NOTE: we run public seminars every THURSDAY, 14-16, during the Summer Term; and every TUESDAY, 14-16, during the Winter Term. Anybody interested in philosophy and history of science, as well as cutting-edge work in social studies of science, is welcome to attend. Find the updated programme here, and to join the mailing list, please email Desantila.Hysa(at)tum.de .
Healthy research systems for a healthy planet. What this may involve, and how, is what our research investigates and questions through philosophical analysis and collaborations with social scientists, historians, natural scientists, data scientists, engineers and medical researchers. To this aim, we combine in-depth studies of:
(1) systems of knowledge production, especially within data-intensive biological, biomedical and environmental domains, with the aim to relate the content of existing knowledge (e.g. concepts, models, assumptions, data) to the processes and contexts through which such content is developed and scrutinised (e.g. methods, algorithms, data infrastructures, funding structures, social debates around misinformation and what constitutes “reliable” knowledge);
(2) social and scientific transformations linked to digitalisation and Open Science mandates, with the explicit aim to promote equitable and participative research practices vis-à-vis the highly discriminatory, unequal and platforms-dominated science and technology landscape [See: PHIL_OS project, Ethical Data Initiative; Public Science Lab ) ;
and
(3) the science and governance of data and AI, bringing together two strands of research and related fieldwork: health-environment interactions, as enacted in data-intensive public health research (epidemiological and biomedical) e.g. around COVID-19 and emerging epidemics; and environmental intelligence, as enacted through data-intensive / AI approaches to crop science and precision agriculture. Our research is uniquely positioned to compare and integrate these two domains.
Our research engages science and society with two key aims: first, to frame the debate over what counts as “good science” today, and for which purposes; and second, to investigate what scientific methods, organisational structures and conceptual strategies are best positioned to foster planetary health at a moment of profound environmental crisis. Methodologically, we play an internationally leading role in fostering engaged philosophy and history of science, strongly grounded in the use of social science methods. To this aim we employ a mix of philosophical analysis, archival research, qualitative methods including interviews and ethnography, and (more rarely) quantitative methods including bibliometry and network analysis; and we regularly host researchers and students wishing to learn how to apply such methods for philosophical research. We promote transdisciplinary collaborations with non-academic partners around the globe - ranging from large policy organisations such as the European Commission and the International Council for Science to national institutions including in Greece, Ghana, the US, Canada and Brazil, scholarly societies and bottom-up projects and networks. We hold roles in editorial boards, scientific committees and policy organisations for data infrastructures and responsible technology around the globe. We are also actively serving the fields of the history, philosophy and social studies of science, with institutional roles in many of the leading organisations and journals (e.g. the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology, of which Sabina Leonelli is incoming President; the Philosophy of Science Association and the European Philosophy of Science Association; the PhilSci Archive; the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy; the Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice; the PhilInBioMed network; the European Advanced School for the Philosophy of the Life Sciences; and many others).
