Roundtable on The State of Philosophy of Science in East and Central Europe
EENPS at the EPSA 2023, Belgrade
When and where
20/09/2023 (Wednesday)
9:00 - 10:30
Josif Pancic Hall
[The Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment, Studentski trg 5, 11000 Belgrade]
Online participation via Zoom [TBA to the EENPS members via email]
[EPSA program]
Description
The gradual reintegration of Central and Eastern Europe into European institutions had a noticeable positive impact on the academic research and cooperation in all disciplines, including Philosophy of Science. Scholars from the region are increasing their participation in the European research communities through research projects, increased mobility, academic positions at the departments at various European Universities and their participation at the philosophy of science associations and conferences such as the EPSA. The continuous support of the EPSA is largely appreciated most notably by junior scholars. Further indication of the improvements is the establishment of the EENPS promoting Philosophy of Science and the European values of openness in the region through regular biennial conferences. The region is becoming more attractive not only to the CEE scholars, but also to the junior scholars from abroad.
Despite these positive developments, the philosophers of science from the Central and Eastern Europe face a number of specific problems in the region. For instance, a solid institutional support for obtaining funding may be insufficient or entirely lacking. Travelling opportunities may be more limited. Moreover, the institutions tend to be less international (due to language requirements, less attractive salaries, administrative barriers, etc.). There is also an issue of information flow - some calls do not reach or are not available to philosophers in the region. At the same time, a number of successful institutions and their practices could serve as role models, but the information exchange in the region is often very limited.
Addressing these issues is important not just for those working in the region, but also for the wider philosophy of science community.
The roundtable is aimed at recognising and formulating strategies of how to deal with some of the main issues. This is also why it includes diverse contributors: those early and later in their career, those working in the region, those that moved to the region, and those who moved out of the region.
Panellists
Moderated by Borut Trpin, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Online discussion moderated by Martin Zach, Czech Academy of Sciences and Michal Hladky, University of Geneva
Topics
Format
Opening by Borut Trpin (5min)
Contributions by panellists (6x5min)
Discussion among panellists and the audience (45min)
Concluding remarks (10min)
Organised by
20/09/2023 (Wednesday)
9:00 - 10:30
Josif Pancic Hall
[The Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment, Studentski trg 5, 11000 Belgrade]
Online participation via Zoom [TBA to the EENPS members via email]
[EPSA program]
Description
The gradual reintegration of Central and Eastern Europe into European institutions had a noticeable positive impact on the academic research and cooperation in all disciplines, including Philosophy of Science. Scholars from the region are increasing their participation in the European research communities through research projects, increased mobility, academic positions at the departments at various European Universities and their participation at the philosophy of science associations and conferences such as the EPSA. The continuous support of the EPSA is largely appreciated most notably by junior scholars. Further indication of the improvements is the establishment of the EENPS promoting Philosophy of Science and the European values of openness in the region through regular biennial conferences. The region is becoming more attractive not only to the CEE scholars, but also to the junior scholars from abroad.
Despite these positive developments, the philosophers of science from the Central and Eastern Europe face a number of specific problems in the region. For instance, a solid institutional support for obtaining funding may be insufficient or entirely lacking. Travelling opportunities may be more limited. Moreover, the institutions tend to be less international (due to language requirements, less attractive salaries, administrative barriers, etc.). There is also an issue of information flow - some calls do not reach or are not available to philosophers in the region. At the same time, a number of successful institutions and their practices could serve as role models, but the information exchange in the region is often very limited.
Addressing these issues is important not just for those working in the region, but also for the wider philosophy of science community.
The roundtable is aimed at recognising and formulating strategies of how to deal with some of the main issues. This is also why it includes diverse contributors: those early and later in their career, those working in the region, those that moved to the region, and those who moved out of the region.
Panellists
- Jaana Eigi-Watkin, University of Tartu
- Lilia Gurova, New Bulgarian University
- Elena Popa, Jagiellonian University
- Daniel Kostic, Leiden University
- Javier Suárez, University of Oviedo
- Gabriel Tarziu, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Moderated by Borut Trpin, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Online discussion moderated by Martin Zach, Czech Academy of Sciences and Michal Hladky, University of Geneva
Topics
- What is good about doing philosophy of science in the region? What are the strong points?
- How to make the attractive aspects of the region more visible? More dynamic? More interconnected?
- Underrepresentation of Central and Eastern European (CEE) researchers (working in the region or from the region): is it an issue? What do you think about that from your own perspective?
This relates to CEE scholars vs scholars affiliated with CEE Institutions
- Conferences (participants, keynotes)
- Journals
- International research
- Research community
- etc. - Linguistic barriers: Are there more or fewer than outside of the region? Why? Structural issues?
- Teaching predominantly in local language makes it hard for non-speakers to join permanently
- Hybrid participation at events? How to implement it? Should we? Would this be important for CEE researchers?
- Regional cooperation? Regional research topics? Teaching cooperations? Should they be promoted and if so, how?
- Other topics
Format
Opening by Borut Trpin (5min)
Contributions by panellists (6x5min)
Discussion among panellists and the audience (45min)
Concluding remarks (10min)
Organised by
- Borut TRPIN (MCMP/LMU Munich) - Main organiser and moderator
- Michal HLADKY (University of Geneva) - co-organiser
- Martin ZACH (Czech Academy of Sciences) - co-organiser