ROTO Research Group

Book cover of "The Riddle of Organismal Agency: New Historical and Philosophical Reflections" (Routledge, 2024). The book belongs to the "History and Philosophy of Biology" series. The editors are Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda, Jan Baedke, Guido I. Prieto, and Gregory Radick. The design features a geometric pattern of interlocking, multicolored triangles and rectangular prisms in shades of red, yellow, teal, white, and pink. The Routledge logo appears in the lower right corner.

Still puzzled by the debate on organismal agency? Our edited collection brings historians, philosophers, and scientists into dialogue—offering a wide array of perspectives. An affordable paperback edition will be out at the end of the month! www.routledge.com/The-Riddle-o... #HPS #evobio #philsky

Somehow the picture is broken - here it is again:

Poster for the talk by Celso Neto (University of Exeter), entitled "Race Reification and Population Descriptors in Human Genomics". It will take place on Monday, 13 October 2025, at 4 pm (CET) via Zoom.

Next Monday, we start the new Lecture Series! We're very happy to welcome @celsoneto.bsky.social as our first speaker. 🤩 Celso will talk about race reification and population descriptors in human genomics.
Just register here to participate: rotorub.wordpress.com/roto-lecture...
#PhilSci #PhilMed

Deadline today!
#hps, #pos

Jane Goodall, primatologist and friend to chimpanzees, dies at 91 She used her global fame to draw attention to the plight of dwindling chimpanzee populations and, more broadly, to the perils of environmental destruction.

An icon

It is so inspiring to listen to world cafe insights and see them taking shape in the incredible art of Caileigh Pentz 😍 #hps #hpb #philbio 🌱🦜🦠

Amazing talk by @msimang.bsky.social at the "Human Diversity Dilemma" Workshop (@localmicrobes.bsky.social), Cape Town! Check out this great infographic on shifting racial classif. in South Africa 17-21C by @tessamuldvarp.bsky.social and Phila:
figshare.com/articles/fig...
#hpbio #philsky #race

Starting with an exciting talk from Exodia Setati on the landscape of microbiome research in Africa

We are excited to have Jan Baedke from @roto-rub.bsky.social in our interdisciplinary workshop. Join online! perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...

Great news!
Our workshop will also be streamed online!
Join us this Wednesday morning from 8:30 by following the link available here: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...

For all my @ruhr-uni-bochum.de people: I am part of the organizers of this cool reading group since almost 2 years now. Feel free to join this amazing PhD safe space with great people!

Coming December 16!

Assistant Professor Plant-Microbe Interactions We seek a creative, collaborative, and visionary plant biologist to establish an internationally recognized research program at the forefront of plant-microbe interactions aimed at understanding how t...

The Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word!

jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...

Journal for General Philosophy of Science JGPS has been a forum for original research and discussion in the philosophy of science since the publication of its first volume in 1970. The journal’s scope ...

Special Issue of the Journal for General Philosophy of Science: GWP.2022 - Proceedings of the Triennial Conference of the German Society for Philosophy of Science, TU Berlin, August 2022 -- ed. by @agelfert.bsky.social, Birgit Beck, and @beakr.bsky.social #philsky #philsci

Photo of the botanical garden in Dresden that we visited yesterday.

Photo of the Frauenkirche in Dresden

Photo of a cupboard full of coloring agents in glass bottles that we were shown during a tour through the historical color collection at the TU Dresden.

Photo of local organiser Gisela Hürlimann during her welcome address at the opening session of the conference.

Happy to be in Dresden for my 3rd conference this year: the annual meeting of the German Society for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology. Looking forward to learning a lot about animal history after already talking about plant history at the FoGeL meeting yesterday. 🦉🌳
#PhDSky #HistSci

Epistemic Challenges Faced by Non-native English Speakers in Philosophy: Evidence from an International Survey - Review of Philosophy and Psychology The widespread use of English in the field of philosophy facilitates international collaboration but may also pose significant challenges in understanding, analyzing, or producing information for both native (NES) and non-native English speakers (NNES). These challenges have not yet been systematically investigated. We conducted an international survey of philosophers (N = 1,615), comparing NES and NNES, while controlling for their academic position (e.g., student, staff, etc.) and other relevant variables. Responses indicated that NNES needed up to twice as long as NES to read English articles and nearly twice as long to prepare English presentations. Additionally, even NNES with the highest English proficiency reported significantly more English manuscript rejections, greater avoidance of attending or asking questions at philosophy events in English, and more frequent feelings of ridicule for their English use. No statistically significant difference was observed in the reported time required to complete an English draft, but NNES tended to report shorter times, possibly reflecting greater reliance on external assistance to detect linguistic errors. Finally, while extensive use of English may help NNES overcome difficulties with English, 88% of NNES respondents reported that it also reduced their ability to discuss philosophy in their native language. This study provides the first systematic, quantitative evidence of English-related epistemic challenges that many NNES may face in philosophy, highlighting significant linguistic inequities.

