About us

Our mission

The Knowledge Lab is an interdisciplinary collaboration encompassing experts from computer science, education, psychology, language, museum studies, cultural heritage, information systems and organisational psychology, pursuing research into the ways in which digital technologies and digital information are transforming how people learn, work and communicate.

Based at Birkbeck’s School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, the Lab brings together world-leading researchers from a wide range of backgrounds to explore problems that cannot be tackled from the perspective of a single discipline alone. Our extensive links with other research centres and institutions create a lively setting for cross-disciplinary engagement and exchange.

We offer an exciting environment in which to undertake collaborative interdisciplinary research, pursue a PhD, or study on our specialist master's programmes. Our year-round programme of seminars and public lectures provides a focal point for shared enquiry and debate.

Research at the Knowledge Lab aligns with Birkbeck's unique and longstanding mission to empower individuals from all backgrounds to participate fully in education and in work by understanding and embracing digital technologies and exploring how they can benefit humanity.

Our people

• Core staff
  • Professor George Magoulas - Director
  • Dr Andrea Cali
  • Dr Martyn Harris
  • Professor Mark Levene
  • Dr Keith Mannock
  • Dr Nigel Martin
  • Dr Paul Nulty
  • Professor Alex Poulovassilis
  • Professor George Roussos
  • Dr Stelios Sotiriadis
  • Professor Peter Wood
• Affiliate staff
  • Professor Fiona Candlin - School of Historical Studies
  • Professor Ulrike Hahn - School of Psychological Sciences
  • Dr Luciana Martins - School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
  • Professor Manolis Mavrikis - UCL Institute of Education 
  • Professor Michael Thomas - School of Psychological Sciences
  • Dr Dell Zhang, Thomson Reuters Labs
    

Legacy

• The Birkbeck Knowledge Lab extends the legacy of the London Knowledge Lab. From 2004, the London Knowledge Lab was led by Professors Richard Noss and Alex Poulovassilis as a collaborative initiative between computer scientists from Birkbeck and educators from the Institute of Education, and was funded by the Science Research Investment Fund. 
• In 2016, the institutional initiative ended and the Birkbeck Knowledge Lab was established. Our common legacy includes over a decade of interdisciplinary research funded by ESRC, EPSRC, AHRC, EU, JISC among others; a variety of knowledge exchange and public engagement activities; and a distinctive postgraduate training programme.

Collaborations

• We undertake collaborative projects with scientists, educationalists, schools, museums, businesses, and other public and private organisations nationally and internationally.
• We have extensive interdisciplinary research links with other London-based research departments and centres, across the full spectrum of the arts, sciences and social sciences, including with:
  • Birkbeck's Centre for Cognition, Computation and Modelling 
  • Birkbeck’s Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
  • Birkbeck’s Centre for Innovation Management Research
  • Birkbeck's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Birkbeck Business School
  • The British Library
  • Imperial College Business School
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • UCL/Birkbeck Centre for Educational Neuroscience
  • UCL/Birkbeck Institute for Structural Molecular Biology
  • UCL Bartlett School of Architecture
  • UCL Department of Computer Science
  • UCL Institute of Education
  • UCL Institute of Neurology
  • UCL Museums and Collections
  • UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences