The new Research Laboratory on Behavioral and Experimental Sciences (BESLab) is born out of the union of both the Laboratory of the Department of Political and Social Sciences (DCPIS Lab) and the Experimental Economics Laboratory (LeeX) at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). It has been created to facilitate interdisciplinary research activities in political, social and economics sciences. Studies in these different areas of research, such as economic and political behavior, sociology, or political and social psychology, can be conducted. The laboratory can host studies with experimental, quantitative and qualitative methods, creating opportunities and synergies among them.
The BES Lab is located at the new Mercè Rodoreda 24 building, at UPF Ciutadella Campus, and has a comfortable waiting area. The location and easy-access of this facility make it suitable for research with both student and community based populations. The laboratory has 28 computer work-stations in separate cubicles, a separate room (for meetings, focus groups, non computer-based experiments, etc.), and a separate computer for the researcher. All computers have internet connection and state-of-the-art software to conduct surveys and experiments (Qualtrics and Z-tree). In addition, all the computers are equipped with the office suite and data analysis programs available at the university. Any software available at the Department can be installed on request after obtaining permission.
The lab facilities allow researchers to conduct a wide range of studies: computer-assisted or in-situ studies, individual or group experiments/data-collection, where participants interact virtually in an anonymous way and surveys, among others. All studies conducted in the laboratory should comply with the requirements that have been established by the ethical Committee of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. The lab is open to all researchers of the Department of Social and Political Sciences, the Department of Economics and Business, and to other researchers interested in projects that meet these ethical requirements, with a defined design of the study and qualified human resources to conduct them.
Furthermore, these facilities can be used by professors who are interested in teaching research methodology using the lab equipment (survey and experiment software). The professor should always be present during the lab sessions and students must not access the lab alone.