Review of Philosophy and Psychology Article

Epistemic Challenges Faced by Non-native English Speakers in Philosophy: Evidence from link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I am quite excited to share a new preprint on the prospects for a 'metaphilosophy of science'—a second-order inquiry into the concepts, assumptions, aims, and methods that underpin philosophy of science itself. 👇📃 philsci-archive.pitt.edu/26661/ 1/3 #philsci #philsky #HPS #HPbio #metaphilosophy

A botanical breakthrough: OHIO undergraduate and professor discover several new species of violets in the mountains of Virginia OHIO senior Collin Thacker, under the mentorship of professor Harvey Ballard, discovered four new species of violets in the mountains of Virginia, including two tucked away in Shenandoah National Park...

Awesome: Undergraduate and professor discover several new species of violets in the mountains of Virginia.

“Put very simply, we looked."

#iamabotanist #plantpeopleFTW

www.ohio.edu/news/2025/09...

Yesterday we went with some of our students of our HPS+Logic Master Program at @ruhr-uni-bochum.de to RUB's history of medicine collection, learning about NS inheritance books/propaganda and embryotomy tools. Though but rewarding trip!
www.hpsplus.org
#hps, #HistSci #HistSTM

Wissenschaftliche*n Mitarbeiter*in (m/w/d) in einem Editionsprojekt

📢 Come work in Bochum!
- 3 year PostDoc Position in an edition and research project on Ernst F. Apelt
- PhD in philosophy or history of science and very good German language skills required
- PI: Prof. Helmut Pulte
- Deadline: 6.10.25
All information here: jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/d...

Poster for a workshop organized by the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven, titled “Behavior Across the Tree of Life: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges.” The poster features circular images of lichens, bacteria, ants on a leaf, and a carnivorous plant with prey, symbolizing diverse behaving forms of life. Event details: 26–27 September 2025, Council Room (Raadzaal), Institute of Philosophy. Invited speakers: Kristin Aleklett, Silvia Guerra, Tobias Starzak, Kirsty Y. Wan. Organizers: Gianmaria Dani, Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda, Grant Ramsey. KU Leuven logo appears at the top, with a QR code at the bottom right.

We are gearing up for our interdisciplinary workshop next week! Bringing together both established & early-career researchers, the event will explore the theoretical & methodological challenges of studying behavior across the tree of life! 👇 hiw.kuleuven.be/clps/events/... #philsci #HPbio #evosky

Screenshot of the article header from Synthese, titled ‘Driftability and niche construction,’ authored by Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda and Grant Ramsey.

Organisms alter selective pressures in many ways. But can they also shape the drift probabilities of their populations? In our recent paper, we argue that they can—and, in doing so, we expand the scope of #nicheconstruction theory 📄👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #HPBio #evobio #ecology #HPS

CFP on Recent Work in Philosophy of the Historical Sciences special issue Revue Philosophique de Louvain. Abstract 500 words to charles.pence@uclouvain.be & daniel.swaim@marquette.edu, by October 1, 2025.
Accepted abstracts full papers due July 1, 2026
pencelab.be/en/events/rp...
#HPS #paleosky

Looks like an exciting series of seminars on the paleobotany — the green component of the continental biotas. A way to reduced the Metazoan-centric bias of the way evolution and Earth-system dynamics proceeds 👇
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Geology

JOB AD: If you research philosophy, history or social studies of biology, with interest in agroecology, crop science or environmental intelligence, consider applying for 3-year postdoctoral fellowship in Munich! Deadline for applications: 31/10, details www.sts.sot.tum.de/en/sts/arbei... #philsci

Wow, all the speakers in this semester are on bluesky!! We're very much looking forward to your talks, @celsoneto.bsky.social , @cmarin.bsky.social, @hylomorphic.bsky.social, @charbelelhani.bsky.social, @rebeccasear.bsky.social, and @libbyoneil.bsky.social!

Overview of the ROTO Lecture Series in the winter semester 2025/2026. The talks will be: - "Race Reification and Population Descriptors in Human Genomics" by Celso Neto (University of Exeter) - "Understanding plant holobionts through complexity science" by César Marín (Universidad Santo Tomás) - "What is Dialectical Biology?" by Chris Shambaugh (University of Oregon) - "Learning from Partial Overlaps Between Knowledge Systems" by Charbel El-Hani (Federal University of Bahia) - "21st century eugenics, scientific racism and the role of academia in promoting political ideology" by Rebecca Sear (Brunel University London) - "The Organism and the System: Boundary Crossings in 20th Century Science" by Libby O’Neil (Mississippi State University)

New semester, new lecture series 🎉Starting next month, we welcome amazing scholars to give online talks in the history and philosophy of life sciences. Find all dates and registration links here: rotorub.wordpress.com/roto-lecture...
We look forward to seeing you there 🤗
#PhilSci #HistSci #HPBio

[NEW PAPER] In "Beyond Dichotomies", I challenge the false dichotomy between subjectivity and objectivity in human social relationships. I show how they are both biological and social, using kinship research as an example. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

#PhilSci #Anthropology #PhilSky

History of Molecular Biology Collection This unparalleled collection includes Rosalind Franklin's historic 'Photo 51,' which revealed the double-helix structure of DNA.

News in the history of molecular biology. The Science History Institute in Philadelphia has acquired a huge archive of correspondence and other scientific material from the pioneers of molecular biology (Franklin, Klug, Perutz, Delbrück etc, with items from Crick and Watson, too). 1/n

IT'S ADORABLE!
New fish species just dropped: the bumpy snailfish at 10,000 ft down in the ocean
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/s...