The CRSS lab was officially launched on January 12, 2025. The CRSS Lab is an interdisciplinary lab, focused on providing students with opportunities to engage in the research process. 14 Brown University students were carefully selected as the inaugural cohort.

The Conflict Research and Security Studies (CRSS) Lab is led by founder/director, Dr. Kimberly Turner. The lab conducts research projects on topics of political and electoral violence and conflict, social movements and mass demonstrations, democratic backsliding, and research methodology.

The lab accepts both research assistants (internally funded Brown University students) and unpaid interns. Depending on the length of their tenure and the projects available during their tenure, students will experience:

1. Theorizing and conceptualizing a research question
2. The data gathering process: from collection to cleaning to proper data management storage
3. Research Design, methodology, and statistical techniques
4. Data analysis and translation of results into reader-friendly terminology and data visualization
5. The writing, publishing and media process