Pittsburgh: 2-year postdoc in philosophy of physics

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral associate position in the philosophy of physics at the University of Pittsburgh, affiliated to the department of History and Philosophy of Science and the Department of Philosophy. The position will be supervised by David Wallace, and applicants should intend to pursue a course of research in an area of philosophy of physics related to Professor Wallace’s research activities (which include inter alia the interpretation of quantum mechanics, the role of symmetry in physics, quantum field theory, statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, and quantum gravity). The postdoctoral associate may be asked to carry out some minor administrative work to assist Professor Wallace’s research, amounting to at most 10% of their time averaged over the period of appointment; the remainder of their time is available for their own research project.

CFA: ‘Cosmology Beyond Spacetime’ Summer Institute, 27 June – 2 July 2021

Call for Applications:

International Summer Institute in Philosophy of Physics on the PHILOSOPHY OF COSMOLOGY and the PHILOSOPHY OF QUANTUM GRAVITY

Hosted by the University of Geneva-University of Illinois at Chicago Cosmology Beyond Spacetime project

Hotel Le Crêt, Morzine, France
27 June – 2 July 2021

Further information, when available, at http://beyondspacetime.net/2021summerinstitute/.

CFP: 24th International Summer School in Urbino

*Call for Participation* and *Call for Papers*
BLACK HOLES AND THE INFORMATION LOSS PARADOX

XXIV International Summer School in Philosophy of Physics
07-10 June 2021, University of Urbino

Submission deadline: March 24, 2021.

For further information please write to: cirfis.scuolaestiva@gmail.com

Philosophy of Dark Matter Workshop, 29-30 March 2021

Online – via Zoom

Registration deadline: 22 March

Further info & registration: https://www.lhc-epistemologie.uni-wuppertal.de/events/events/phil-dm.html

SPEAKERS:

• Simon Allzén (Stockholm): “Dark matter, evidence, and theory confirmation”
• Antonis Antoniou (Bristol): “Reliability, informativeness and sensitivity in dark matter observation”
• Siska de Baerdemaeker (Stockholm): “Exploratory observations with stellar streams”
• Niels Martens (Bonn/Aachen): “Dark matter realism”
• Helen Meskhidze (Irvine): “(What) Do we learn from code comparisons? A case study of implementations of self-interacting dark matter”
• Robert Rynasiewicz (Johns Hopkins): “Dark matter and referential handles”
• William L. Vanderburgh (San Bernardino): “Multi-messenger metaphysics: Evidence and inference in astrophysics and cosmology”

PANEL:

• Siska de Baerdemaeker (Stockholm)
• Melissa Jacquart (Cincinnati)
• Christopher Smeenk (London, ON)
• Adán Sus (Valladolid)

For further questions, please contact the organizer, Niels Martens, at nmartens@uni-bonn.de

Beyond Spacetime Online Seminar Series, 3 February to 10 March 2021

This is to announce an online seminar series organized by the Beyond Spacetime project in conjunction with the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh, featuring talks by Francesca Vidotto, Lee Smolin, Chris Smeenk, Fay Dowker, Nick Huggett, and Christian Wüthrich on the intersection of quantum gravity and cosmology. More specifically, the program will be as follows:

• Feb 3: Nick Huggett, University of Illinois at Chicago
• Feb 10: Christian Wüthrich, University of Geneva
• Feb 17: Francesca Vidotto, Western University
• Feb 24: Lee Smolin, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
• March 3: Christopher Smeenk, Western University
• March 10: Fay Dowker, Imperial College London

For more information, including the zoom coordinates, please see https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/cosmology-beyond-spacetime/ (and ignore the unrelated image on top!).

Please join us!

Heinrich Hertz Fellowship in History and Philosophy of Physics at Bonn

The Heinrich Hertz Fellowship in History and Philosophy of physics is designed to allow graduate students (typically PhD students but Master students can also apply) and early-career postdoctoral scholars to spend either half of or a full academic year at the University of Bonn to work on any topic in the history and philosophy of physics. They have no formal duties apart from following their own research agenda and interacting with the other historians and philosophers of physics in Bonn [ https://www.history-and-philosophy-of-physics.com/ ]. Hertz fellows are provided with:

Open Zoom Seminars: Bonn History and Philosophy of Physics

The Lichtenberg research seminar on history and philosophy of physics is restarting. This is a weekly research seminar during (the University of Bonn’s) term time, organised by the Lichtenberg Group for History and Philosophy of Physics. During the winter semester 2020-21 all talks will be online, via zoom. For the schedule, please visit https://www.history-and-philosophy-of-physics.com/events.html 
For the zoom-link, and/or weekly reminders, please contact the organisers, Dennis Lehmkuhl and Niels Martens, at nmartens[at]uni-bonn[dot]de

Hanneke Janssen Memorial Prize 2020 winner: Emilia Margoni

The 2020 Hanneke Janssen Memorial Prize in history and philosophy of modern physics is awarded to Emilia Margoni for her Thesis An investigation into temporal becoming within timeless strategies in physics, submitted to the Sapienza University in Rome. 

This Thesis discusses the question of  whether and how the metaphysical notion of “becoming”  relates to the treatment of time in modern physical theories. 

Postdoc: Ethics of quantum technologies, TU Delft

Postdoc Position Designing Stakeholder Meetings on the Ethics of Quantum Technologies (0,8 FTE)

Challenge: Find ways to explore the ethics of quantum technologies.
Change: Design tools like scenario building and co-creation stakeholder events.
Impact: The ethical issues of future technology

Job description

Call for nominations: Hanneke Janssen Memorial Prize

The Jury would like to issue a call for nominations for the 2020 Hanneke Janssen Memorial Prize, which  is awarded  annually for the best work in History and/or  Philosophy of Modern Physics, done by a student as a requirement for a Masters Thesis.  The prize carries a  2000 euro award. Nominations  for this Prize need to be submitted by a supervisor of the nominee  before  November 15, 2020. We would also like to issue a special encouragement for the nomination of  candidates from underrepresented groups.