CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
1st International Congress of the Chilean Society for Philosophy of Science
Valparaíso, January 14th-16th, 2026
The Chilean Society for Philosophy of Science (SOCHIFIC) issues an international call for abstracts (CFA) for its 1st International Congress, which shall take place at the Universidad de Valparaíso (Valparaíso - Chile) on 14th-16th January 2026. The SOCHIFIC Congress will celebrate our Society's 10th anniversary, establishing a permanent event that delivers space for the discussion, exchange of ideas, and dissemination of investigation in philosophy of science by both Chilean and international scholars.
The philosophy of science extends beyond classrooms and university offices, playing a significant role in knowledge generation, social practices, and public policy, affecting everyday issues concerning science’s roles in society. We invite researchers to submit proposals. more info...
The European Advanced School for the Philosophy of the Life Sciences (EASPLS) is a biennial one-week summer school that aims at fostering research, facilitating collaborations, and providing professional training to students in the field of the philosophy, history, and social studies of the life sciences, broadly construed. The summer school includes lectures by invited keynote speakers as well as by senior researchers from the organizing consortium, group work, and general discussions. Special sessions will be dedicated to career and skills development. The summer school is aimed at early-career researchers working on any topic in the philosophy, history, and social studies of the life sciences, but every edition of EASPLS has a focus theme. The 2026 focus theme is “philosophy of biology for a healthy planet”.
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.
The Linda Hall Library is now accepting applications for our 2026-27 fellowship program. These fellowships provide graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and independent scholars in the history of science and related humanities fields with financial support to explore the Library’s outstanding science and engineering collections. Fellows also participate in a dynamic intellectual community alongside in-house experts and scholars from other Kansas City cultural institutions.
The Library offers residential fellowships to support on-site research in Kansas City, as well as virtual fellowships for scholars working remotely using resources from the Library’s digital collections.
The Library is also offering several fellowships intended for specific groups of researchers, including:
–The History of Science and Medicine Fellowship (1 month, doctoral)
–The Pearson Fellowship in Aerospace History (Up to 2 months, postdoctoral)
–The Presidential Fellowship in Bibliography (Up to 4 months, postdoctoral)
All application materials are due no later than January 19, 2026. For further information, visit the Fellowships page on our website or e-mail fellowships@lindahall.org.
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...
Biology and Models! Camp is a modeling project workshop June 15-19. See the poster for more details: https://patrickforber.org/misc
To apply, email a 800-1000 word project proposal to pabstworkshop@gmail.com by January 30. 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...
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.
For this year’s annual HPS conference, we are seeking a variety of perspectives on the phenomenon of “scientific expertise”: How have sciences, expertise, and the state been co-constitutive and mutually reinforcing? How have (and how do) practices of quantification and categorization contribute to colonial expansion and reification of racial hierarchies? How can we assess “good judgment” within scientific practices? Can such assessments be articulated and generalized to domains “outside the lab,” or are they inevitably “tacit” and context-specific? What are the tensions and synergies between scientific and religious epistemologies and authorities?
We are currently accepting submissions for twenty-minute papers and for posters. Abstracts should be approximately 500 words for papers and 100 for posters.
Abstracts are due January 31st, 2026. Submit here.
The POBAM Workshop showcases new, innovative, interdisciplinary and collaborative work in the philosophy of biology. Submissions can be on any topic in the philosophy of biology, biologically oriented philosophy of science, or philosophically-informed biology. POBAM 2026 will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, August 12-14. Keynote speakers include Yasmin Haddad (Université du Québec à Montréal), Rose Novick (University of Washington) and Anne Pringle (UW Madison, Botany).
For 2026, you may submit a proposal for either a long talk (40 min talk, 20 min Q&A), short talk (20 min talk, 10 min Q&A), or a poster.
Abstract submissions may be up to 500 words and must be prepared for blind review. Please indicate in your submission whether you are applying for a long talk, short talk, or lightning talk + poster. Also, indicate if you wish to be considered for another category of talk if you are not selected for the one you prefer.
We also welcome submissions of proposals for professional development sessions. These might include any number of topics related to pedagogy, community, or our profession. Please indicate in your proposal whether you would be willing to lead a session of this type. We particularly encourage junior scholars to suggest professional development session topics, without the expectation that they will organize them.
Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable March 6-7, 2026
Virginia Tech Call for Abstracts: We welcome extended abstracts (between 600-1,200 words) for papers on any topic in the philosophy of the social sciences, especially those that allow interdisciplinary research connections and that are consequential for practicing social scientists. The two-day workshop will allow intensive discussion of the work of its contributors.
Please email submissions to phi.soc.sci@gmail.com no later than December 15, 2025. Abstracts should be blinded and attached to the email as a Microsoft Word document; please include your full name and affiliation in the accompanying email; please also indicate if you would like to be considered for the award for best graduate submission; lastly, please indicate if you would like to be considered for a travel stipend, as some might be available on a case by case basis.
Papers in all areas of the philosophy of the social sciences are encouraged, including in the philosophy of economics and political science, as well as in underrepresented areas, such as the philosophy of psychology and philosophy of history. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of Philosophy of the Social Sciences.
The Roundtable is supported by the David H. Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, the Department of Philosophy, the Center for Humanities, and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. more info...
