The Rotman Institute of Philosophy is pleased to announce the 2026 Rotman Graduate Student Conference, taking place on Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3, 2026, at the University of Western Ontario. This year’s theme is “Philosophical Issues in the Life Sciences.” We invite submissions addressing metaphysical, epistemological, and conceptual questions that arise within and across the life sciences. Graduate students working at the intersection of philosophy and the empirical sciences are especially encouraged to apply.
We welcome papers of up to 5,000 words and poster abstracts of up to 300 words.
We invite submissions for the virtual special issue “Scientific understanding and Machine Learning in science: From traditional themes to recent developments and new vistas”, to be published with Studies in History and Philosophy of Science.
Machine Learning (ML) systems are increasingly central to scientific inquiry, from climate modeling and drug discovery to astro- and particle physics. These developments raise fundamental questions about the nature, role, and value of understanding in science:
Does scientific understanding require interpretable models, or can it also be achieved through opaque models?
What is the role of methods from ‘explainable Artificial Intelligence’? How do these connect to traditional notions of understanding and explanation?
How do ML methods shift epistemic priorities between explanation and prediction?
Can advances brought about by ML models in science shed new light on the relation between understanding and explanation?
Are new forms of understanding with or without explanation emerging in data-intensive, ML-driven science?
How does understanding with ML models trade on traditional notions related to understanding, such as grasping, skill, or the subject, object and medium of understanding?
Historically, how did ML in science evolve from being mostly a classification device into a rich source of novel representations, knowledge and, potentially, understanding?
In this capacity, how does today’s Neural Network-driven ML compare to historically dominant forms of AI, including symbolic ones?
The VSI seeks to critically examine how ML is reshaping the epistemic landscape in science, with a particular focus on the concept of scientific understanding. It aims to provide a forum for philosophers of science and ML, as well as philosophically inclined ML practitioners, to assess whether and how ML methods are altering the conceptual and methodological foundations of scientific inquiry. By bringing these debates together in one collection, the VSI will clarify ongoing debates, identify emerging philosophical topics and frameworks, and situate ML within longer historical trajectories of scientific reasoning and inquiry.
The VSI will be open towards interdisciplinary contributions, covering both philosophical analysis and empirical case studies across a range of scientific domains where ML is currently playing a transformative role, including the physical, life and social sciences.
PhilInBioMed is both an interdisciplinary institute located at the University of Bordeaux and an international network connecting groups and people working at the interface between philosophy, biology, and medicine, with the shared conviction that conceptual and philosophical approaches can make a critical contribution.
Over the course of a week, around 25 young researchers (Master students, doctoral candidates and post-doctoral fellows) from the fields of philosophy, life sciences and medicine will come together and learn to address conceptual questions in scientific research using interdisciplinary methods. Conceptually/theoretically-oriented biologists and MDs are strongly encouraged to apply!
Experienced researchers from philosophy and biomedical fields will be present to share practical examples of interdisciplinary collaboration from their careers and to advise and interact with participants throughout the week. An important part of the summer school is a research activity in which groups of participants work together with experts on the different steps of a “Philosophy in Science” project. The programme also includes social activities, “speed dating,” and plenty of opportunity for informal discussions to promote exchange between participants.
This summer school is a unique opportunity for young researchers to develop new interdisciplinary approaches that will benefit them throughout their careers. Participants will not only learn about specific concepts and scientific advances, but also how to view their own field of research from a new perspective.
This year’s course leaders and speakers:
› Alan COHEN (Health and aging, University of Columbia)
› Scott GILBERT (EvoDevo, Swarthmore College)
› Elis JONES (Philosophy of marine biology, Technical University of Munich)
› Adeline LE CABEC (Dental anthropology, University of Bordeaux & CNRS)
› Maël LEMOINE (Philosophy of aging, University of Bordeaux)
› Mathilde LEQUIN (Philosophy of paleoanthropology, University of Bordeaux)
› Carlo MALEY (Cancer and evolution, Arizona State University)
› Thomas PRADEU (Philosophy of immunology and cancer biology, University of Bordeaux & CNRS)
› Lisa ROUX (Neuroscience, University of Bordeaux & CNRS)
› Jonathan SHOLL (Philosophy of nutritional science, University of Bordeaux)
› Christopher STEVENS (Philosophy of neuroscience, University of Bordeaux)
› Marie VASSE (Ecology and evolution, University of Bordeaux)
›Orsolya VINCZE(Cancer and evolution, University of La Rochelle)
Organizers:
› Fridolin GROSS (University of Bordeaux)
› Jan Pieter KONSMAN (CNRS & University of Bordeaux)
The 4th Lake Como INEM Summer School in Philosophy of Economics will be held in Villa del Grumello, Como, Italy, June 7-12, 2026.
