The Columbia Experimental Laboratory for Social Sciences (C.E.L.S.S.) is an interdisciplinary venue for researchers to conduct computer-based experiments. This includes both experiments physically located in the lab, as well as web-based experiments. The lab was opened in the Fall of 2013 and is located on the fifth floor of the International Affairs Building at Columbia University. It is equipped with 24 computers for participants and one computer for the experimenters.
CELSS’s goal is to enable students and faculty to run lab experiments in a controlled setting and to facilitate researchers’ experimental research more broadly. We also aim to provide subjects with a fun — and rewarding — experience in the experiments they participate in. Subjects are paid a show-up fee, simply for participating in the experiment, as well as additional amounts that depend on their actions and other participants’ actions during the experiment itself.
Experiments at CELSS follow a strict no-deception policy which requires researches not to lie or mislead participants in any way.
CELSS is directed by Mark Dean, Associate Professor of Economics (Director) and Jacopo Perego, Assistant Professor of Economics at Columbia Business School (Associate Director). Victoria Mooers, a PhD candidate in Economics, manages the lab.