Research
We support student and faculty research on public governance and democratic institutions – building knowledge about how policy is developed, implemented, and experienced.
Bram Public Policy Lab
The Bram Public Policy Lab is a non-partisan center for interdisciplinary research, immersive learning, and collaboration with policymakers and community partners in Maine and beyond. The Lab works to better understand how policy is experienced in practice — and how democratic governance works in the face of disagreement.
From Campus into the Community — Policy That Connects
Established in 2024 through a generous gift to the College, Colby’s Bram Public Policy Lab connects students directly to the institutions where policy is made and carried out. Through research, internships, and applied projects, students work alongside public officials, nonprofit leaders, and community partners on real policy challenges. These experiences are designed to develop careful judgment — an understanding of how evidence is produced, how policy is interpreted, and how competing perspectives shape what is possible in a diverse democracy.
Connecting research, training, and practice, we build tools, gather data, and share perspectives in order to promote democratic decision-making at the local, state, and national level.
Internships and Curricular Support
Students engage directly with policymakers through internships and applied coursework, gaining experience with how policy operates in practice.
The Workbench
The Lab partners with public organizations across Maine to address concrete policy challenges, extending its research and student training into real-world settings.