By Klaudia Jaźwińska
December 2, 2021

Students from across Princeton University gathered in the Friend Center Courtyard on November 17 for the relaunch of the Center for Information Technology Policy’s Research Fair, where they got to meet with members of the CITP community and learn about how they could get involved with technology and society research.

Twenty-one mentors and more than 50 students attended the event. Mentors included CITP graduate students, pre- and post-doctoral fellows, and faculty members. Students came from all class years and various disciplines including computer science, electrical and computer engineering, public and international affairs, and mathematic

The event was organized by CITP graduate students Ross Teixeira and Mona Wang in partnership with Betsy Pu ’22, a member of INTERFACE, a campus group that focuses on the impacts and ethics of computing. Teixeira, Wang and Pu worked to match students with mentors based on research interests such as algorithmic fairness, cryptography, disinformation, race and technology, human-computer interaction, and technology and labor.

Groups of undergraduate and graduate students met with members of the CITP community in a “speed dating”-style networking event, where they got to learn about the kinds of research going on at the center and how they can get involved in work at the intersection of technology and society.

“There was a specific goal of finding space for undergrads in existing projects and fostering new collaborations,” Teixeira said. “We hope the event will lead to further integration with CITP and the broader interest in tech and society on campus.”

Students who attended the fair said they enjoyed getting to learn about research opportunities at CITP and left the event with more ideas about their own passions and career paths.

“The enthusiasm from everyone who joined the event shows there’s a strong interest in tech and society throughout campus, and we hope new collaborations will come from these conversations,” Teixera said.

The organizers plan to make the event an annual tradition. In future years, Wang hopes to advertise the fair to the broader Princeton academic community and further encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.

Missed the research fair? Here are ways for students to get involved with CITP:

• Subscribe to our e-newsletters! The CITP Weekly summarizes upcoming events and news, while our Undergrad email list provides updates on undergrad fellows, events, internship/job opportunities and other items of interest to undergraduates.
• Attend our weekly lunch seminars (at 12:30 on Tuesdays) and other CITP events. (You can add our events schedule to your Google or other calendars.)
• Participate in our interdisciplinary Tech Policy Clinic, through which we engage directly with policy makers to develop state-of-the-art research and translate that research into practical proposals that advance the public interest.
• If you are an underclassman, apply for our Certificate Program in Technology and Society, which aims to help students better understand how technology drives social change, how society shapes technology, and how technologies can be used to address grand social challenges.
• If you are a graduating senior, apply for our post-baccalaureate Emerging Scholars in Technology Policy program — a two-year, paid program that provides intensive research and/or work experience with real impact, along with coursework and mentoring.
• Join our book club and themed reading groups. which include Technology & Society (TechSoc), Bias in AI, Security & Privacy, Technical Education (TechEd), and our Work-in-Progress seminars.
• Listen to “A.I. Nation,” the podcast that we made in collaboration with Philadelphia Public Radio station WHYY. 
• Listen to SEAS’ “Cookies: Tech Security & Privacy podcast,” which features many CITP affiliates.
• Read about our latest research and opportunities on the Freedom to Tinker blog.

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