On the Origin and Development of Scientific Concepts: Light Rays and Lines of Force - Friedrich Steinle
2024-05-22 17:00 - 18:30 (Europe/Berlin) | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Abstract:
In studying the historical dynamics of scientific knowledge, concepts constitute central objects. Their study, however, poses difficulties and challenges that have to do with their specific character as basic components of scientific thought: Much as in everyday life, they are constantly used but scarcely addressed as such. While we speak about chairs, cats and cauliflower, or about temperature, bacteria, and oxygen, we rarely put those concepts themselves in question. At the same time, processes of their formation and development are shaped by a bewildering variety of factors, including wider cultural aspects. Historical studies help us understanding both the complexity of scientific concept formation and its implications, i.e. the historical baggage of scientific concepts. In my talk, I shall discuss those features and illustrate them by two cases from the history of physical sciences: light rays and lines of force.
This event is part of our summer semester 2024 Lecture Series Lifelikeness.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

c: o/re Movie Nights - Talk: Ideal Locale – her and the envelope function of idealist predication by Ben Woodard
2024-05-29 15:00 - 16:30 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Spike Jonze’s her (2013) is a near-future science fiction film about the difficulties of romantic relationships particularly in an age of ever-increasing technological mediation. Stemming from this, the film also explores the entangled nature of consciousness and artificial intelligence, the role of emotions and memories, and notions of self.
Alongside the film’s more obvious critical function, this talk examines her as fictional text which tests the limits of predication, of the grasping capacity of language, to encompass interior content of minds whether emotional, rational, natural, or artificial. This in turn requires analyzing a half-forgotten tract of philosophical logic namely, that logic is not about the mathematical or logical-like operations of ‘rational’ thinking but rather an idealist tradition of logic that treats predication as judgments about reality that does not assume a clear link between natural objects and discerning human minds.
The epistolary aspect of her demonstrates how the letter, and the temporal delay inherent in all predication which written language highlights, emphasizes how the expressions of thought are always suffused with feeling, and that feeling is not to be viewed as a impediment to logic but rather its impetus. To this end this talk will read her through the work of FWJ von Schelling (especially via Iain Hamilton Grant) and FH Bradley. The idealist conceptualization of logic shared between these thinkers shows how judgments issued by minds are to be valued not by their correlation to real objects but by their ability to construct shared worlds.
This talk is part of our c:o/re Movie nights.
The talk will take place at the Theaterstraße 75 at 15h.
After the talk, in cooperation with the Filmstudio RWTH Aachen, we will screen the film Her by Spike Jonze. The screeining of the film will take place at the Aula 1 im Hauptgebäude der RWTH Aachen (Temeplgraben 55, 52062). All details and tickets can be found here.
By “Lifelikeness” (Lebensechtheit in German) we mean the representation and/or imitation of living beings of living beings in science and technology in fields such as robotics, synthetic biology or AI and neuromorphic computing. We ask how their increasing complexity mimics not only a fixed notion of life, but also the understanding of “life” as such.
Further information on the lecture series can be found here.

c: o/re Movie Nights - Her
2024-05-29 20:15 - 22:30 | Aula 1 im Hauptgebäude der RWTH Aachen, Temeplgraben 55, Aachen, NRW, 52062, Germany
We are looking forward to the collaboration with the film studio of RWTH Aachen University! As part of the lecture series of the Käte Hamburger Center for Advanced Study in the Humanities: Cultures of Research in the summer semester “Lifelikeness” we will show the film “Her” by by Spike Jonze (2013).
About the Film:
In a not so distant future our communicative devices take over a lot of our social work. But some things can only be done by humans. It’s Theodore Twombly’s Job to write letters for other people. Just divorced from his wife Catherine he turns towards the new advantages of technology. In this case it is the new operating system that comes with artificial intelligence and a wonderful smooth voice. His OS starts by naming itself Samantha and turns out to be great company in all everyday situations. Theodore attempts to find a new love but he soon discovers that it is Samantha who makes him happy — and he is not the only one.
The film will be screened at the Aula 1 im Hauptgebäude der RWTH Aachen (Temeplgraben 55, 52062). All details and tickets can be found here.
As an introduction before the film, philosopher Ben Woodard (ICI Berlin) will give a lecture entitled “Ideal Locale – her and the envelope function of idealist predication”. The lecture will take place on May 29 at 3 pm at Theaterstraße 75. Please send us an email if you would like to come to the lecture: events@khk.rwth-aachen.de

