Institutes, centres, labs and projects

Research centres and institutes

Led by or in participation with the Faculty of Communication, Art & Technology (FCAT)

As described on the Office of Research Services (ORS) website, SFU's Research Centres and Institutes support collaborative research to confront key scientific and global challenges, foster creative interaction and stimulate engagement with students and visiting scholars. 

Research Institutes are formally designated non-departmental units that facilitate extensive multi-faculty collaborative research. This research is often enhanced by research relationships with other universities, stakeholders (e.g., government, community or private sector affiliates) or shared resources and infrastructure. The activities of Research Institutes support the strategic research mission of the university.  They have a university-wide mandate or are a multi-university consortium.

Research Centres are formally designated, non-departmental units facilitating collaborative research mainly within a single faculty. They may include in their membership SFU researchers from outside of the home faculty. The activities of a Research Centre support the research mission of its home faculty and require the support of its home faculty dean.

Institutes and Centres are established under SFU Policy R40.01 and are under the direct authority of the Vice-President, Research. For more information, please visit: SFU Research Centres and Institutes.

At FCAT, Research Institutes and Centres include the following:

• Canadian Institute for Studies in Publishing
• Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology
• Centre for Studies in Print and Media Cultures
• Digital Democracies Institute
• Institute for Performance Studies
• Vancouver Institute for Visual Analytics

Research labs or groups led by FCAT faculty members

Publishing Program

• Scholarly Communications Lab (ScholCommLab) - Juan Alperin (Co-Director)
• Amplify Podcast Network - Hannah McGregor
• Emerging Leaders Summit

School of Communication

• Applied Communication and Technology Laboratory (ACT Lab) - Andrew Feenberg
• Assessment of Technology in Context Design Lab (ATIC-DL) - Ellen Balka
• GeNA Lab – Peter Chow-White
• Digital Democracies Institute Lab – Wendy Hui-Kyong Chun
• Sonic Research Studio – Milena Droumeva, Barry Truax, David Murphy
• The Disinformation Project – Ahmad Al-Rawi

School of Interactive Arts and Technology (please consult SIAT faculty member bios)

• Critical Media Art Studio (cMAS) – Gabriela Aceves-Sepulveda
• Tangible, Embodied, Child Interaction (TECI) Research Group Lab– Alissa N. Antle
• Human Centred Systems for Sustainable Living - Lyn Bartram
• iVizLab  – Steve DiPaola
• Computational Design Lab – Erhan Halil and Robert Woodbury
• Interaction Science Research Group – Brian Fisher
• Pain Studies Lab – Diane Gromala
• Making Culture Lab – Kate Hennessy
• Computational Neurotechnology Research Lab – Sylvain Moreno
• Digital Health Circle – Sylvain Moreno
• The Connections Lab – Carman Neustaedter
• Everyday Design Studio – Will Odom and Ron Wakkary
• Metacreation Lab – Philippe Pasquier (with Arne Eigenfeldt, SCA)
• The iSpace Lab  – Bernhard Riecke
• The Whisper(s) Research Group - Thecla Schiporst
• Virtual and Augmented Reality, Visual Analytics, Interaction, Systems & Experiments Lab (VVISE) – Wolfgang Stuerzlinger

School for the Contemporary Arts - includes artistic ensembles and projects

• Metacreation Lab and Musebots - Arne Eigenfeldt  (with Philippe Pasquier, SIAT) 
• Substantial Motion Research Network - Laura U. Marks
• Centre for Imaginative Ethnography - Simone Rapisarda
• Turning Point Ensemble - Owen Underhill
• Skoden Indigenous Film Festival
• The Occulture - Eldritch Priest
• Small File Media Festival - Laura Marks
• Tackling the Carbon Footprint of Streaming Media - Laura Marks
• WaxFactory - Erika Latta