Conference
Thermodynamics as a Resource Theory: 2018 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 114 - North Campus Building 2004 Perth Drive, London, Ontario, CanadaEVENT DESCRIPTION The Revolution will be thermalized. Recently, there has been a shift in the way that many physicists are approaching the science of thermodynamics. Instead of regarding its laws as purely physical laws, researchers are increasingly treating the theory as a theory about how agents, such as ourselves, can use information about a physical [...]
2018 Philosophy of Logic Math and Physics Graduate Student Conference
Room 1145 - Stevenson Hall Stevenson Hall, Room 1145, London, Ontario, CanadaJoin us on June 23-24, 2018 for the eighteenth annual Philosophy of Logic, Math and Physics (LMP) graduate student conference in philosophy at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The LMP Graduate Student Conference will bring together philosophers of logic, mathematics, and physics for two days of presentations and discussions with some of the leaders in these fields. We [...]
Rotman 2018 Annual Conference: Understanding Replication Across the Sciences
Room 3000 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaCONFERENCE DESCRIPTION Currently, there is a widespread perception that scientific activity is in the middle of a (so-called) 'reproducibility' or 'replication crisis'. Many important findings published in leading scientific journals have turned out to be difficult or impossible to replicate. The ongoing controversy surrounding the reproducibility of scientific activity threatens to undermine the authority of [...]
MCMP-Western Ontario Workshop on Computation in Scientific Theory and Practice
The goal of this interdisciplinary meeting is to explore philosophical and historical issues that arise at the intersection of theoretical computer science, mathematics, and natural science,
Foundations of Quantum Field Theory: 2019 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 3000 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaThis workshop on the philosophy of quantum field theory (QFT) will bring together philosophers and physicists to address a set of foundational questions significant to both fields. Almost all of modern fundamental physics is written in the mathematical language of QFT. (The exception to this proves the rule: Einstein's theory of gravity is not [...]
CANCELLED – Boundaries and Reality: 2020 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 3000 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaIn light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, this year's conference has unfortunately been cancelled. Boundaries between spacetime regions, boundaries between interacting physical systems, and relations across boundaries, play an important role in contemporary physics. Boundary degrees of freedom, in particular, have recently raised much interest in the literature on general relativity, gauge field theories and [...]
Emergence in Cosmology Workshop
Virtual (register for Zoom link)The early universe is described extremely well by linear perturbations evolving in a simple expanding universe model, described by classical general relativity. An approximately scale invariant spectrum of nearly Gaussian, adiabatic curvature fluctuations accounts for observed anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background as well as baryon acoustic oscillations. But how does this familiar classical [...]
Self-locating Uncertainty in the Cosmological Multiverse Workshop
Virtual (register for Zoom link)Several issues in cosmology have increasingly raised concerns about self-locating uncertainty. It seems to many that to understand how the universe originated and how it is, we need to better understand how to think about where we are in it, or where we should expect ourselves to be. On one hand, considerations of self-locating [...]
QISS 2022: Quantum Information and Quantum Gravity Conference
CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION The Quantum Information Structure of Spacetime (QISS) interdisciplinary initiative in Quantum Information and Quantum Gravity is announcing its first large conference, QISS 2022, to be held at Western University, in London, Ontario, Canada, the week of 6 - 10 June 2022. The main aim of the conference will be to [...]
Space as a National Asset for Canada – #SNAC2022
Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre 551 Windermere Road, London, Ontario, CanadaBringing together stakeholders from universities, government, industry, and community organizations that develop and utilize space to assess the current status of space infrastructure and identify future needs for Canada.
Foundations of Quantum Field Theory: 2023 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
Room 1170 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, London, Ontario, CanadaThis year's workshop will explore four broad philosophical issues that are specific to QFT. QFT is the theory that combines the special theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. There is consensus that the unification of these two theories necessitates the use of a mathematical framework based on fields. One issue that this raises is [...]
(Dis)Trust and AI: Perspectives from Across Disciplines and Sectors
Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre 551 Windermere Road, London, Ontario, CanadaConcerns about trust, distrust, and artificial intelligence (AI) are on the rise as our societies become more and more exposed to these technologies. This event will focus on pressing questions under the general theme of (dis)trust and AI and bring together people working in different academic disciplines and sectors of society to collaborate in [...]
Rotman Research Retreat: AI & Democracy
KRESGE BUILDING 1960 Middlesex Dr., London, Ontario, CanadaThis retreat will bring together researchers from across disciplines and departments at Western to look ahead to future normative, political, and technological dimensions of anticipated impacts that AI will have on democracies. There is already a substantial body of scholarship exploring the ways in which new technologies have impacted democratic practices and institutions and [...]
Philosophy of Physics Workshop: Foundations of Thermodynamics 2024
Arts & Humanities Building Room 1B04 Western University, London, ONEVENT DESCRIPTION In the past few decades there has been a transformation—some have called it a revolution—in the way that many physicists are approaching the science of thermodynamics. Philosophers of science have only recently begun to take notice of this transformation. This workshop, which brings together philosophers and physicists at is inspired by the [...]
Rotman Graduate Student Conference 2024: Scientific Methodology
KRESGE BUILDING 1960 Middlesex Dr., London, Ontario, CanadaREGISTER NOW! Please click on the dates below to access the respective Zoom links. Sept-19 Sept-20 Overview 'The topic of this year's Rotman Graduate Student Conference is scientific methodology. The conference will host student speakers from various fields from physics and neuroscience to philosophy and cultural studies. The conference is [...]
Pragmatism and The Philosophy of Science: Fall 2024 Conference
Room 3000 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaPragmatism, with its focus on the human dimension of inquiry, offers a compelling lens through which to explore the nature, scope, and limits of scientific knowledge. This workshop will, building on recent work, explore topics at the intersection of pragmatism and philosophy of science, examining how pragmatism sheds light on scientific practice, success, and the interplay between metaphysics and epistemology.
Workshop: Cognition in Social Contexts: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Perth Dr., London, Ontario, CanadaZOOM LINK Workshop Registration Registration is now CLOSED. Thank you for your interest. See below for updated workshop program. In recent decades, many new research fields have emerged at the intersection of the social and cognitive sciences, such as cognitive sociology (e.g., Zerubavel, 1997), cognitive [...]
Research Retreat: Election Interference and Security In A Contested Infosphere
Weldon Library Community Room Western University - 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, CanadaJoin the Rotman Institute of Philosophy, the Electro-Governance Group (EGG), the Department of Political Science and the Starling Center for Just Technologies for a research retreat bringing together scholars from across disciplines and departments at Western to share research and perspectives on the political and security challenges to democracies arising from technological and political-economic [...]
Research Retreat: Human-AI Relationships
Room 3000 - Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaJoin The Rotman Institute of Philosophy for a Research Retreat on Human-AI Relationships. Who: Western University research community When: Thursday, May 08, 2025 Time: 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Where: WIRB 3000, Western University The Rotman Institute of Philosophy is excited to host a one-day research retreat on the topic of Human-AI Relationships. Our goal is to bring [...]
2025 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conferences
Western Interdisciplinary Research Building Perth Dr., London, Ontario, CanadaEmpiricism and the Methodology of Modern Physics REGISTRATION LINK ZOOM LINK May 25-26 The structure of theories and how they represent the natural world, through introducing basic principles and asserting the existence of unobserved entities, have been central questions in philosophy of science over the last century. Bill Demopoulos, George Smith, [...]