Life-Like Artificial Music: Understanding the Impact of AI on Musical Thinking - Nikita Braguinski
2024-06-05 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Abstract:
This lecture explores the impact of machine learning on the future of music research and theory. It argues that AI-generated music poses a deep challenge for existing theories: AI systems can learn to imitate musical styles without receiving any information about human music theory concepts, raising questions about the validity of those concepts. Additionally, music-generating AI systems can be trained on audio directly, bypassing notation, while human music theory almost always works with notation as a simplified and abstracted proxy.
As an example of the conceptual challenges and shifts that now arise in music research, the talk examines a recent paper that compares Western music theory concepts with structures that emerge in a machine learning model trained on musical notation. While the paper finds similarities between the two, the talk argues that the machine learning system’s output is still influenced by human biases and choices in the training data and model architecture – and that this influence may in fact be unavoidable.
Finally, the talk argues that while AI may be able to generate novel structures for analyzing music, their applicability to human music theory and practice may prove to be extremely limited due to the differences between human cognition and machine learning. Overall, the talk raises questions about the future potential for AI to disrupt human theory-making – and not only in the discipline of musicology.
No knowledge of musicological concepts is required for understanding the presentation and participating in the discussion.
This event is part of our summer semester 2024 Lecture Series Lifelikeness.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.
Dr. Nikita Braguinski is a 2023-2024 Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg “Cultures of Research” at RWTH Aachen University. In his work he currently concentrates on the possible impact of machine learning and big online listening datasets on the future of music research. His book “Mathematical Music. From Antiquity to Music AI” (Routledge, 2022) was translated into Korean, receiving the Sejong book prize in 2023. He was a Fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge, and a Researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin with funding from the Volkswagen Foundation. In 2023, he co-convened, together with Eamonn Bell and Miriam Akkermann, the ZiF Bielefeld Visiting Research Group “The Future of Musical Knowledge in the Age of Machine Learning”.

c: o/re Movie Nights - I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK
2024-06-11 20:15 - 22:30 | Aula 1 im Hauptgebäude der RWTH Aachen, Temeplgraben 55, Aachen, NRW, 52062, Germany
We are looking forward to the collaboration with the film studio of RWTH Aachen University! As part of the lecture series of the Käte Hamburger Center for Advanced Study in the Humanities: Cultures of Research in the summer semester “Lifelikeness” we will show the film:
I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK by Park Chan-wook. The film will be preceded by a short introduction and followed by a discussion moderated by the Käte Hamburger Center for Advanced Study in the Humanities: Cultures of Research.
The film will be screened at the Aula 1 im Hauptgebäude der RWTH Aachen (Temeplgraben 55, 52062) on the 11th of June at 20:15pm. All details and tickets can be found here.
By “Lifelikeness” we mean the representation and/or imitation of living beings of living beings in science and technology in fields such as robotics, synthetic biology or AI and neuromorphic computing. We ask how their increasing complexity mimics not only a fixed notion of life, but also the understanding of “life” as such.
Further information on the lecture series can be found here.

