Our Research Focus

Primarily conducted through international collaborative projects, our research adopts a social science perspective to examine the:

  • Production contexts
  • Structures and dynamics
  • Effects and impacts
  • Scenarios
  • Governance

of technology and innovation.

We focus on key technologies, with a current emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Ongoing Research Projects

  • Inclusive Science Communication in AI FORA
  • EU COST Action CA23114: Regaining Linkage? Digital Technologies Improving Civic Engagement, Political Organisations, and Democracy (RELINK²)
  • CivicTech Revolution – Reshaping Digital Governance and Public Finance for a Citizen-Centric Future (NAWA)
  • Participatory AI for Climate (Forthem Digital Transformation Lab)
  • AI Use in the Asylum Procedure in Germany: Exploring Perspectives with Refugees and Supporters on Assessment Criteria and Beyond (PhD project by Elisabeth Späth)
  • Artificial Intelligence, Human Agency, and Governance in Water Management during Droughts (PhD project by Blanca Luque Capellas)
  • Ground-up Transformation: Cultural Belief Systems and Participatory AI (GUT) – under evaluation
  • AI-Generated Graphic Storytelling for Explaining AI Across Cultures (AI Explain) – under evaluation
  • Closing the Loop: Determining Essential Societal Values and Integrating Them into AI Models – under evaluation

 

Our Methodological Approach

We apply a unique methodological blend of quantitative and qualitative social science methods, combined with techniques from Computational Social Science to:

  • Analyse large datasets
  • Visualise complex systems
  • Conduct modelling and simulation

Not only do we study AI technologies—we also actively use them. This includes:

  • Developing intelligent agents for simulations
  • Automatically calibrating simulations with empirical data
  • Applying machine learning and neural networks for intelligent data analytics

Our research is largely participatory, employing methods such as Participatory System Mapping and Companion Modelling. We engage stakeholders throughout the research process and operate in both interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary frameworks.