Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard

The Berkman Klein Center's mission is to explore and understand cyberspace; to study its development, dynamics, norms, and standards; and to assess the need or lack thereof for laws and sanctions.

We are a research center, premised on the observation that what we seek to learn is not already recorded. Our method is to build out into cyberspace, record data as we go, self-study, and share. Our mode is entrepreneurial nonprofit.

About the Center

We bring together the sharpest, most thoughtful people from around the globe to tackle the biggest challenges presented by the Internet.

As an interdisciplinary, University-wide center with a global scope, we have an unparalleled track record of leveraging exceptional academic rigor to produce real-world impact. We pride ourselves on pushing the edges of scholarly research, building tools and platforms that break new ground, and fostering active networks across diverse communities.

United by our commitment to the public interest, our vibrant, collaborative community of independent thinkers represents a wide range of philosophies and disciplines, making us a unique home for open-minded inquiry, debate, and experimentation.

We build.
We believe in learning by doing. We are more than an academic institution. We design. We code. We construct. Our in-house team of developers helps us translate research into action, converting raw ideas into practical tools, platforms, and organizations.

We study.
We use the highest levels of academic rigor and a data-driven methodology to achieve tangible, real-world impact. Our entrepreneurial spirit inspires us to take risks — to pioneer new areas of study and seek to understand complex topics, including public discourse in all its forms.

We educate.
We believe in the power of education. Our faculty and affiliates teach and mentor across the University and beyond the gates of Harvard. We build platforms to facilitate new ways of learning, open our classrooms to the world, and turn education into action.

We connect.
We are the locus of a vibrant network committed to advancing the best values of the Internet and exploring distributed, cooperative solutions. Intentionally interdisciplinary, we build bridges and foster connections among diverse groups and individuals.

Each year we welcome an international cohort of fellows from a wide range of backgrounds, disciplines, and career stages to exchange ideas with one another and with our broader community of staff, faculty, affiliates, interns, and alumni. 

To date, the Berkman Klein Center has welcomed more than 500 people into its community of fellows, staff, faculty, and affiliates from more than 40 countries; hosted more than 1,000 events, workshops and conferences; produced more than 700 videos and podcasts; contributed more than 10 million lines of code to GitHub; and published more than 250 reports, papers, and books in our publication series.