2024 Conference

The Society for the Metaphysics of Science (SMS) will be hosting its 9th Annual Conference on 29-31 August 2024 virtually on Zoom.

We will have two keynote speakers: Sara Bernstein (University of Notre Dame) and Kristie Miller (University of Sydney).

In addition, Kenneth Aizawa (Rutgers University) will deliver the Presidential Address.

Submission is invited of papers on any aspect of the metaphysics of science, broadly construed. Paper presentations will be 30 minutes, with 10 minutes for a commentator, 5 minutes for the speaker's reply, and 15 minutes for Q&A. Submissions should be full papers in PDF format, of no more than 4,500 words (excluding references and footnotes), and should include an abstract of 150-250 words and a word count.  All papers must employ gender-neutral language and be prepared for anonymous review.

Please send your paper including title and abstract as a PDF document to soc.mp.sci.2024@gmail.com (with your name, affiliation, and the title of the paper in the body of the email and ‘Abstract Submission’ in the subject line).

The submission deadline is March 15, 2024. Notifications of acceptance will be delivered by the end of May 2024. Selected speakers should confirm their attendance by June 15.

As well as various presentations, the conference will also feature an organizational meeting of the Society to elect officers, plan future conferences, etc. Both those interested in presenting papers and/or participating in the Society are invited to the conference.

In addition to the regular SMS conference, there will be a virtual summer school held August 20-21, 2024, with two streams available: on pragmatism w/ Sandy Mitchell (University of Pittsburgh) & Holly Andersen (Simon Fraser University); or on natural kinds w/ Tuomas Tahko (University of Bristol) & TBD.   Further details, including instructions for how to apply, will be made available on the summer school page.

Conference Registration (includes SMS membership)

Registration is required for all participants. We are offering three registration tiers, and participants may self-select.

$5 - recommended for students and/or those without access to research funds

$25 - recommended for those with access to research funds

$100 - recommended for those with excellent research funding who wish to support the society

Program committee:

Chair: Vera Hoffman-Kolss (University of Bern)

Committee Members:

Harjit Bhogal (University of Maryland, College Park)

Ellen Clarke (University of Leeds)

Nicole Dolby-Rathgeb (University of Zürich)

Chris Dorst (University of Florida)

Dmitri Gallow (Dianoia Institute of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University)

Joaquim Giannotti (Universidad de Chile)

Andreas Hüttemann (University of Cologne)

Stephan Leuenberger (University of Glasgow)

Arnon Levy (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Vera Matarese (University of Perugia)

Ezra Rubenstein (UC Berkeley)

Kian Salimkhani (Radboud University Nijmegen)

Vanessa Seifert (University of Athens)

Lisa Vogt (University of Geneva)

Isaac Wilhelm (National University of Singapore)

Local organizers:

Zoom Coordinator: Tyler Hildebrand (Dalhousie University)

Program Coordinators: Zee Perry (University of Birmingham) and Alistair Wilson (University of Leeds)