Led by Nur Yildirim, the Human + AI Design Lab at UVA investigates how AI technologies can augment people in their work and daily lives.
Our team has expertise across human-centered design, computer science, data science, cognitive science, and various application domains such as healthcare. We publish at premier Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) venues such as ACM CHI, DIS, FAccT, and CSCW.
We are looking for PhD students interested in Human-AI Interaction for Fall 2026 (fully funded). Learn more below.
Investigating how humans and AI can work together in complex, high-stakes domains such as healthcare and knowledge work.
Creating design resources, patterns and guidelines to make AI product development easier for industry practitioners.
Developing frameworks that enable people to build AI literacy to actively shape how AI systems are trained and built.
Our lab has fully funded PhD positions for the Fall 2026 application cycle (application deadline: January 5, 2026). You will need to submit an application to the UVA SDS PhD program ↗ and mention Dr. Yildirim in your application. Feel free to get in touch with Dr. Yildirim ahead of time with your CV, brief background and interest in our lab’s work.
Dr. Yildirim advises MS students on independent studies for course credit and supervises their theses. We also have RA positions for MS and undergraduate students, these are announced at the beginning of each semester on this website. Send an email with your CV and a brief description of your research interests to inquire about current projects.
Our lab regularly collaborates with PhD students, MS students and postdocs outside of UVA on a project basis. If you have a research project in mind, feel free to get in touch with your CV and a brief description of your project.