Indoor Atmospheres: Comfort, Aerial Hygiene and the Microbiome of the Built Environment - Sven Opitz
2024-06-19 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
This event is part of our summer semester 2024 Lecture Series Lifelikeness.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Organising Life: Biocuration, Bio-Ontologies, and the Conditions of Academic Work - Sarah Davies
2024-07-03 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Abstract:
In this talk I discuss biocuration as a field of scholarly practice. In creating and managing data and knowledge bases, biocuration is essential to research in the biosciences, but the skilled human labour it involves is often rendered invisible to its users. At the same time, this ordering work is central to rendering scientific knowledge thinkable. I therefore reflect on what biocuration tells us about the intersections of knowledge production with digital tools and the material conditions of academic work. What practices constitute knowledge, and how are these rendered visible and valuable (or not) within academic systems?
This event is part of our summer semester 2024 Lecture Series Lifelikeness.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Anwendungen und Herausforderungen der Technologie der künstlichen Intelligenz in der Schul- und Ausbildung: Eine vergleichende Studie zwischen Südkorea und Deutschland - Chun-Shik Kim
2024-07-09 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
This talk will be held in German.
Abstract:
Wie man sicher weiß, gewinnen die Geisteswissenschaften im Bereich der künstlichen Intelligenz und die menschliche Interaktion mit KI Technologien derzeit weltweit als wichtige Forschungsbereiche an Aufmerksamkeit. Dies wird zur Ausweitung von Branchen führen, die davon leben, Emotionen zu erzeugen, wie z.B. Musik, Film und Kunst. Darüber hinaus wird die KI-Technologie bereits in die allgemeine Schulbildung integriert, und wenn sie in Zukunft auch in die berufliche Bildung einfließt, wird sie einen erheblichen Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der Humanressourcen haben.
Das Bildungsministerium Südkoreas hat die ‘Bildungsrevolution 2030’ ausgerufen und angekündigt, ab März 2025 als das erste Land der Welt offiziell digitale KI-Lehrbücher für Englisch, Mathematik und Informationsfächer einzuführen. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Ländern steht Südkorea der Anwendung von KI-Technologien im Bildungsbereich sehr positiv gegenüber. Ähnlich wie Korea fördern Länder wie die USA und Japan aktiv die KI-basierte Bildung, indem sie die Zahl der KI-bezogenen Informationskurse erhöhen und KI-Strategien und Bildungsrichtlinien aufstellen.
Das vom BMBF in Deutschland geleitete Projekt ‘Digitalpakt’ zielt auf den Auf- und Ausbau der digitalen Infrastruktur in Schulen in ganz Deutschland zwischen 2019 und 2024. Auch das BMBF hat sein Budget aufgestockt, um Bildungsmaterialien, Lernplattformen und zukunftsweisende Projekte zur Unterstützung des KI-Lernens bereitzustellen. In Deutschland gibt es derzeit eine rege Expertendiskussion über die gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen durch KI-Technologien wie ChatGPT, insbesondere im Bildungsbereich. Die Experten betonen für digitale Bildung, dass junge Menschen in Deutschland in Zukunft auf dem internationalen Arbeitsmarkt nicht mehr konkurrenzfähig sein könnten.
Aus diesem Grund wird dieser Vortrag die aktuelle Situation in Korea und Deutschland in Bezug auf die Anwendung und die Herausforderungen der KI-Technologie in der schulischen und beruflichen Bildung vergleichen. Zu diesem Zweck werde ich erstens die Bildungssysteme Koreas und Deutschlands vergleichen, zweitens den aktuellen Stand der KI-Politik im Bereich der digitalen Bildung in Korea und Deutschland ermitteln und drittens Fälle von digitaler Bildung in der beruflichen Bildung in Korea und Deutschland (Ansan und Aachen) vergleichen und analysieren. Schließlich werde ich Perspektiven und Herausforderungen für die digitale KI-Bildung und die zukünftige Gesellschaft aufzeigen.
Wenn Sie an der Veranstaltung teilnehmen möchten, schreiben Sie bitte eine kurze E-Mail an events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Workshop "Practical and Epistemic Challenges of Living Lab Research - Perspectives from Australia and Germany" with Darren Sharp
2024-09-09 14:00 - 18:00 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Aim:
The aim of the workshop is
(1) to inform each other about current activities and thus to inform and inspire each other about current perspectives on living lab research in the respective countries,
(2) to reflect on these perspectives against the background of different research cultures in the respective countries
(3) to identify future perspectives for cooperation.
Approach:
The workshop will be scheduled for four hours and will be structured according to the three objectives of the workshop. Invited speakers will present examples and experiences from the two research contexts. This will be followed by a collaborative exploration of practical and epistemic practices. In a concluding phase, further questions will be identified and perspectives for future cooperation will be explored.
Background:
In the first two weeks of September 2024, Darren Sharp, senior researcher at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), is coming to Aachen based on a Kármán Fellowship. Darren Sharp is leading a challenging project which aims to turn the Monash Campus into a Net-Zero CO2 space following a living lab approach.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to lli@humtec.rwth-aachen.de.

