From our initial line of research directed at the study of the Representative Assemblies and Parliaments and their members in comparative perspective during the contemporary period, we have widened our field of study towards the following lines of research:

1. ACTORS AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT OF THE BASQUE POLITICAL ELITE IN THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD: COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHY AND PROSOPOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS.
   At the start of the 1990s, we began a line of research that has involved a labor of thinking, conceiving, designing and constructing a long term project of historiographic infrastructure directed at analyzing the Basque political elites of the XIX and XX centuries in comparative perspective. This labor is rooted in a methodological reflection on the utility and utilization of biography, and concretely the biography of social groups, in order to understand the society and institutions that we study.
   ​​​​​​This line of research has been developed with the creation of a Documentary Center of Parliamentary History, with the elaboration of collective biographies in the form of biographical dictionaries and the elaboration of prosopographical analyses on the groups studied.
    
2. THE ECONOMIC AGREEMENT AND ITS APPLICATION BY THE FORAL TREASURIES.
   In accordance with what is established in the University Strategy 2015, which considers research and knowledge transfer to be objectives of the University, we have created, in collaboration with the Foral Deputations of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, the Documentation Center of the Economic Agreement and the Foral Treasuries. The purpose of this Center is to serve as an instrument for research and diffusion concerning a basic institution for the regulation of the Basque Autonomous Community, namely the Economic Agreement, and its application by the Foral Treasuries.
    
3. CONTEMPORARY BILBAO.
   The scarcity of studies on Bilbao prompted us to begin a line of research on the history of the city. Since 1996, we have developed different research projects with the aim of furthering knowledge of contemporary Bilbao. In accordance with our earlier research experience, we began a study of the City Council and its politico-administrative management through its actors, which took concrete form in the research project Bilbao through its Mayors.
   At present, and in accordance with the aims of knowledge transfer proposed by the University Strategy 2015, we have decided to continue our research on Bilbao and to begin the task of transferring the knowledge generated, together with new contributions that we shall be making, by means of a new digital platform taking the form of a parallel network. The long term aim is to generate a spin-off articulating this work and to create a Virtual Museum of the History of Bilbao, all in collaboration with Bilbao City Council.
    
4. HISTORY OF IDEAS, CONCEPTS AND REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS APPROACHED FROM POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.

   This research line is centred on the history of ideas, understood as an engagement with ideas in their context: history of political thought, philosophy of law, political theology, history of philosophy... This broad perspective encourages the approach from political philosophy to cultural and socio-political products such as representative institutions in which the social life of modern and contemporary man has developed and develops. It also allows a broader approach to the fundamental concepts developed in the West and present in today's world.

   The development of the proposed research line aims, in its turn, to study and analyse the continuities and disruptions in the history of thought and the philosophical tradition, as well as their projection in current thinking. At the same time, from the perspective of the history of thought and ideas, it seeks to present those concepts and traditions that have built Western mental, cultural and political institutions, and that have been forgotten for reasons unrelated to philosophical criticism and reflection, confusing the history of ideas with historiographical ideology.

   Convinced of the need to defend “humanism” as a priceless achievement of Western thought and of the importance of underscoring the real references that constitute the political institutions, the research line will delve into the theoretical foundations of humanism and the anthropological foundations of the political community. These institutions are based on the dignity of the free human being as an ontological foundation (reference) of personal equality as a fundamental category facing partial and sectorial conceptions such as the concepts of individual or citizen.

5. SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL CULTURE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIAL HISTORY: CONCEPTUALIZATIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS.
   This line of research connects with the activities directed to understanding the scientific and technical past that the Basque Museum of the History of Medicine and Sciences has promoted since 1982. Science and technology form part of our heritage. Scientific-technical culture has overlapped with the acts and activities that make up social life in all its cultural, economic and political aspects. Hence, in this line a multidisciplinary focus will be adopted that will be capable of studying the interrelation of the principal categories that have conditioned scientific-technical culture, i.e. education, technology, industry, politics and the army. In fact, this focus forms part of the strategies defined following the integration of the Museum into the Basque Network of Science, Technology and Innovation in 2009; the need for simultaneously studying global contexts and local practices is another strategy that will be followed here.
    
6. DIGITAL, URBAN, AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATIONS: AI-POWERED EMANCIPATORY DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP REGIMES.

   Decisions societies make today about the ownership and governance of emerging technologies, like AI and blockchain, may set the course of the next century. Consequently, this research line aims to investigate the interconnected relationship between digital technologies, urban environments, and techno-political systems, with a specific focus on the emergence of new emancipatory citizenship regimes powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The primary goal is to delve into both the historical and prospective aspects of contemporary data-driven societies, utilizing a transdisciplinary approach that encompasses political, urban, and technological analyses. In today's global context, data and datafication processes determine the search for the current digital society and the lives of citizens directly and in general. In this sense, this research line, from a transdisciplinary perspective, aims to delve into the historical and prospective aspects of technology, power relations, and civil society, i.e. digital rights, data sovereignty, the datafied state, and data cooperatives, among others.

   Along with the dominance of decentralized Web3 technologies (blockchain, DAOs, data cooperatives, Metaverse, and ChatGPT), this research line focuses on political, urban, and technological analyzes in the Basque Country and internationally. In particular, focusing on comparative action research in the international field, this transdisciplinary research line aims to detail the understanding of today's complex and contemporary society, together with stakeholders. A nuance must be made here: While discussions about technology, algorithms, AI, digitization, and datafication are based on future possibilities, this research line aims to expand social innovation, incorporating an emancipatory perspective from basic and applied transdisciplinary social sciences. Therefore, a special emphasis is placed on Emergent Regimes of Digital Citizenship (Emerald, 2022) and Decentralized, Emergent, and Disruptive Technologies (Springer, 2024).

   In addition to its core focus, this research line intersects with various other existing lines within the Biography & Parliament research group, including (i) public management, (ii) fiscal federalism/decentralization, (iii) smart cities and urban transformations, (iv) political innovation and philosophy, and (v) scientific/technopolitical ethos. By critically examining the repercussions of digitalization and datafication in contemporary societies, it offers cutting-edge action research techniques and approaches to tackle global and local challenges in technopolitical democracies.

   The insights provided by this research line hold great value for stakeholders, industry, policymakers, civil society organizations, entrepreneurs, and citizens navigating the uncertain AI-powered techno-political realm. Moreover, it fosters comparative international action research between the Basque Country and transnational case studies, employing mixed methods, triangulation, and fieldwork action research. A specific emphasis is placed on exploring the Basque Country’s international projection through e-diaspora studies.