IRTIS: Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society is a research department at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno. Our research focuses mainly is on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and their impact on individuals and society. To cover the topic in all its breadth and complexity, we are a group of scientists trained in many disciplines; most of the time, we draw on perspectives from psychology, sociology, communication, media studies, and informatics.

Our main research topics include:

• The impact of ICT on well-being (psychological, social, physical, and digital)
• Online communication and online social interactions 
• Digital parenting and parental mediation
• The role and impact of specific digital activities (e.g., social media use, gaming)
• Online aggression, cyberbullying, and cyberhate 
• Technology use and health (eHealth, mHealth)
• Excessive internet use and regulations of technology use (e.g., school bans)
• Risky behavior and online safety
• Technology use in the work context

Although IRTIS, as a separate department, was established in 2021, its history is far longer. In 2011, an official team was established thanks to the “VITOVIN” project within the Institute for Research on Children, Youth, and Family, and became an important research team with international cooperation. During its existence, IRTIS has conducted high-quality research projects funded through prestigious grant schemes (e.g., EXPRO, ERC CZ, OP JAK, EXCELES, Horizon 2020). You can find the list of completed and ongoing projects here. 

In our research, we employ advanced, innovative methods that provide deep insights into the contexts and impacts of digital technology use, for instance, objective smartphone logging & experience sampling, eye-tracking & experiments, or longitudinal surveys. We also adhere to Open Science principles to ensure the transparency and reproducibility of our results. We strive to publish our studies in open access and freely share the underlying data and analytical scripts.

We highly value international cooperation. For instance, we are active long-term members of the EU Kids Online research network, which focuses on children and adolescents' use of the Internet. One of the major outcomes of this collaboration is an extensive research report on children’s Internet usage in 19 European countries, which received the MUNI Scientist award. 

IRTIS places a high value on communicating its findings not only to the scientific community but also to the wider public through scientific reports on current topics, blog posts on our website, and on Facebook (CZ), LinkedIn (CZ/EN), and Bluesky (EN), where you can learn about our other outputs and interesting events. We also often communicate our findings in the media (CZ).

Members of IRTIS include experienced researchers and young scientists, including doctoral students. The complete list and profiles, including contacts, main research interests, and scientific outputs, can be found here. Our work mainly consists of scientific publications in prestigious journals. The list of our scientific publications is available here. The quality of our work is also reflected in the fact that IRTIS members regularly receive various awards from the academic community.

The majority of IRTIS members are IRTIS employees; however, they also work at other facilities of the Masaryk University, in particular:

• Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Faculty of Social Studies
• Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Studies
• Department of Machine Learning and Data Processing, Faculty of Informatics

IRTIS is also associated with the peer-reviewed journal Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, which received an impact factor as the first journal published by the Masaryk University, and has a firm place among internationally recognized scientific journals in the field of communication studies and psychology (Q1 in Scopus, Q2 in Web of Science). Cyberpsychology is published under Diamond Open Access and, according to Scopus, is the second-most-cited scientific journal in the Czech Republic. You can learn more about the Cyberpsychology journal and its association with IRTIS here.

We are also members of DigiKoalice (i.e., Czech National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs). It is an association of representatives of state institutions, IT companies, the ICT sector, educational institutions, the academic community, non-profit organizations, founders of schools and school facilities, and many other stakeholders who want to contribute to better digital literacy and skills among Czech citizens.