Net Zero Precinct Futures: place-based experimentation for sustainability transitions - Theodore von Kármán Lecture with Darren Sharp
2024-09-11 17:00 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Lecture by Darren Sharp, Monash Sustainable Development Institute (Melbourne, Australia); RWTH Kármán-Fellow
Abstract:
Urban experimentation is an emerging field that brings together academic, government, industry and community actors to trial new modes of sustainable development and transition governance approaches. Envisioning sustainable futures involves the co-creation of visions and pathways to orient actors involved in urban experimentation and guide the direction of transformative change.
In this lecture Dr Darren Sharp will present an overview of Net Zero Precincts, a four-year ARC Linkage project to develop and test a new interdisciplinary approach to help cities reach net zero by taking the precinct as an optimal scale for urban transitions. The research takes inspiration from the Net Zero Initiative through which Monash University has committed to achieving net zero emissions across its four Australian campuses by 2030. Net Zero Precincts brings together transition management with design anthropology to support the transition to net zero cities in a way that is responsive to the needs of people, politics and place.
Dr Sharp will discuss the interdisciplinary approach being developed through an overview of the envisioning process that took place via a workshop series with participants from the Monash Precinct community. Walking tours were used as a catalyst to co-create future visions that took the form of ‘Living Worlds’ using speculative prototyping. A portfolio of Living Lab experiments has been activated to provide an enabling environment for research teams and project partners to test and demonstrate net zero innovations in a place-based setting. The lecture will conclude by exploring how transition managers can leverage monitoring and evaluation to support reflexive learning, steer transformative outcomes and build capability for the governance of experimentation.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Towards Expanded STS? - Stefan Böschen
2024-10-09 17:00 - 18:30
This event is part of our winter semester 2024/25 Lecture Series Expanding Science and Technology Studies.
To take part either online or in presence, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Freedom of Research: Art Exhibition
2024-10-21 - 2024-11-05 | RWTH Aachen, C.A.R.L., Claßenstraße 11, Aachen, 52072, Germany
We are pleased to have brought the exhibition “European Archive of Voices” to Aachen.
A team of 50 young international interviewers has interviewed people from across Europe born in the first half of the 20th century in their mother tongue about their experiences, fears and hopes. This diverse collection of memoirs includes activists, artists, lawyers, politicians, scientists, writers, and many more. Through these varied biographies, the project aims to highlight the rich, complex, and polarized histories of Europe and the generation that rebuilt it after 1945.
Young photographer Maximilian Gödecke, focusing on reportage and portrait photography, travels through European countries, capturing personal portraits of the witnesses to history featured in the “European Archive of Voices.” Through his lens, he captures not only their faces but also the spirit of a “last generation.” The project won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize in 2020.
The exhibition will be displayed in the Foyer of the C.A.R.L. at RWTH Aachen University. The opening will take place on Monday, 21 October 2024, at 12:00pm.
This event is part of the “Freedom of Research: A European Summit – Science in Times of Uncertainty” symposium and jointly organized by the Charlemagne Prize Foundation and RWTH Aachen University’s Knowledge Hub and Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (co/re).

Political Philosophy of Engineering and Technology - Workshop organized by Carl Mitcham (Colorado School of Mines)
2024-10-22 10:30 - 18:30 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Abstract:
Why political philosophy of technology? Why aren’t the philosophy and ethics of technology adequate? A classic answer is contained in the concluding chapter of Nicomachean Ethics where Aristotle transitions to the Politics: “Ethical arguments may have the power to encourage and stimulate the high-minded and those of noble character, but they are insufficient to encourage the many to nobility and goodness” (NEX, 9). Only in a world blinded by excessive individualism could ethics alone be thought sufficient to deal with questions of good and evil in an engineered and engineering world. Indeed, as Aristotle also notes at the beginning, it is politics that determines how technics and sciences are to be pursued and practiced in the polis (NE I, 2). It’s not just ethics. As engineered technologies increasingly supervene on and threaten the lifeworld through both success and destruction, only politics, political action, and political philosophy can save us.
Speakers:

Avigail Ferdman (Technion, Israel)
Giovanni Frigo (ITAS Karlsruhe)
Lukas Fuchs (TU Eindhoven)
Viet Anh Nguyen Duc (TU Darmstadt)
Please find the prorgam here.
Here you can see the event announcement.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

An IAEA for AI? The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence and Governance Models from the Nuclear Age - Elisabeth Röhrlich
2024-10-30 17:00 - 18:30

Freedom of Research: Freedom Late Night
2024-11-04 18:30 - 23:30 | Ludwig Forum, Jülicher Str. 97-109, Aachen, 52070, Germany
We invite you to an inspiring event featuring thought-provoking talks, artistic performances, and scientific presentations. Delve into the critical questions: “Why is science crucial for freedom?” and “How do key technologies ensure our freedom and that of future generations?” Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a vibrant discussion on the power of education and technology in securing freedom for all.
The Freedom LateNight event will be held in the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst in Aachen, offering a unique and immersive experience that explores the multifaceted concept of freedom. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with the theme from various perspectives – artistic, scientific, political, and deeply personal – across three dynamic stages.
This event is part of the “Freedom of Research: A European Summit – Science in Times of Uncertainty” symposium and jointly organized by the Charlemagne Prize Foundation and RWTH Aachen University’s Knowledge Hub and Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (co/re).

