About
Founded in 2022, the PeaceTech and Polarization (PTAP) Lab at the University of Notre Dame is a hub for research to identify and explore technologies that support social cohesion. In turn, its research aims to inform civil society groups, technology companies and start-ups, investors, governments, and international organizations.
The Lab is led by Lisa Schirch, with hands-on help from graduate and undergraduate Notre Dame students and research fellows from across the campus. Together, they conduct research and work on product and digital content development.
The Lab grew out of Schirch’s long-standing collaboration with the Toda Peace Institute to investigate and develop constructive roles for technology to play in peacebuilding. Her research led to the creation of a Notre Dame course, “Digital Peacebuilding and PeaceTech,” and ultimately, the PTAP Lab, which today coordinates with global stakeholders at tech companies, the United Nations, peacebuilding non-governmental organizations, and universities to propel its work forward.
Since its launch, the Lab has organized a major digital peacebuilding conference in San Francisco in February 2023; formed a Council on Technology and Social Cohesion made up of representatives from technology companies, research institutes, and peacebuilding organizations; and secured numerous grants to advance and publish major research papers. Thanks to industry networking and relationship-building, several PTAP Lab students have landed internships and employment with technology companies after graduation.
Collectively, the work coming out of the PTAP Lab is helping to establish Notre Dame as a center of excellence for using technology that supports public deliberation, democratic processes, and inclusive peacebuilding – a timely and pertinent aim given the rapidly changing democratic landscape of U.S. and global politics.
The PTAP Lab is a program within the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, one of the world’s leading centers for the study of the causes of violent conflict and strategies for sustainable peace. Through educational programs for undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students, the Kroc Institute has equipped more than 2,000 graduates living in more than 100 countries around the globe to work at all levels of society – local, national, and international – as they build a more just and peaceful world.
PTAP Lab personnel:
Lisa Schirch, Ph.D., Director
Notre Dame Collaborators:
Paul Brenner, Ph.D., Center for Research Computing
Kristina Radivojevik
Research Assistants at the Keough School of Global Affairs:
Julie Hawke
Maria Eduarda Kobayashi Rossi
Rida Ejaz
Mohammad Furqan
Andrew VanOverbeke