PRISM — Principled Research In Software Mining
At PRISM lab, we study how software is created, maintained, and improved by mining artifacts produced throughout its lifecycle and learning about the people and processes behind them. We use what we learn to build and evaluate new software engineering tools. PRISM is also a place where members learn how this work is done and develop skills in engineering, analysis, and communication that are valuable in both research and industry.
Just as a prism shows the colours within a beam of light, we try to uncover the hidden structure in the way software is built.
PRISM is a software engineering research lab based in the School of Computing, Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, established in August 2026 by Prof. Filipe Cogo.
What we study
The socio-technical phenomena behind how software is engineered: dependency management, code review, vulnerability disclosure, documentation, and the growing impact of foundation models on software development.
How we work
Large-scale repository mining, controlled experiments, surveys and interviews, and search-based methods. We publish our research work so that peers can reproduce our methods, verify our results, and build upon our findings.
Joining the lab
PRISM brings together professors, graduate students, and undergraduates who are enthusiastic about well-done software engineering research. We involve students early and mentor them as they grow into independent researchers. If you're thinking of joining, see what to expect and how to apply