Freedom of Research: Symposium
2024-11-05 09:00 - 16:30 | Forum M, Mayersche, Buchkremerstraße 1-7, Aachen, 52062, Germany
In a conference format, we will explore various aspects of research freedom in times of uncertainty through panel discussions, TED Talks, and interactive sessions. Engage with renowned scientists, hear firsthand accounts from representatives in business, politics, and academia, discuss the ideas of young researchers from across Europe who are currently working on pressing issues that may affect all of us, and reflect with us on the major challenges for the future of Europe.
These thematic discussions will take place on the rooftop of the bookstore “Mayersche” at forum M, right in the heart of Aachen. Whether you are a student, an expert, a media representative or a local, you are warmly invited to join the debates.
This event is part of the “Freedom of Research: A European Summit – Science in Times of Uncertainty” symposium and jointly organized by the Charlemagne Prize Foundation and RWTH Aachen University’s Knowledge Hub and Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research (co/re).

“5 to 12” RWTH Science Night
2024-11-08 18:00 - 2024-11-09 00:00 | RWTH Aachen, C.A.R.L., Claßenstraße 11, Aachen, 52072, Germany
On November 8, 2024, the 20th science night “5 to 12” will take place at RWTH Aachen University. The annual event aims to present science and research at the RWTH to the public in different events across the RWTH Campus. The main hub of these events will be the C.A.R.L. and the program can be found here (in German).
The KHK c:o/re will be represented on the second floor of the C.A.R.L. in S05 with its theme “Unboxing Science: Experience Knowledge in Art and Society”.
Join us anytime between 7 p.m. and midnight!

Logic and the Philosophy of Science - Workshop with Gabriel Sandu
2024-11-12 09:00 - 15:30 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
9:00 – 9:10 Welcome
9:10 – 10:05 Gabriel Sandu (University of Helsinki): “Logical representation of causal inferences in statistics”
10:05 – 11:00 Gabriele Gramelsberger (RWTH Aachen University): TBA
(11:00 – 11:15 Coffee break)
11:15 – 12:10 Dawid Kasprowicz (RWTH Aachen University): “Modality as a subject for science and modality as experience in science”
(12:10 – 13:40 Lunch break)
13:40 – 14:35 Markus Pantsar (RWTH Aachen University): “Logical foundations of science in the age of generative AI”
14:35 – 15:30 Jack Copeland (University of Canterbury, Christchurch): “Uncomputability(?)—mental and physical”

STS between the Climate Crisis and the Einstein Telescope - Harro van Lente
2024-11-13 17:00 - 18:30

Alan Turing, Artificial Intelligence, and the Imitation Game - Jack Copeland
2024-11-20 18:00 - 19:30 | OecherLab, Kapuzinergraben 19 D, 52062 Aachen
At the turn of the millennium Time magazine listed Alan Turing among the twentieth century’s 100 greatest minds. His ideas helped to transport us from an era where ‘computer’ was the term for a human clerk who did the sums in the back office of an insurance company or science lab, into a world where many have never known life without the Internet. His fundamental contributions to computer science are now widely celebrated, but less explored is his pioneering work on what we now call artificial intelligence.
This lecture describes the evolution of Turing’s thinking about intelligent machinery, from his wartime investigations at the British codebreaking headquarters at Bletchley Park, through to his groundbreaking publications in the early 1950s. His famous 1950 article ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’ described his Imitation Game, now called simply the ‘Turing test’. Over the years, Turing’s test has been the target of a hail of objections from computer science, philosophy, and elsewhere. The lecture will suggest that leading objections in the literature miss their mark, being for the most part based on misunderstandings of Turing’s subtle test; and recent claims that Turing’s test has actually been passed will be evaluated in the light of Turing’s own specification of the test.
Jack Copeland is Distinguished Professor in Humanities at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), a world-wide expert on the life and works of Alan Turing as well as a leading philosopher of AI, computation, and information. The lecture is followed by a fireplace talk between Jack Copeland and Holger Hoos on Turing and AI. Holger Hoos is professor of computer science at RWTH Aachen University and leading researcher in the field of machine learning. The evening will be introduced by Gabriele Gramelsberger, director of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Research Aachen (KHK c:o/re) and professor of philosophy of science and technology at RWTH Aachen University. The event is organized in cooperation between the KHK c:o/re, the Center for Artificial Intelligence at RWTH Aachen, and the OecherLab. Available seats are limited; we recommend arriving early.
You can find the poster for the event here.

