MEDIVA, short for Media Diets and Democratic Values, is a joint research initiative between the Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Humans and Machines Lab at Princeton University, initiated by Prof. Dr Manoel Horta Ribeiro (Princeton), Prof. Dr Naika Foroutan (HU) and Dr Nader Hotait (HU). Using digital field experiments, the project investigates how recommendation algorithms can influence media usage and attitudes towards various topics.
In addition to participants from various disciplines, including computer science and the social sciences, researchers from different universities and research institutes in the Berlin area, as well as from Bremen and Munich, were involved. People from civil society and the field of prevention also took part, which particularly highlighted the interdisciplinary and socially relevant nature of the symposium.
Key findings from the YouTube experiments were presented at the symposium and discussed further in three thematic working groups. The discussions focused on algorithmic accountability and platform design, media, democracy and attitudes towards AI, as well as future research methods and paradigms.
The next round of applications for the Princeton-Humboldt Strategic Partnership Initiative opens on 13 July 2026. Further information on current application deadlines and procedures is available on the HU intranet (for HU members) and on the website of the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.
