[bioundgrd] UC Irvine: Opportunity for Graduate Study in Philosophy of Science

[Joyce Roberge]

Our unique program has attracted students with undergraduate degrees in Biology whose curiosity extends beyond research in a laboratory. For instance, our students use evolutionary game theory, a framework developed by John Maynard Smith and George Price to consider Darwinian competition, to study the evolution of otherwise seemingly puzzling phenomena, such as communication, altruism, and morality. There is also a "Baboon Club" which meets regularly to read work on primatology and discuss issues related to theory of mind and the evolution of various behaviors. We are also interested in various other biological topics, including modes of inheritance and the concept of morphospaces. Our department is an ideal location for students who wish to continue studying biology, but focus on more philosophical and theoretical issues than would be addressed in a traditional biology graduate education.

Additionally, our department has close ties with the Biology department at UC Irvine. For instance, the two departments co-teach a Philosophy of Biology course every year. Our students also regularly attend the Sackler Colloquium, a conference centered around a different biological topic every year, organized by Francisco Ayala at UC Irvine (http://www.nasonline.org/programs/sackler-colloquia/).

Since many of our most successful students have come from a background in biology and only discovered our department by chance, we want to get the word out to as many students as possible who would thrive in our department. For more information, please visit our department website (http://www.lps.uci.edu/), or feel free to contact me (hannahr at uci.edu<mailto:hannahr at uci.edu>) or the director of graduate studies, Jim Weatherall (weatherj at uci.edu<mailto:weatherj at uci.edu>).

Many thanks,
Hannah Rubin (4th year LPS Graduate Student)






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