Workshop: "Emergence, Causality, and Complexity"
2024-11-25 - 2024-11-26 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Organizers: Erica Onnis, Ana María Guzmán, Alexander Schubert
Abstract:
According to many authors involved in the debate about emergence, ontological emergent phenomena can be characterized as partially dependent on a more fundamental base and causally novel in instantiating new causal properties able to make them autonomous. Moreover, emergence is often recognized as a relevant feature in complex systems, namely those systems composed of several parts mutually influencing each other and producing unexpected and sometimes highly organized behaviors. The significance of the relationship between emergence, causal efficacy, and complexity is clear. However, how to conceive more precisely this connection and the notions at play is far from straightforward.
From a historical point of view, one particular type of complex object sparked the debates that continue today: the organism. After the advent of biology as a science, the question of whether the complexity of biological phenomena introduces some kind of non-linear causality shaped the search for a middle position between mechanism and vitalism in, for example, post-Kantian idealism and, subsequently, British Emergentism which gave the middle position its contemporary name. Debates about constraints and their causal relevance in biology prove that such historical considerations are still relevant today.
The international workshop Emergence, Causality, and Complexity aims to bring together contemporary and historically inspired philosophical perspectives on the nature of
emergent phenomena, their causal dimension, and their role in shaping our view of complexity.
Please find the program of the workshop here.
If you would like to attend, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Cancelled: From IP and Cookies to IDFA/GAID. Towards a Historical Sociology of (Digital) Addressing - Ricky Wichum
2024-11-27 17:00 - 18:30
Unfortunately, this lecture has been canceled due to health reasons. We will continue our lecture series on December 18. Thank you for your understanding.
This event is part of our winter semester 2024/25 Lecture Series Expanding Science and Technology Studies.
To take part either online or in presence, please write a short email to events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.

Spaces of Research Beyond the Laboratory? The University as a Neglected Research Object in STS - David Kaldewey
2024-12-18 17:00 - 18:30

Communicating Science and Technology. How Can STS Benefit From Historical Semantics? - Désirée Schauz
2025-01-08 17:00 - 18:30

