What we do

Our Work

The Neier Center pursues three streams of work:

1. Educate for Impact: Teaching students and training practitioners in established and technology-driven methods for human rights research and reporting;
2. Innovate Responsibly: Advancing effective and ethical research methods and tools.
3. Investigate Strategically: Conducting timely, high-impact investigations into human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law, on our own and with partners.

Stream I: Education and Training

The Center teaches students the fundamentals of human rights reporting and trains practitioners in advanced methods and tools. Key activities include:

• Helping develop and deliver the human rights curriculum at Bard College Berlin and across the Bard network, including the existing courses:
  1. Making the Case: Human Rights Research and Reporting
  2. Evidence and Inquiry: Open Source Research for Human Rights
  3. Additional courses on topics such as war crimes investigations, business and human rights, AI and human rights, and data-driven accountability;
• Running the Bard College Berlin chapter of Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps (DVC), where students contribute to active investigations by NGOs, international organizations, media, and others;
• Providing professional trainings for practitioners, journalists and others on advanced evidence-gathering methods, such as open source research, geospatial analysis, and the use of AI in investigations;
• Organizing public events, speaker series, film screenings, and workshops on human rights issues.

Stream 2: Methods and Tools

The Center functions as a base for methodological development, promoting interdisciplinary and ethical research with traditional and new approaches. This includes:

• Hosting workshops and seminars on emerging human rights research issues, such as AI in conflict analysis and digital evidence verification;
• Hosting fellowships for scholars and practitioners conducting human rights investigations;
• Developing international standards for the effective and ethical use of new methods and tools.

Stream 3: Strategic Research

The Center conducts timely and high-impact research on pressing human rights issues, alone and in partnerships, to advance accountability and change. Focus areas include:

• Support to investigations by NGOs, international organizations, media outlets, and strategic litigation efforts;
• Involving Digital Verification Corps students in active investigations;
• Prioritizing three thematic areas:
  • Attacks on democratic institutions and fundamental rights in Germany, the US, and other western countries;
  • Crises and conflicts involving violations of human rights and international humanitarian law;
  • Violations related to the use of technology, including mass surveillance, data privacy, and AI use by militaries and law enforcement.