Our centre
Director: Professor Kaśka Porayska-Pomsta
Associate Director (Media/ReMAP): Professor John Potter
The UCL Knowledge Lab is a research laboratory working to reduce social barriers to knowledge, bringing together experts with imagination and insight from across different disciplinary backgrounds to undertake cutting edge research on digital media and technologies.
Our research spans four themes:
- Technology, body and communication, led by Professor Lesley Gourlay.
- AI and education, led by Professor Kaska Porayska-Pomsta.
- Media arts and play, led by Professor John Potter.
- Media, culture, technology, led by Professor Diane Carr.
We centre multimodality and co-design as methodological approaches.
Research and consultancy
Learn about research and consultancy activities at the UCL Knowledge Lab.
Our values
- Innovation – we value interdisciplinary collaboration and pride ourselves on our creativity in developing innovative and participatory methods in multimodal, design-based and practice-based research.
- Integrity – we strive for an honest and respectful approach in our interactions with colleagues, students and external collaborators and aim to conduct ethical research with positive and lasting impact on people’s lived experience.
- Inclusion – we value diversity and are strongly committed to developing ways of working with technology which contribute to equity and social justice.
Background
The UCL Knowledge Lab extends the legacy of the London Knowledge Lab.
The London Knowledge lab was led since 2004 by Professors Richard Noss and Alex Poulovassilis as a collaborative initiative between educators from IOE and computer scientists from Birkbeck, funded by the Science Research Investment Fund.
In 2016 the collaborative initiative ended and the UCL Knowledge Lab was established. Our common legacy includes over a decade of interdisciplinary research funded by ESRC, EPSRC, AHRC, EU, JISC among others; a variety of knowledge exchange and public engagement activities; and a distinctive postgraduate training programme.
20 Years of Knowledge Lab
In 2024 we celebrated #20YearsKnowledgeLab. The Lab, based at Emerald Street in High Holborn, London, and hosted by UCL IOE is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading research centres in human learning, media and technology. It was established by Professor Richard Noss and colleagues from Birkbeck in 2004 as the London Knowledge Lab. The Lab provided an interdisciplinary space for educators from the Institute of Education to collaborate with computer scientists from Birkbeck, initially funded by the UK Government Science Research Investment Fund. Lab Director Professor Allison Littlejohn set up number of 20 year anniversary events to celebrate the achievements, impact and forward vision of the Lab. The centrepiece was the Richard Noss Lecture delivered by Professor Diana Laurillard on 24 October 2024.
Newsletters
News
How UCL’s educational expertise is informing UK Parliament policy making
IOE expertise fed into Parliamentary reports and debates on school wellbeing, support for neurodivergent young people, and the STEM skills pipeline, including the impact of AI on education.
27 Jun 2025
Working with/for children: Documenting social change
What ethical questions does working with young children raise? A conversation with Dr Karen Wilkes.
16 May 2025
IOE professor joins advisory group to improve how EdTech effectiveness is evaluated
Professor Alison Clark-Wilson will bring her expertise in educational technology (EdTech) as an advisor to the government’s new EdTech Evidence Board project.
27 Feb 2025
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Contact us
Department of Culture, Communication and Media
IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society
University College London
23–29 Emerald Street
London WC1N 3QS