Lecture “The (global) politics of Technology Assessment – discursive-deliberative or agonistic?” – Pierre Delvenne
2025-01-16 18:30 - 20:00 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
This lecture is part of the “STS Forum” organized by the HumTec (Human Technology Center) at RWTH Aachen University.
Abstract:
The dynamics of convergence of specific practices (e.g., responsible research and innovation [RRI], technology assessment [TA]) across research and innovation policies are frequently interrogated by STS scholarship. Progress itself has often been defined by its ability to make projects expand without changing their framing assumptions. This quality is “scalability” [and it refers to] the ability of a project to change scales smoothly without any change in project frames (Tsing 2015: 38). In this talk, I will explore the possible standardization of TA practices and knowledge norms and its consequences at a time when the TA community is considering that TA can and should go global beyond nation-specific practices to meet the current socio-technical challenges of our time.
Can TA practices be scaled up to reach and engage a global audience? Can there be a global TA organization? Given the normative and philosophical roots of TA that make it unique among the many other practices that aim to support decision making and public debate, the only sustainable answer to these questions forces us to consider TA’s relation to democracy. I will start by arguing that the politics and practices of scaling TA are matters of democratic politics, since there is no viable TA without a strong democratic life.
From this point, I will ask: What kind of democracy are TA practitioners committed to, and how has this shaped the approaches they have developed to support decision-making and public debate? What are the limits of these visions in terms of the insights and revitalization they can still bring to TA practices and democratic orders? With these questions in mind, I would like to explore the roots of TA in relation to democracy. Drawing on recent work (Delvenne and Parotte 2024), I will begin with a brief overview of four theories of democracy that I find relevant and useful for making sense of TA’s crucial role and activity in the tumultuous times that many democracies are currently experiencing. First, I will consider the theories of discursive and deliberative democracy developed by Benjamin Barber and Jürgen Habermas, which are often considered by the TA community to be at the core of TA’s rationales and methodologies (van Est/Brom 2012). I will then include the ideas of two authors who theorized agonistic models of democracy – Noortje Marres and Chantal Mouffe – whose approaches that value conflict and dissensus have somehow been neglected by the TA community and, to a large extent, by scholarly work on TA.
I will argue that the contribution of discursive and deliberative theories, while crucial, is now leading to an impasse from which a way out must be found. The successes of the model of democracy sought by Habermas and Barber remain mixed. All around, the framework of representative democracy is cracking and in need of deep repair given the widening gap between those who govern and those who are governed. As an institutional embodiment of democratic ideals translated into practice, if it is to continue to play a pioneering role, adapted to the contemporary challenges posed by the rapid rise of far-right extremism and epistemic ambiguity about the status of science, TA needs to renew its sources of theoretical inspiration.
I am not advocating a switch between discursive-deliberative and agonistic approaches. Instead, my intention is to blur the traditional distinctions between these models of democracy, leading to the conclusion that it is fruitful to consider the boundary between the two as not insurmountable, in theory as in practice. Identifying what I will call ‘disturbance zones’ at the intersection of these theories of democracy will allow me to consider the global politics of technology assessment. I will do so tentatively, guided by Anna Tsing’s conceptual lens, arguing that in the shadow of the zeitgeist of scalability, it is necessary to turn attention to the nonscalable as a spur to TA theory and practice.

What Role for History and Philosophy of Science in STS? Critical Engagements with Empirical Inquiry - Sabina Leonelli
2025-01-21 17:00 - 18:30

ERS invites… Dr. Pēteris Zilgalvis: Competition Law in the Digital Era: AI and other new challenges
2025-01-24 12:00 - 13:30 | RWTH Aachen University – Super C – Generali Saal 639, Templergraben 57, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Professor Stefan Böschen, Director of the KHK c:o/re, and the Exploratory Research Space (ERS) of RWTH Aachen University invite you to another lecture of the “ERS invites…” series, this time featuring Dr. Pēteris Zilgalvis, Judge at the General Court of the European Union, to discuss how AI is reshaping the legal landscape from various perspectives.
For further information, please visit the event website.

Beyond-nature / Beyond-life
2025-02-21 10:30 - 17:30 | Stadtpalais/Online, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Due to the rapid development of materials sciences during the past decades, such disciplines known as bioinspired materials and biorobotics have posited themselves as domains whose starting point is inspiration from nature, or more precisely, from various ‘natural’ or biological objects and processes found in the natural world. For example, the technology of CRISPR gene editing developed in the 2010s may be elucidating for such projects. These projects in genetics go beyond the common conception of the readability of the world, and showcase attempts to program nature as an application of genome editing. One may therefore suggest that ‘nature’ does not act any more as a limit beyond which one cannot reach further; rather, it is a mark which may be or should be transcended.
As such examples may show, some of these developments intend to reach domains that are not only ‘beyond nature’ but also ‘beyond life’. Because many of these projects are often conducted in relation with medical research, they may result in possibilities of re-writing life while simultaneously re-writing what health and illness may potentially become. Especially due to the advent of cyber technologies, the emerging artifacts that combine the material with the digital revolutionize medical worlds, surpassing conceptions of ‘biology as information’. Correcting nature and correlatively correcting life for the purpose of ‘fixing’ or ‘ameliorating’ parts of it opens new inquiries on how understanding, researching and theorizing life and its being ‘nature’ expand ‘beyond’ these domains.
The aim of the workshop is to explore new discourses and conceptual approaches in which the research on ‘beyond-nature’ and ‘beyond-life’ is embedded. We intend to question the ways in which they reflect older traditions, identify concrete examples that support the use of such concepts, and examine how they contribute to a new theoretical landscape in the 21st century.
Link to the Zoom Meeting:
https://rwth.zoom-x.de/j/61559379749?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 615 5937 9749
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Program
10:30 Coffee and cookies
11:00-11:30: Denisa Butnaru, Michael Friedman: Introduction
11:30-12:30: Falk Tauber (Freiburg)
Beyond natural motion – Plant and animals as inspiration for soft autonomous machines
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:00: Bianca Jansky (Augsburg)
Mundane every-day life maintenance and repair-work in algorithm-mediated (self)care with devices in, on and with bodies
15:00-16:00: Eric Deibel (Maynooth)
AI and humans who think about life: on neurotechnology and generative biology
16:00-16:15 Coffee Break
16:15-17:15: Ulrich Schwaneberg (Aachen)
Protein engineering of adhesion promoting peptides for innovations in material science that go beyond-nature
19:30: Dinner

