29 June – 2 July 2018
University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

Keynote speakers

William Bechtel (University of California at San Diego), Sabina Leonelli (University of Exeter), Maarten van Dyck (University of Ghent), Alison Wylie (University of British Columbia).

Registration site

SPSP 2018 is now closed for registrations.

The registration cost, including conference dinner, was €175 (€150 for PhD students) through the "early registration" deadline of 8 May. Authors of papers that have been accepted for the main program must register by that date to hold their place on the program. Poster presenters may register later, but after 8 May the cost rose by €25.

Programme

The final programme and book of abstracts are available; (while it lasts) more details are found on the conference website.

SPSP 2017–18 Organizing Committee

• Chiara Ambrosio, University College London
• Rachel A. Ankeny, University of Adelaide
• Justin Biddle, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Till Grüne-Yanoff, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm
• Sabina Leonelli, University of Exeter
• Matthew Lund, Rowan University
• Joseph Rouse, Wesleyan University

2–4 July 2022
University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

After the long hiatus forced upon us by the ongoing pandemic, the SPSP Organising Committee has great news to share: Our 9^th biennial conference will take place from 2 to 4 July 2022. This is thanks to the generosity of OC member Erik Weber, Maarten van Dyck and their colleagues at the University of Ghent, who have agreed to host us again. This takes advantage of their experience in hosting SPSP2018, and rescues us from the serious difficulties we encountered in finding locations at this time of COVID uncertainty.

Pre-conference workshop: 1 July 2022

As per SPSP tradition, there will be a one-day workshop the day before the workshop starts. The theme this time is Methods Matter: Empirical Research in Philosophy of Science in Practice; follow the link for the speakers and programme.

Programme

The conference website has an up-to-date programme, and downloadable Book of Abstracts.

Submissions

The Call for Papers has closed on 1 Feb 2022, and the Call for Posters was open until 1 May 2022.

Registration

The registration page has a breakdown of the fees and timings. The reduced-price 'Early Bird'-registration ended on May 15, by which time speakers had to have registered.

Conference accomodation and transport

Attendees will book their own travel to Ghent, and hotel/lodging for the conference: There is no designated conference hotel or location. Ghent is a compact and easy to navigate city, with good public transport... there are options for all styles and budgets.

Some people have received emails (as ‘Expo Hotel Services’, from e.g. ‘support@ehotelservices.org’), offering to book transport and hotel: This is a scam (more details here).

Michigan State University, East Lansing (MI), USA

The 8^th Biennial Conference of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP) was to be hosted at Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, Michigan, in collaboration with the Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (SRPoiSE). There was a joint plenary for the two conferences planned, and both societies encouraged members to engage with both conferences.

Book of Abstracts

After the Call for Papers, all abstracts were reviewed and those accepted can be found in the book of abstracts here.

SPSP 2020 2021 2020 Local Organizing Committee

• Kevin Elliott (co-chair)
• Catherine Kendig (co-chair)
• Sean Valles (co-chair)
• Robyn Bluhm
• Heather Douglas
• Ellie Louson
• Greg Lusk
• Michael O’Rourke
• Robert Pennock
• Isaac Record
• Arthur Ward

We welcome you to our robust and diverse center for philosophy of science in practice. The Department of Philosophy is known for its engaged approach to the discipline and its growing community of philosophers of science, and the philosophers at MSU work within a vibrant community of more than 60 science studies scholars, more than 20 of whom are employed by Lyman Briggs College, an MSU residential college focused on the study of science.

Conference website

The conference website https://www.spsp2020.org was poised to take care of all practical matters like travel, accomodation, info about the venue and last-minute updates, but now serves as a potential resource for the SPSP community. You can go over there to have a virtual tour of the MSU campus, have a look at how they pursue philosophy of science in practice, find out more about what socially engaged philosophy of science is like at MSU.

Travel, Accomodation, Venue and Updates

This information is now moot, after cancellation.

Methods Matter: Empirical Research in Philosophy of Science in Practice

1 July 2022
University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

This workshop is designed to be interactive, with all discussions using a panel format with speakers putting forward specific viewpoints or experiences relating to the topic in no more than 5 minutes each, and then opening the floor to questions and comments. Our goals are not only to provide guidance and a space for discussion, but to assist with formulation of the right questions to ask — and the distinctive challenges and opportunities underpinning our research — as we move forward as a community interested in empirical methods for the philosophy of science in practice.

Final program

10:00–10:10: Welcome and introduction: Sabina Leonelli & Rachel Ankeny

10:10–11:30: Session 1: What to pick? Choosing cases and informants

• Julia Bursten, University of Kentucky
• Simon Lohse, Radboud University
• Julie Mennes, University of Ghent
• Maria Şerban, Technische Universität Berlin

This session considers how philosophers choose which parts of research practice to investigate (e.g. which domains, methods, theoretical background, technologies, communities), which specific examples to consider (e.g. specific cases, institutions, historical episodes) and who to pick as main informants (e.g. individual researchers, technicians, administrators, students). We also consider what, if anything, makes PSP different from comparable research in other parts of science studies, such as STS, HPS and other social sciences.

11:30–11:50: Coffee/tea break

11:50–12:50: Session 2: How to interact? Methods and ethics

• Rachel A. Ankeny, University of Adelaide
• Carlos Andrés Barragán, University of California at Davis
• Abigail Nieves Delgado, Utrecht University
• Manuela Fernández Pinto, Universidad de los Andes
• Hugh Williamson, University of Exeter

This session debates the conditions under which research can and should be carried out, ranging from the methods employed (ethnographic, experimental, participatory) to the ethical considerations underpinning research on research (such as the meaning of informed consent and constructive critique, particularly when part of a collaboration between PSP researchers and scientists).

12:50–14:00: Lunch

14:00–15:15: Session 3: What comes of interactions? Part 1: Managing and using data

• Ariane Hanemaayer, Brandon University
• Miles MacLeod, University of Twente
• Stephanie Meirmans, University of Amsterdam
• Kirsten Walsh, University of Exeter

This session considers the challenges associated to managing one key output of PSP research, which is research data. We ask what counts as data for PSP; how and where such data are stored, and with which access requirements; what constitutes an acceptable form of data use, and whether data can and should be shared across research projects; and what obligations do we have vis-à-vis our data — and to whom.

15:15–15:45: Coffee/tea break

15:45–17:00: Session 4: What comes of interactions? Part 2: Diversifying outputs and best practices

• Sabina Leonelli, University of Exeter
• Alan Love, University of Minnesota
• James McElvenny, University of Siegen
• Emily Sullivan, Eindhoven University of Technology
• Sophie Veigl, University of Vienna

This session considers the variety of outputs that can be generated from PSP research, including not only research articles but also policy briefs, web-based resources, social media engagement, podcasts and so forth. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of diversifying the type of output emerging from our research, and the challenges posed by different platforms and publics in communicating the results of our work.

17:00–17:10: Wrap up and conclusion of the workshop

17:15: Walk towards SPSP pre-conference get together