Research Institutes, Centers and Initiatives

AI at Dietrich College

AI makes a profound impacct on how society functions, affecting our civil liberties, saftey and security, health care and learning. Dietrich College scholars apply humanistic research to the foundations of AI and leverage technology to address to social, educational and ethical issues. 

Block Center for Technology and Society*

The Block Center seeks out result-oriented projects focused on AI, robotics, machine learning and advanced manufacturing, with the goal of understanding how these technologies will affect the future of work, how they can be harnessed for social good, and how innovation in these spaces can be more inclusive. 

Director: Ramayya Krishnan, dean, Heinz College, and William W. and Ruth F. Cooper Professor of Management Science and Information Systems

Center for African American Urban Studies & the Economy (CAUSE)

CAUSE is an interdisciplinary research and education center focusing on African American urban life and history since the transatlantic slave trade. The Center encourages scholarship that addresses the historian’s interest in understanding socioeconomic, political and cultural change over time. 

Director: Joe W. Trotter Jr., Giant Eagle University Professor of History and Social Justice

Center for Applied Research on Targeted Violence (CARVt)*

CARVt's mission seeks to bring together the world-class experitse of scholars at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh to mitigate and better understand targeted violence stemming from group hatred. 

• Executive Director: Susan Baida
• Faculty Co-Director: Mark Kamlet, professor of economics and public policy, Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology
• Faculty Co-Director: Lisa Nelson, associate professor, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public & International Affairs

Center for the Arts in Society (CAS)*

CAS is a faculty research center dedicated to the arts as they relate to and involve the larger society. A collaborative effort of artists and scholars affiliated with Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts and Dietrich College, CAS explores and aims to have impact on the workings of social power and in processes of social change.

Director: Wendy Arons, professor of dramatic literature

Center for Behavioral and Decision Research*

The Center for Behavioral and Decision Research is an interdisciplinary research center that brings together scholars from behavioral economics, psychology, organizational behavior, marketing and public policy. Our goal is to gain greater insight into trust and fairness, memory and decision making, group behavior, saving and spending behavior, the effects of race, power, gender and heirarchy, moral and ethical behavior, public health and more. 

Steering Committee:

• Alessandro Acquisti, associate professor of information technology and public policy in Heinz College
• George Loewenstein, Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Economics and Psychology in Dietrich College

Center for Black European Studies and the Atlantic (CBESA)

CBESA is an interdiciplinary research hub dedicated to the collection, production, restoration, dissemination and promotion of scholarship on people of African descent in Europe. 

Director and Founder: Mame-Fatou Niang, associate professor of French and Francophone studies

Center for Ethics and Policy

The Center for Ethics and Policy is an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to promoting the integration of high-quality theoretical reflection and discerning practical engagement with ethical, social and policy issues in the professions and public life. 

Director: Alex John London, Clara W. West Professor of Ethics and Philosophy

Center for Formal Epistemology

The Center for Formal Epistemology was founded to promote research and educational exchanges in formal epistemology worldwide, adopting a broad perspective on the field which includes interdisciplinary work in multiple areas.

Director: Kevin T. Kelly, professor of philosophy

Center for Human Rights Science

Corporate, military and intelligence actors have been pouring billions of dollars into figuring out how to exploit data technologies for profit, military advantage and situational awareness. The Center for Human Rights Science works to ensure that the human rights community has access to the latest data tools and techniques to shape technology to meet their needs.

Director: Jay D. Aronson, professor of science, technology and society

Center for Informed Democracy & Social-cybersecurity (IDeaS)*

IDeaS works to enhance social-cybersecurity in order to preserve and support democratic society. We provide people with the knowledge and tools to discern and address disinformation, hate speech and extremism so that we can remain informed, thoughtful members of our communities. 

Director: Kathleen Carley, professor, Institute for Software Research

Center for Risk Perception and Communication

The Center for Risk Perception and Communication aims to bring together researchers interested in studying risk perception and risk communication. Our goal is to help people better understand the domain in which their decision will take place, so that they are better able to make smart, informed decisions in their own best interest.

Director: Julie Downs, associate research professor of social and decision sciences

Center for Shared Prosperity*

The Center for Shared Prosperity aims to dedicate the talents, entergies and innovation of the university and community in order to dismantle economic, cultural, social and structural barriers to entry and move towards greater justice and equity.

• Executive Director: Illah Nourbakhsh, K&L Gates Professor of Ethics and Computational Technologies
• Operations Director: Marlene Williams

Children’s School

The Children's School is a laboratory school that is actively involved in preschool and kindergarten education, developmental research, undergraduate teaching and training of both pre-service and practicing educators. Educators model best practices for early childhood education by designing thematic curriculum for active exploration and equipping parents to extend children’s learning at home.

Director: Sharon Carver, teaching professor of psychology and associate dean for educational affairs

CMU-Pitt BRIDGE Center*

The CMU-Pitt Brain Imaging Data Generation & Education (BRIDGE) Center is a cutting-edge, collaborative MRI facility that is jointly operated by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. The center is purely research-dedicated neuroimaging facility, with a focus on advanced data analytics and basic science research, meaning that it is designed exclusively to support basic science research and the next generation of brain scientists.

• Co-director: Timothy Verstynen, associate professor, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
• Co-director: Julie Fiez, professor, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh

The Humanities Center

Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon promotes and supports scholarship and research that actively engages with culture and human production across the disciplines. Through lectures, panel discussions, conferences and public outreach, we demonstrate the value and interest of the humanities on and off campus.

Director: Edda Fields-Black, professor of history

Institute for Complex Social Dynamics

The Institute for Complex Social Dynamics studies large-scale complex social phenomena.  Through its research initiatives, the Institute’s scholars develop novel models of social phenomena that illuminate and intervene in social systems. 

Director: Kevin Zollman, Herbert A. Simon Professor of Philosophy and Social and Decision Sciences

Modern Language Resource Center

We broadly support the mission of the Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics (LCAL) in technology-enhanced research and teaching by offering learning spaces and an array of equipment. Our center also supports intercultural learning efforts through diverse cultural activities open to all CMU students, faculty and staff.

Director: Sébastien Dubreil, teaching professor of French and Francophone studies, second language acquisition and technology-enhanced learning

Neuroscience Institute*

Understanding how the brain works is one of the biggest puzzles left for science to solve. Answers to critical questions in neuroscience lie at a pivotal intersection between biology, cognitive psychology, computer science, statistics and engineering. The Neuroscience Institute was launched to bring together faculty and students from across the u (niversity to conduct multi-disciplinary work to advance the state of brain science.

Interim Director: Timothy Verstynen, professor of psychology

Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Center (CMSAC)

CMSAC’s mission as a national leader in the growing field of sports analytics is to push forward the sports analytics discipline through state-of-the-art research that contributes to statistics and machine learning methodology; to create innovative statistics and data science education experiences which facilitate sports analytics careers; to engage with professional sports teams and industry partners; and to host accessible events for community outreach.

Director: Ron Yurko, assistant teaching professor, Department of Statistics & Data Science

STAtistical Methods for Physical Sciences Research Center (STAMPS)

Many problems in the physical sciences share common statistical challenges. The STAMPS Center works to develop new statistical and machine learning methodology tailored to the unique challenges that arise across multiple areas in the physical sciences.

Directors: Mikael Kuusela, assistant professor; Anne Lee, professor and co-director, Ph.D. program