Doctoral Research Fellow - Philosophy of Science (EXPIRED)

More about the position

Many complex structures and processes of life are at least partly the result of spontaneous self-assembly processes. In the AssemblingLife project, a central aim is, within the framework of philosophy of science, to develop new ideas of life and life science explanation by bringing in the increasing knowledge and awareness of self-assembly processes from various scientific fields (for example nanoscience, molecular biology and soft material science). Important objectives are to provide a comprehensive analysis of the concept and idea of self-assembly across fields and scales and to decipher differences, similarities and connections between self-assembly and ideas of self-organization of living systems. The project aims to challenge (but also to build on) existing accounts of explanation in philosophy of biology and life sciences, such as current accounts of genetic causation as well as mechanist and interventionist ideas of explanation. It is also a central goal to explicate how several explanatory frameworks, such as for example biophysics and molecular biology, may compete and/or integrate from the viewpoint of self-assembly processes. The project aims at building bridges between mechanist and organicist views of life, to provide new answers to questions of scientific explanation, the relation between scales and levels of explanation, and ultimately to the question of how to understand life itself.

This PhD position will be specifically associated with one of two research strands in AssemblingLife: (1) One strand considers how the understanding of genetic causation may be transformed by bringing in current knowledge about self-assembly processes. One possible route would be to investigate genetic material as “nudgers” of self-assembly processes. (2) A second strand will be an investigation of self-assembly in the context of philosophy of causal and/or mechanistic explanation across fields and scales. A central question will be to what extent self-assembly processes challenges existing philosophical frameworks of scientific explanation. The candidate´s proposed doctoral research need not address these topics exactly as described here. Candidates should, though, in their research description and application address how their proposed research relates to one of the research strands described. More information about the relevant work packages can be made available to applicants (see contact details below).

The candidate is expected to work closely with the PI and the other participants in the AssemblingLife project.

The person appointed will be affiliated with the Faculty's organized research training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty with a view to obtaining the degree of PhD. The successful candidate is expected to have Oslo as their primary workplace, to join the existing research milieu or network and contribute to its development. 

The appointment is for a duration of 3 years. All PhD Candidates who submit their doctoral dissertation for assessment with a written recommendation from their supervisor within 3 years or 3 ½ years after the start of their PhD position, will be offered, respectively, a 12 or 6 month completion grant.