About

AISS, the Artificial Intelligence in Social Sciences lab, is Bocconi University's lab for AI methods in social science research. It was created under the university's 2026–2030 Strategic Plan and is open to researchers from every Bocconi department and research centre.

AI is changing what social scientists can measure and study. Text, images, audio and administrative records that once needed years of manual coding can now become structured data. Agents can help build and test theory. Questions that were out of reach become answerable. AISS exists to make sure Bocconi researchers are at that frontier, and not only users of tools built elsewhere.

The lab works through two pillars.

Projects Incubator. We support research that is fundamentally enabled by AI: projects that open new research avenues, not ones that apply AI to answer an existing question faster. Selected projects receive computing resources, research assistance and methods support. In return, teams share what they learn with the Bocconi community.

AI Clinic. We give every Bocconi researcher access to AI methods, computing resources and expertise. Researchers bring a question or a problem; the clinic helps them choose the right approach, tools and resources, and turns recurring needs into guides and training.

Everything the lab does is interdisciplinary by design. Methods developed for one field travel to others, and the lab is where those spillovers happen.

Governance

AISS is led by a Scientific Director and overseen by a Steering Committee, with an International Advisory Board.

Scientific Director: Massimo Anelli