inclusivity, social justice, education, and in general working towards making our technologies and networked spaces better for everyone.

Led by: Casey Fiesler

Philanthropic Informatics Lab

Philanthropic Informatics is an interdisciplinary research area exploring the role of information and communication technologies in supporting initiatives for the public good.

Led by: Amy Voida

Part of a world map with data showing most of Africa, the Middle East, part of Europe and Asia.

EPIC: Empowering the Public with Information in Crisis

Members of the EPIC Lab conduct research in crisis informatics to consider the roles social media, data and other tech environments play in information-based consequences to natural and public health hazards. Research also includes informatics studies of racial justice, environmental justice and sustainability.

Led by: Leysia Palen

That Recommender Systems Lab

That Recommender Systems Lab investigates recommender systems and other personalized systems, especially as these systems are deployed in complex and socially-sensitive settings, such as philanthropy, news and employment. Our current projects center on multistakeholder recommendation, and in particular, fairness-aware recommendation.

Led by: Robin Burke

Too Much Information (TMI) Lab

The Too Much Information Lab (TMI) conducts research in human–computer interaction, at the intersection of personal information management, user interface design, ubiquitous computing and computer-supported cooperative work. Our work focuses on helping people to overcome the day-to-day challenges of information overload.

Led by: Stephen Voida

Unstable Design Lab

Unstable Design approaches design as a way to generate theory and things. Design is political and we develop working technologies to help people imagine alternative futures with alternative politics.

Led by: Laura Devendorf

Targeted Recruitment

Members of our faculty sometimes seek PhD prospective students with an interest in specific funded projects. Though applicants with any research interest are encouraged, here are some targeted recruitment calls:

Robin Burke is seeking students with research interests at the intersection of algorithmic fairness and recommender systems/personalization. Interest in computational social choice would be plus.
Laura Devendorf is seeking a PhD student who is interested in building design software tools in close collaboration with artists and engineers to join the Unstable Design Lab. This PhD project is funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant entitled "Developing Next-Generation Rapid Prototyping Tools to Catalyze Innovation in Smart Textiles." Much of the work in the Unstable Design Lab explores smart textiles as a context within which to explore equity in innovation, particularly between people who identify as craftspeople or technologists. Students in the lab are artists and technologies and produce open-source software tools as well as publications and artworks that take a critical perspective on design and design futures. For more information, please see our lab website.
Casey Fiesler is seeking students interested broadly in technology ethics and/or online communities, including ethics education in computing, data privacy and ethics, and online support for marginalized and vulnerable groups.
Bryan Semaan is seeking students interested broadly in the intersection between resilience, marginalized identities, and technology. He is seeking students who wish to draw on critical race, feminist, and postcolonial perspectives to advance explorations of how people with marginalized racial and ethnic identities are working to appropriate and create sociotechnical systems for their own uses, how existing sociotechnical systems are exacerbating or creating new sources of marginalization, and how we can work to create more just, equitable, and fair technology. Students could explore these phenomena in myriad contexts or by looking at diverse populations, such as through explorations of algorithmic systems like TikTok, moderated online community spaces like Reddit and Twitch, people's experiences undergoing transitions, and more. For more information, please see our lab website.
Amy Voida is seeking students interested in conducting empirical or design research about the role of information and communication technologies in supporting nonprofit or other philanthropic work.

Targeted Recruitment

Robin Burke is seeking students with research interests at the intersection of algorithmic fairness and recommender systems/personalization. Interest in computational social choice would be plus.
Laura Devendorf is seeking a PhD student who is interested in building design software tools in close collaboration with artists and engineers to join the Unstable Design Lab. This PhD project is funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant entitled "Developing Next-Generation Rapid Prototyping Tools to Catalyze Innovation in Smart Textiles." Much of the work in the Unstable Design Lab explores smart textiles as a context within which to explore equity in innovation, particularly between people who identify as craftspeople or technologists. Students in the lab are artists and technologies and produce open-source software tools as well as publications and artworks that take a critical perspective on design and design futures. For more information, please see our lab website.
Casey Fiesler is seeking students interested broadly in technology ethics and/or online communities, including ethics education in computing, data privacy and ethics, and online support for marginalized and vulnerable groups.
Bryan Semaan is seeking students interested broadly in the intersection between resilience, marginalized identities, and technology. He is seeking students who wish to draw on critical race, feminist, and postcolonial perspectives to advance explorations of how people with marginalized racial and ethnic identities are working to appropriate and create sociotechnical systems for their own uses, how existing sociotechnical systems are exacerbating or creating new sources of marginalization, and how we can work to create more just, equitable, and fair technology. Students could explore these phenomena in myriad contexts or by looking at diverse populations, such as through explorations of algorithmic systems like TikTok, moderated online community spaces like Reddit and Twitch, people's experiences undergoing transitions, and more. For more information, please see our lab website.
Amy Voida is seeking students interested in conducting empirical or design research about the role of information and communication technologies in supporting nonprofit or other philanthropic work.

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Information Science Research Labs

Targeted Recruitment

Targeted Recruitment

In this section: Information Science