The philosophy of medicine is one of the thematic areas within the philosophy of science that has received increasing attention. This conference aims to address this field from various angles: medical research, new forms of medicine, the types of medical inference, computerized diagnosis, the role of AI in medical research and hospital practice, and bioethical issues.
Call for Papers: European Journal for Philosophy of Science topical collection on causality in complex systems
Guest editors: Tobias Henschen (Konstanz), James Ladyman (Bristol)
Topical Collection Description:
Philosophers interested in causality have usually analyzed it in the context of non-complex systems, and philosophers interested in complexity have not considered its implications for philosophical analyses of causality. Recently scientists and philosophers become increasingly aware of the ubiquity of complex systems, and philosophers have begun to respond by producing detailed studies of complexity (for example, Ladyman and Wiesner (2020) What is a Complex System?), and by examining some of the conceptual and/or inferential disconnections between complex systems and accounts of causality. Failure of explanation, prediction and control of complex systems can come with a substantial scientific and social cost, but can be overcome (climate scientists, for instance, overcome disconnections between nonlinearity and probability or interventionist accounts of causality when using classes of models to predict or project values of variables). There also appear to be important conceptual connections between complexity features and accounts of causality. A connection that is currently of interest to many philosophers and metaphysicians of science is that between emergence and causality (or modality more generally). These connections may also include the conceptual connection between (spontaneous) order and probabilistic accounts of causality. This topical collection will bring together work that analyzes the conceptual and/or inferential connections and disconnections between (specific) accounts of causality and (specific) features of (specific) complex systems. Standard examples of complex systems include condensed matter, the universe, the climate, eusocial animals, the economy, the world wide web, and the (human) brain. Features that are often regarded as indicative of complex systems include emergent nonlinearity, spontaneous order and organization, robustness, modularity and nested structure, and adaptive behavior. Specific accounts of causality include probability, interventionist, and conserved quantity accounts of (efficient) causality.
Gametic Politics: Eggs, Sperm, and Gender/Sex in the 21st Century
A Workshop for Early-Career Researchers organized by Rene Almeling (Yale) and Sarah Richardson (Harvard), to be held April 16-17, 2026 at Yale University in New Haven, CT
Inspired by rapidly emerging developments in the science and politics of fertility and by the rise of gametocentric definitions of sex, as well as a decades-long tradition of gender scholarship about gametes in relation to sex, race, sexuality, and health, we invite contributions to a workshop for early-career researchers in the social sciences and humanities who are developing the next generation of scholarship about eggs and sperm. Our aim is to provide mentorship for further development of works-in-progress, either in the form of dissertation chapters or publishable articles.
We invite proposals from early-career researchers – e.g. graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, assistant professors – in the social sciences and humanities as well as interdisciplinary scholars in the health and life sciences who are studying any aspect of eggs and sperm. We are especially interested in creative and innovative theoretical and/or methodological approaches, and we intend for the topic of “gametic politics” to be understood broadly. Potential topics might include (but are definitely not limited to):
-analyses of how gametes have figured into historical and contemporary definitions of sex;
-the politicization of gametes across multiple domains, such as medicine, education, sports, and law;
-the intersection of gametic politics with myriad forms of inequality, such as those associated with gender, race, class, and sexuality;
-how various scientific approaches to gametes are mobilized in political discourse;
-individual experiences of and beliefs about gametes, including in relation to one’s gender identity;
-the emergence of gametic metaphors and their implications for science and society.
Timeline. Applications are due December 1, 2025. To apply for the workshop, early-career researchers (e.g. graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, assistant professors) should fill out this google form, which asks for contact information, a CV, an abstract (200 words), and a draft manuscript (3,000-4,000 words). Manuscripts may be co-authored, but all authors must be early-career researchers.
Decisions will be made by January 10, 2026. We plan to invite 10-15 applicants to a fully-funded two-day workshop to be held April 16-17, 2025 at Yale University in New Haven, CT. A full draft of the manuscript (7,000-9,000 words) will be due March 15 and will be circulated to all workshop participants. Each participant will be expected to read all drafts, and we will spend the in-person workshop discussing drafts and providing feedback for further development.
Workshop organizers will provide mentorship toward the development of manuscripts for submission for publication. In addition, some workshopped manuscripts may be considered for publication in a special issue of an academic journal, in which case final drafts will be due July 1, 2026.
If you have any questions or if you are unsure whether your paper fits the call, you are welcome to send a brief inquiry to rene.almeling@yale.edu and srichard@fas.harvard.eduwith the subject line: Gametic Politics Inquiry. Please include an abstract of your proposed paper (150-250 words), including your research question and methods.
Scientific models play a crucial role in many policymaking decisions. Underlying the use of these models for policymaking purposes is the extensive use of idealization and values. This interdisciplinary workshop seeks to investigate the roles that idealization, values, and models play in scientific policymaking and how their contributions are assessed and managed. The workshop will bring together philosophers and scientists working at the intersections of these areas in the hopes of bridging gaps between the scientific modeling literature, literatures surrounding the role of values in science, and discussions of science-based policy construction. Selected papers from this workshop may be included in a planned edited volume (or special issue) at a later date. more info...
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.
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...
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...
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).