Research Centers & Labs

Initiatives for the Greater Good

Our research centers and labs are among UVA’s essential points of convergence for interdisciplinary research. The dedicated staff of each collective galvanizes progress and discovery, enriching communities across the globe with their findings.

Research Centers

Center for Effective Lawmaking

Center for Effective Lawmaking

Holds our representatives in Congress accountable for real results by demonstrating each individual’s effectiveness in moving legislation forward.

UVA Humanitarian Collaborative

UVA Humanitarian Collaborative

Partners with scholars, practitioners, students and communities to work together towards overcoming critical humanitarian and development challenges around the world.

National Security Policy Center

National Security Policy Center

Facilitates informed communication and strategy to cultivate international peace and successful U.S. foreign policy.

Social Innovation @ UVA

Center for Social Innovation

Identifies difficult social problems, designs and evaluates creative ways to solve them through either the private or public sector, and diffuses information about innovative solutions to policymakers and other stakeholders.

Center for Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness

Center for Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness

Convenes researchers to improve education outcomes and competitiveness of labor in the era of globalization.

Labs

Behavioral Lab

Focuses on interpersonal dynamics and organizational behavior, conducting experiments to better understand how people act in interdependent contexts.

Culture, History, Identity, and Policy (CHIP) Lab

The CHIP Lab investigates how individuals perceive themselves, others, and social policy. The lab particularly focuses on how identity and cultural-historical contexts matter for these perceptions and can provide insight into persistent policy issues in the U.S. 

Judgement and Decisions Experimental Lab

Integrates several behavioral regulators to examine the organizational, social, and psychological forces that influence the decision-making process.

Motivation Science Lab

Investigates human motivation and goal pursuit through a social psychological lens to understand when, why, and how people triumph and fail in pursuit of life’s challenges and opportunities. 

Public Engagement in Governance: Looking, Listening and Learning Laboratory

The PEGLLLLab seeks to engineer change by expanding policymaking conversations to include not only those who create and administer policies, but those who live them. We partner with municipalities and organizations to broaden the definition of public safety and keep ourselves and our communities safe, whole and thriving.

Social Behavior and Decision Lab

Investigates social judgment and self-regulation in a multitude of social contexts, including competition, reciprocity, and the interplay of group and individual goal pursuit.

Social Cognition and Behavior Lab

Researches how social identity affects behavior, developing viable ways for individuals to cope with challenging intergroup exchanges and social diversity at large.