A Philosophy of Open Science for Diverse Research Environments

For real-time news updates, please join our LinkedIn group by sending a request.

Award to Paola Castaño: The panel "Ecologies of Life in Space," organized by Paola Castaño with participation from Ilenia Picardi, Marco Serino, Monica Truninger, and Kärin Nickelsen, was awarded the 2025 Interdisciplinary Organized Session Prize at the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology conference in Porto in July 2025. The panel was recognized for its combination of multiple disciplines and methodologies, with special incorporation of the history and social studies of biology.

Award to Elis Jones: At the 2025 International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) meeting, TUM researcher Elis Jones was jointly awarded the society's "Callebaut Prize." The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Recognition Research supports the prize, in honour of philosopher Werner Callebaut, and is allocated by the ISHPSSB awards committee. It recognizes, for early-career scholars, "the best manuscript utilizing an interdisciplinary approach based on a presentation at one of the two previous ISHPSSB meetings." Elis's paper, presented at the Toronto 2023 meeting, is titled "Exploring the socio-ecology of science: the case of coral reefs," and is published as part of a special issue on the nature of research environments. It uses data from interviews with coral scientists, alongside ideas from ecology, philosophy, and STS, to argue that coral science is heavily shaped by, and in turn shapes, the ecological systems it is embedded within. The prize was shared with Richard Vangino for his paper "Analogical Anatomy: Neurons, Networks and the Electric Telegraph."

From 27–30 August 2025, we gathered in sunny Groningen, Netherlands, for the European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA). Our symposium, "The Role of Philosophy of Science in Public," highlighted ethical and political issues concerning science, and we discussed the social responsibilities of the philosophy of science in shaping public policy. Richard Williams looked at how philosophers and policymakers may work together effectively and fairly. Sabina Leonelli discussed how an Environmental Intelligence framework can help elevate long-term social and environmental goals in technological development, which is currently dominated by short-term goals of convenience and efficiency. Katherine Furman explored how philosophers can help scientists clarify the targets of their research in astrobiology and public health. Rachel Ankeny’s commentary foregrounded the need for realistic views on politics and how trustworthy institutions and practices are needed to facilitate public trust in science. In a separate symposium on data modelling and evidence, Emma Cavazzoni and Sabina Leonelli explored how data models for applied research can help to contribute towards theoretical frameworks.

Frontiers in Open Research Colloquium: The interdisciplinary colloquium led by Sabina Leonelli, launched on Thursday, 24 April 2025, brought together scholars and practitioners for engaging discussions on Open Research, research cultures, and systemic challenges across the life sciences, data science, and AI. Each session featured expert talks and insights from recent research, fostering rich interdisciplinary exchange. Check the Agenda.

The Global Metascience Conference took place in London from 30 June to 2 July 2025, and is organised by Research on Research (RoRI) at University College London. Sabina Leonelli joined a distinguished lineup of speakers, including Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council; Patrick Vallance, UK Minister of Science and Innovation; and Anna Koivuniemi, Head of Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator, to discuss the role of AI in science. She participated in two sessions, sharing insights from her work with the multidisciplinary Ethical Data Initiative and her Philosophy of Open Science project (Phil_OS). She also referenced her contribution to the 2024 Royal Society study on Science in the Age of AI. Her sessions included:

• The plenary discussion titled “AI in Science: Accelerating Discovery,” where she addressed risks such as conservatism and the tendency to prefer convenience in current AI research developments.
• The session “Funding by Algorithm: AI as Object and Enabler of Research,” where she offered a philosopher’s perspective on how AI and digital technologies are transforming science, along with the policy and funding challenges they present.

Nathanael Sheehan gave the Keynote talk titled A journey from data ethics to AI governance for the "Data science for life scientists" course at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) in the UK on 19 June 2025.