International Conference “Cultures of Research”
2025-03-25 09:00 - 2025-03-27 15:30 | Forum M, Mayersche, Buchkremerstraße 1-7, Aachen, 52062, Germany
The international conference “Cultures of Research” takes stock of the first four years of the fellow program at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg: Cultures of Rearch (c:o/re). During these years, more than fifty international fellows came to the KHK c:o/re to explore the transformation of research in its many facets. Topics such as the digitalization of science, the growing influence of AI on research practices, the organizational transformations in science, the “engineering of science”, and the historical as well as intercultural comparison of “varieties of science” have been widely discussed. The conference “Cultures of Research” will focus the discussions on these topics in various panels with current and alumni fellows as well as members of the scientific advisory board of the KHK c:o/re.
A detailed program with all speakers and titles can be found in this document.
Program

Time
Tuesday, 25th
Wednesday, 26th
Thursday, 27th

09:00-12:00
Welcome and Introduction
Panel 4 “Digitalisation of Science” Lecture by Franck Varenne
Panel 7 “Expanded STS” & Euregio

Panel 1 “Historicizing Science” Lecture by Hans-Jörg Rheinberger

Lunch

13:00-15:30
Panel 2 “Dealing with Complexity” Lecture by Mary Morgan
Panel 5 “Varieties of Science” Lecture by Alfred Nordmann
Panel 8 “Art and Research”

Coffee break

16:00-18:00
Panel 3 “Lifelikeness”
Panel 6 “Freedom of Research” Lectures by Frederik Stjernfelt & Steve Fuller
Departure

18:00-20:00

Evening Keynote Lecture by Ad Aertsen

Conference Dinner

Reception (finger food)

Workshop "Engaged Social Studies of Modelling"
2025-04-03 09:00 - 15:30 | Stadtpalais, Theaterstraße 75, Aachen, 52062, Germany
Modelling and computing are increasingly at the heart of innovation, governance, and public policy. Yet, many modelers remain detached from the social, ethical, and political implications of their work, often viewing these aspects as irrelevant to the success of the model. The flexibility, variety, and resistance to falsification, coupled with their status as authoritative evidence-making technologies, have also enabled models to distance themselves from public scrutiny and social critique.
For years, historians and philosophers of science, and researchers in Science and Technology Studies have studied climate, health, environment, and economics models. However, these insights have often been fragmented, external to modeling communities, and disconnected from their everyday concerns and practices, perpetuating the “two cultures” divide, famously described by C.P. Snow.
In the wake of global experience of modelling COVID-19, however, the social and political dimensions of modeling have come into sharper focus within modeling communities themselves, and the call for more responsible modeling and computing is now gaining momentum.
This shift presents an opportunity to bridge these divides. This workshop aims to capitalize on this moment, as the social critique of modeling is now beginning to catch the attention of the modelling community. We will begin by discussing what social studies of modelling is, and how it can evolve from an external reflection into a transformative, engaged research program that works within and alongside modelling communities.
If you would like to attend, please register with: events@khk.rwth-aachen.de
Program:
09:00 – 9:30: Welcome & Coffee
09:30 – 11:00: Opening Discussion: Ehsan Nabavi, Andrea Saltelli, Lieke Melsen, Stefan Böschen
Brief introductions + initial reflections on ‘social studies of modelling’ (framed by a short draft shared in advance)
11:00 – 11:15: Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:45: Roundtable: ‘Engaged social studies of modelling?’
12:45 – 14:00: Lunch Break
14:00 – 15:30: Collaboration and Reflection on Next Steps
Mapping intersections and possibilities for collaborations. Reflections, next steps, and possible ways to continue the conversation
