PhD
Information Technology
The Information Technology research group produces frontier research on the profound social, economic, and organizational implications of digital technologies. We tackle the most critical and urgent questions, from the challenges of generative AI to the future of work and the design of ethical digital systems.
PhD students in the Information Technology group develop a deep understanding of core technologies and their societal context. Our approach is inherently multidisciplinary, grounded in three pillars: computer science, economics, and the social sciences (including sociology, psychology, and organization science). Students become fluent in methods like machine learning, statistics, computational social science, ethnography, and human-computer interaction (HCI).
Research in our group is dynamic and expansive. Students will work closely with faculty to explore critical topics such as:
- The impact of artificial intelligence on individuals, groups, the economy, and society.
- The ethical design and safe deployment of new technologies, including privacy.
- How technology is transforming the practice of social science and behavioral research.
- The transformation of organizations, markets, and the future of work.
- How humans interact and collaborate with new technologies, drawing on insights from behavioral research and human-computer interaction.
- How work and organizations are being reconfigured with digital technologies.
- The development of novel digital platforms and business models.
Students have opportunities to collaborate with faculty and projects at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE), the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence (CCI), Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan (CAMS), and the MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR). Students also benefit from MIT’s unparalleled research ecosystem, including close ties to the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing (SCC), the Operations Research Center (ORC), and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS).