BSPS Annual Conference

The BSPS Committee have decided to hold the BSPS 2021 Conference entirely online. While we remain cautiously optimistic that, by July 2021, it may be possible to travel within the UK and gather in groups, we feel more pessimistic about the possibilities for international travel. Only 15% of the symposium submissions were from entirely UK-based panels, which means that a large number of presenters will only be able to attend the conference if we move online.

Programme

Keynotes by Sabina Leonelli and Alexander Bird

Details on the conference programme and registration can be found on the conference homepage. A provisional conference programme can be found here.

As well as the usual papers and symposia, the programme includes special interest lunches and a games night.

The BSPS Committee have decided to hold the BSPS 2021 Conference entirely online. While we remain cautiously optimistic that, by July 2021, it may be possible to travel within the UK and gather in groups, we feel more pessimistic about the possibilities for international travel. Only 15% of the symposium submissions were from entirely UK-based panels, which means that a large number of presenters will only be able to attend the conference, if we move online.

Registration now open

Register to attend the BSPS Annual Conference here. While we will not be charging a registration fee for attendance at the BSPS 2021 Conference, we encourage attendees to become members (or renew their membership) of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science here.

• Membership is extremely reasonably priced, starting at $20 per year, and just $4 per year for students
• Members receive complimentary electronic access to the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. Y
• It allows us to provide small conference grants, awards, and doctoral scholarships, as well supporting our annual conference
• Members are eligible for book discounts and other benefits

Symposia at the BSPS 2021 Annual Conference Online

Submission is now closed for proposals for symposia to be presented at the BSPS 2021 Annual Conference on July 7th-9th 2021.

Overview

A symposium should involve several presenters, typically 3-4, organised around a topic of interest. Symposia may be on any topic in the philosophy of science. A maximum of 90 minutes of space on the programme will be allocated to successful symposia. The symposia will be selected by the BSPS committee. The committee will strive for quality, variety, innovation, and diversity on the programme; ideally the programme will reflect the full range of current work in the philosophy of science. Symposia that make connections with, or include, working scientists are warmly invited. We will not be considering ‘Author Meets Critics’ sessions, but topical sessions that build upon recently published books are acceptable.

Instructions

Proposals must include sufficient supporting material to permit the committee to evaluate the quality and interest of the symposium. Proposals for symposia should include:

• The title of the proposed symposium
• A short descriptive summary of the proposal (100-200 words)
• A description of the topic and a justification of its current importance to the discipline (500-1000 words)
• Titles and abstracts of all papers, with 250-500 words for the title and abstract of each paper
• A list of participants and either an abbreviated curriculum vitae or short biographical description (not to exceed 1 page) for each participant, including any non-presenting co-authors.
• Institutional affiliation and e-mail addresses for all participants, including any non-presenting co-authors.
• Our current planning assumes that we will be able to hold the BSPS 2021 Conference face-to-face. If it turns out that this is not possible, we will hold this conference online instead. Please indicate in your application whether or not you will be willing to deliver your symposium in an online format.

Deadline and dates

The deadline for submitting symposium proposals has now passed, and authors have been informed of the committee’s decisions. Please see important information below on BSPS policy regarding multiple submissions.

Submission

Proposals for symposia should be submitted via email as one pdf file to “bspsconference2021@gmail.com”

Rules for Acceptance

No one will be permitted to present more than once at BSPS 2021. Thus, if a symposium proposal in which you are a presenting author is accepted, you cannot submit a contributed paper for which you are the presenting author. Commentators that are part of symposia are considered to be presenting authors. A scholar may appear as co-author on more than one paper or symposium talk, but may present at BSPS 2021 only once.

Any individual can be part of only one symposium proposal in which he or she is a presenting author. Note that this policy excludes the practice of being a presenting author for more than one symposium proposal and subsequently choosing to present in only one symposium if multiple proposals are accepted.

If an accepted symposium subsequently loses participants, maintaining acceptance will become contingent upon the symposium organiser developing satisfactory alternatives to maintain the quality and coherence of the committee.

All questions about submissions should be directed in the first instance to conference organiser, Kirsten Walsh, on “bspsconference2021@gmail.com”

Call for Papers: BSPS 2021 Annual Conference Online, 7-9 July

Submission is now closed for abstracts of papers to be presented at the British Society for the Philosophy of Science 2021 Annual Conference online on July 7th-9th 2021.

Papers may be on a wide selection of topics within the philosophy of science (see list below) and should be suitable for presentation in 20 minutes, which will allow 10 minutes discussion. Successful contributors have now been notified of the committee’s decisions, but due to the high number of submissions, we are unable to share referees’ comments. Please see important information below on BSPS policy regarding multiple submissions.

List of topics:

1. General philosophy of science
2. Philosophy of the physical sciences
3. Philosophy of the life sciences
4. Philosophy of the cognitive sciences
5. Philosophy of the social sciences
6. Formal philosophy of science
7. Integrated history, philosophy, and social studies of science
8. Science and values

Submission Instructions

To submit your abstract, go to: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=bsps2021

1. Log in (create an account if you do not already have one).
2. Select ‘New Submission’ and enter the requested information, including the title of your paper.
3. Enter your abstract (in plain text, of no more than 1000 words) into the Abstract box.
4. Please prepare your abstract for anonymous refereeing. Bear in mind that referees will have to reach a judgement based only the information provided in the abstract.
5. Please select the topic (or topics) that best describe the area of your submission.
6. Finally, select ‘Submit’.

For more information please email: bspsconference2021@gmail.com.