Events & Calls for Paper

Join us for the third IRiS Ignite! This event is a biennial conference that re-imagines the traditional academic conference to forge novel connections and stimulate new interdisciplinary conversations on the broad topic of sensing, including work on perception, sensor technology development, and ethical innovations in sensing research. We aim to bring together scholars, innovators, artisans, and entrepreneurs from across disciplines, including engineering, psychology, biology, philosophy, chemistry, medicine, physics, ethics, the humanities, and the fine and performing arts.

IRiS Ignite will be composed of an integrated program that places scientific research alongside scholarship in the humanities, and artistic performances alongside work in the social sciences. By co-locating these diverse perspectives, we hope to foster new ideas, unexpected connections, and support holistic innovation.  

Inspiration for IRiS Ignite comes from the IRiS Alloy Discussion Series, a monthly gathering around a specific topic pertaining to sensing. We have seen firsthand how moments of unexpected insight arise when people connect across disciplines through open exploration of a common topic.

The IRiS Annual Event will include two invited plenary talks, a program of 15-minute lectures, a poster session, an art exhibition, and musical performances.

We encourage you to be creative in your contributions to this event. We have deliberately avoided topic suggestions because we want to encourage imagination and creativity. Anything that has a relationship to sensing or perception is welcome! There are no restrictions: artists are invited to present research, and scientists are welcome to share poetry. Come with an open mind, and be ready for inspiration and new ideas.

Regular tickets cost $45, and student/postdoc tickets cost $25. Registration comes with free refreshments at breaks and a meal for both days. Students participating in the poster session will be considered for a number of awards. Abstract submission closes on Wednesday, September 7th at 5 PM EST. Registration deadline is September 25th at 5PM EST. In-person registration will be available at an increased price.

Contributed Presentation Options

• Lecture: 12-minute talks with a 3-minute Q&A
• Performance: artistic, musical, and poetic performances
• Poster: an open-hall poster session will take place during a 1.5-hour period
• Visual art: displays will be intermixed with academic posters at the poster session

A Population Doctrine in Neuroscience Workshop

We are pleased to announce an interdisciplinary 2-day workshop held at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. The workshop will focus on topics related to a shift in neuroscience from the investigation of single neurons to populations of neurons. The investigation of single neurons has been supported by the so-called neuron doctrine, which posits the neuron as the fundamental structural and functional unit of the nervous system. As the focus moves away from single neurons and toward populations of neurons, some have called for a new, population doctrine. But the conceptual and methodological commitments of a potential population doctrine, as well as its significance, remain under explored.

The goal of the workshop is to arrive at an interdisciplinary perspective on the nature and significance of the population doctrine and its relation to what came before. In particular, we aim to bring neuroscientists, philosophers, and historians together to answer the following questions:

-What is the population doctrine? How is it related to the neuron doctrine?

-What are the conceptual, explanatory, ontological, and methodological commitments of the population doctrine? For example,

-Are population level measures and analyzes simply providing a more compact representation of neural activity or are they providing unique insights that are not otherwise accessible?

-What are the explanatory advantages of population measures over single-unit measures?

-Does the form of explanation change or is the population doctrine just “more of the same”?

Keynote Speakers:

• Rosa Cao (Stanford University)
• Rafael Yuste (Columbia University)

Gametic Politics: Eggs, Sperm, and Gender/Sex in the 21st Century

A Workshop for Early-Career Researchers organized by Rene Almeling and Sarah Richardson

April 16-17, 2026 

Yale University

New Haven, CT

Details and application form here: https://www.renealmeling.com/gametic-politics.html

---Full CFP---

Call for Papers...

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.

Application form for the Gametic Politics Workshop: https://forms.gle/7tji42U196sWwr1FA