Computational Research for Equity in the Legal Systems (CRELS) trains doctoral students representing a variety of degree programs and expertise areas in the social sciences, computer science and statistics.
Launched in 2023 with a $3-million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), this five-year multidisciplinary training program in data science and social science disciplines fosters a new computational social science research community and leads the integration of research on the social implications of AI.
The grant supports Ph.D. students focusing on fundamental, longstanding challenges related to inequality and its connection to criminal justice institutions in the United States. Fellows will be trained for careers at the intersection of the studies of inequality, criminal justice, data science, and the social implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. They will generate new scientific knowledge and develop novel tools for large-scale data integration and analysis.
CRELS will leverage UC Berkeley’s faculty expertise in the law and social science of criminal justice systems (police, courts, prisons, jails, community corrections), data science, and the social implications of AI. Computational research on topics such as prosecutorial decision-making, police misconduct, and the links between evictions and contact with the criminal justice system will address fundamental, longstanding challenges related to inequality and its connection to criminal justice institutions in the United States.
Partners
Launched by a multidisciplinary research team that includes Berkeley’s Division of Social Sciences, Social Science Matrix(link is external, D-Lab, College of Computing, Data Science, and Society, Berkeley Institute for Data Science, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, Human Technology Futures group, Possibility Lab, Eviction Research Network, EPIC Data Lab, and Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public,
This innovative program aligns with the NSF’s Big Ideas, including Harnessing the Data Revolution, Growing Convergence Research and Transforming Education and Career Pathways. It seeks to create a link between these ambitious goals and Berkeley’s faculty expertise in the social sciences, criminal legal systems, data science, and the ethics and social implications of AI.
