Biasing Mechanisms in Scientific Research

In the philosophy of science, recent work has led to an emerging consensus that science is not value-free, and that values, including social and political values, play different roles in the research process. It has also become clear that, values can have both a positive and a negative impact on science. Sometimes, values can contribute to science’s epistemic and social goals, while other times, they can have a detrimental effect on science’s epistemic goals, i.e., biasing research results. With this framework in mind, the main goal of this workshop is to clarify the negative roles of values in scientific research, and in particular their sometimes-biasing effects. While it is well-known that biases impact scientific research results, we have a less clear understanding of the different types of biases, their mechanisms, and their scope.

The workshop includes talks by invited speakers Anke Büter (Aarhus University), Heather Douglas (Michigan State University), Jacob Stegenga (University of Cambridge), and David Teira (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia). There is no participation fee. The workshop language is English; the workshop is in-person only.

Register now! (Deadline: 22 May 2024 23:59 CEST)

This workshop is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and is a collaboration between SOCRATES and the research project “A Philosophical Approach to Biasing Mechanisms in Scientific Research", which is a joint research project by Prof. Dr. Torsten Wilholt of Leibniz University Hannover and Prof. Dr. Manuela Fernández Pinto of the Centre for Applied Ethics at the Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Kolumbien).

Schedule (also available as PDF)

Day 1: Friday May 31^st, 2024

Day 2: Saturday June 1^st, 2024

Workshop Information

Getting to the workshop

The workshop will take place on the campus of Leibniz University Hannover in room 1401 (14th floor) in the Continental-Hochhaus (building 1502), Königsworther Platz 1, 30167 Hannover.

The closest airports are Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, and Berlin; the closest train station is Hannover Central Station (Hannover Hauptbahnhof).

See here for directions to Leibniz University Hannover (> Other university locations) by car, public transport, and plane.

Hotels

Click hereto download a list of hotels in Hannover city.

Lunch

Lunch is catered; all food is vegetarian or vegan. Most of the dishes are also gluten-free. Please see the menu on the day for more information.

Workshop Dinner

The workshop dinner (self-paid) will take place at Liebling Falafel, Nikolaistraße 3, 30159 Hannover, on May 31st, 2024 at 17:30.

Accessibility

The building is wheelchair-accessible and there is a lift to the 14th floor. The building has two accessible restrooms; one on the ground floor and another on the 13^th floor. A euro key is required. Alternatively, a key can be borrowed from the porter who is seated at the entrance of the building. Note that the restroom on the ground floor is only wheelchair-accessible through a special entrance in the back of the building (signposted on the ground floor).