Research at Khoury College
Spark curiosity, fuel transformation, push limits
Khoury College research is pushing the boundaries of computer technology, applying research discoveries to real-world challenges. For example, Khoury faculty are conducting cutting-edge research in areas like AI-powered disease diagnosis, developing secure network systems for the internet of things, and exploring the mathematical foundations of computer science — tackling the profound question of computational limits on what computers can do.
Researchers at Khoury College make transformative contributions to many fields within computer science, collaborating, publishing, leading national and international projects, and participating in leading conferences.
There is a strong emphasis on real-world applications of CS at Khoury College that — combined with an ethos of interdisciplinary work both within the college and beyond — make it the place to be for collaborative, leading research that makes a difference.
132
proposals submitted in FY24 ($94,239,545 funding requested)
184
active grants, including 14 NSF CAREER grant awards (for early-career faculty) in FY24
88
Khoury College faculty with active grants in FY24
Research areas at Khoury College
Institutes and Centers
Researchers at Khoury College work across disciplines to develop practical, scalable applications of technology. With leading academic, industry, and government partners, our Institutes and Centers push the boundaries of computer science.
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Center for Inclusive Computing
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Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute
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Network Science Institute
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Institute of Information Assurance
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Center for Generative AI
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The Internet Democracy Initiative
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National Internet Observatory
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Institute for Experiential Robotics
Be a part of research at Khoury College
Research is an integral part of Khoury College’s mission of CS innovation and leadership. Along all levels of students’ educational journeys — from undergraduate to postdoctoral — Khoury College provides numerous and varied opportunities for students to play leadership roles in groundbreaking research. In addition, we partner with industry leaders as they tackle research projects across a breadth of domains.
Current research highlights
National Deep Inference Fabric (NDIF)
Through National Science Foundation funding, Khoury is leading a new national-scale computing infrastructure project that will enable researchers to delve into the mysteries of large-scale AI systems and address the gulf between the efficacy of machine learning and scientists’ ability to explain it. This work will help unlock the mysteries of these “black boxes” and ensure this powerful technology is used safely and effectively.
Reinventing the future of work for workers
Researchers at Khoury’s Civic AI Lab are working to bring better computer tools to serve the workers in the gig economy (estimated to be 60% of the workforce by 2027). These workers are typically managed by platforms that give companies constant surveillance data and can disempower workers. Khoury College is building tools, using methodologies like value-sensitive design (VS), to give workers power over their own data and means to fight back against the surveillance and advance equitable working conditions.
Enabling more secure search
How could we do a search without the site knowing what we are searching for? Khoury faculty are researching how to encrypt data, and still work within it, while not providing information to third parties. This has the potential to provide secure search and other computing functions, vastly increasing the privacy protections on the Internet with the potential that someday you could use a search engine that wouldn’t see — or be able to track — what you’re doing.
Relational Agents Group
Khoury researchers are building the next generation of relational agents, computer programs designed to build and maintain long-term relationships with users. Health is a key focus, and Khoury labs have created tools for health promotion, mental health counseling, and palliative care, among other topics.
Creating new tools for mobility data science
Modern applications create massive amounts of data about how people and objects move – from packages we order, GPS that guides our cars, or fitness trackers that map a walk or run. Such mobility data presents unique challenges for programs; Khoury researchers are collaborating on new tools to work with it while investigating ways to preserve privacy in mobility data sets and also integrate it with AI approaches.
Khoury College offers a rich research landscape with faculty expertise spanning a wide range of computer science topics, delving deep within each area, and fostering collaboration that pushes the boundaries of the field. Faculty work in both theoretical and applied areas, often bridging the two — for instance, exploring how formal methods research can help keep data secure, or what natural language processing research will mean for the next generation of intelligent agents and robots that are likely to become part of everyday life for many.