Invited speakers
Emrah Aydinonat (University of Helsinki)
Alessandra Basso (London School of Economics)
Antoinette Baujard (Université Saint-Etienne)
Shaun Hargreaves Heap (King’s College)
Catherine Herfeld (Leibniz University Hannover)
Guilhem Lecouteux (Université Côte d’Azur)
Patricia Rich (University of Bayreuth)
Jack Vromen (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Activities
The School’s program will feature lectures by the invited speakers, student presentations, one-to-one tutorials, workshops, and social activities.
Participation
Participation is reserved to PhD students, young scholars (PhD degree obtained after January 2022), and advanced master students who intend to pursue a PhD.
Applications
To apply, please send a CV, contact details of an academic reference, and a paper in English to caterina.marchionni@unimi.it. The paper should either be an extended abstract (750-1,000 words), or a full draft of up to 7,500 words. Send your applications by January 31, 2026. Decisions will be communicated by early March 2026. The school will accept up to 21 participants.
Scientific and Organizing Committee
Malte Dold (Pomona College)
Francesco Guala (University of Milan)
Conrad Heilmann (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Chiara Lisciandra (Düsseldorf University)
Magdalena Malecka (University of Copenhagen)
Caterina Marchionni (University of Milan)
Ivan Moscati (University of Insubria)
Raffaello Seri (University of Insubria)
Organizers
The 4th Lake Como INEM Summer School is co-organized by the Lake Como School of Advanced Studies, the International Network for Economic Method (INEM), the University of Insubria, and the University of Milan.
The 2026 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology abstracts are due 1/25. Since 2007, fPET’s mission is to encourage reflection on engineering, engineers, and technology. more info...
Applications for the second-ever Disinformation Summer Institute, which is co-sponsored by CSSN are due in one month, are now open! This 4-day, intensive summer institute is intended primarily for advanced PhD candidates, advanced law and medical students, post-docs and early career researchers seeking to better understand and address disinformation, but more senior scholars and practitioners who have recently moved into this domain are also encouraged to apply.
Apply for the Disinformation Summer Institute taking place this June at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Applications are short and due February 15th, 2026. Applicants will hear back in March. https://disinfoinstitute.org/
There is no fee to attend. The cost of economy travel and lodging will be covered for graduate students and at least partially defrayed for post-docs and assistant professors. Please indicate on the application form what you will need.
We are grateful to the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington, the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Climate Social Science Network at Brown University, and the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC San Diego for support. more info...
This workshop explores how entity realism could be extended to areas of science in which experimental manipulation in the traditional sense is impossible. more info...
Call for Papers: Journal of Cognitive Science (JCS), Seoul National University. Interdisciplinary cognitive science research. Submissions welcome anytime. more info...
POBAM is a philosophy of biology workshop that began at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2010 and moved to the University of Utah in 2018. As of 2026, it will be back in Madison! At its core, POBAM aims to showcase innovative work in philosophy of biology and to identify new areas that philosophers of biology might work on. Workshops are structured to provide constructive feedback, training with peers and for junior scholars, and opportunity for informal and friendly discussions, while encouraging work bridging philosophy, biology, and other cognate fields. Keynote speakers include Yasmin Haddad (Université du Québec à Montréal), Rose Novick (University of Washington) and Anne Pringle (UW Madison, Botany).
The Southern Cone Association of Philosophy and History of Science (AFHIC) invites international researchers to participate in the XIV AFHIC Meeting, to be held from November 3 to 6, 2026, in Valparaíso, Chile. more info...