Joint Ph.D. Program in Computer Science and Communication
Technology and Social Behavior (TSB) is a joint Ph.D. program in Computer Science and Communication that draws on Northwestern's strong support for interdisciplinary research, benefits from talented faculty who contribute to a tradition of collaboration, and attracts unique students who are eager for academic experiences that cross traditional departmental boundaries.
News
Congratulations to TSB Student Monisola Jayeoba!
We’re proud to share that TSB Student, Monisola Jayeoba, has been awarded the ANSYS Scholarship by the Society of Women Engineers for the 2025–2026 academic year. This prestigious recognition highlights Monisola’s outstanding achievements and commitment to excellence in engineering.
Please join us in celebrating this well-deserved honor!
New Publication Alert: Exploring LLM-Assisted Writing in Biomedical Research
We’re excited to share TSB faculty, Ágnes Horvát’s recent paper published in Science Advances, which investigates the role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in academic writing—specifically how they influence vocabulary use in biomedical publications.
The paper has received notable press coverage in both The New York Times and Nature, highlighting its relevance and impact across disciplines.
Connie Chau applies participatory design to create community-driven technologies
Connie Chau is a PhD candidate in Northwestern’s Technology and Social Behavior program, where she uses community-based and participatory design methods to co-create technologies that support frontline workers. In collaboration with The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, she is developing a just-in-time adaptive intervention (co-JITAI) tool to provide personalized coping support for advocates facing trauma and burnout. Backed by the Google PhD Fellowship in Human-Computer Interaction, Chau is refining and testing the tool in real-world settings to explore its feasibility, user perceptions, and privacy implications. Her work bridges human-centered computing and public scholarship to empower communities through thoughtful tech design. Click here to read the full article.
From the Technically Social Blog
Widening Perspectives on Learning and Research Opportunities
A TSB student reflects on their time at an internship at The Learning Partnership, a company providing STEM learning programs to K-12 students in Puerto Rico.
From scientific management to data-driven labor organizing
As data is collected about workers, how does it impact them and how do they respond to it? What is the role of technology in supporting worker advocacy movements?
Crowdsourcing the social impacts of algorithms
New study uses crowdsourcing to leverage anticipatory ethics and participatory foresight, to ultimately uncover potential impacts of algorithmic decision making tools.
Research Lab Spotlight
Delta Lab
Human computer interaction, social and crowd computing, learning sciences, civics, and more
MU Collective
Research at the intersection of information visualization and uncertainty communication, with new faculty Matthew Kay
Collab Lab
Understanding and designing systems to support group interactions and communication
Computational Journalism Lab
Studying how algorithms and automation impact the production and dissemination of news in society
People, Space, and Algorithms Research Group
Addressing societal problems created and/or exacerbated by computer science
Interactive Audio Lab
Making new tools for understanding and manipulating sound with machine learning, human computer interaction, and more
Sonic Lab
Advancing social network theories, methods, and tools to better understand and meet the needs of diverse communities
Community Data Science Collective
Studying online communities to understand how and why they can generate productive collaboration, such as Wikipedia
Social Media Lab
Studying how social media — technologies that facilitate social behavior among people — are used for work and play
Atlas Lab
Enabling the design of large, diverse, digitally-connected teams on Earth and beyond
Link Lab
Understanding and predicting group behavior in networks and socio-technical systems
Creative Interfaces Lab
Designing learning experiences, human-centered AI, explainable AI, creativity, AI literacy, computer science education, informal learning, and embodied interaction.