Synthetic Modeling of Life and Cognition: Open Questions (SMLC 2013)

Organizers:
Luisa Damiano (University of Bergamo) &
Vincent C. Müller (Anatolia College/ACT & University of Oxford)

In recent decades researchers in various scientific domains have been working intensely on procedures directed to exploring life and cognition in a “synthetic” way, i.e. through modeling in artificial systems. Research on biological and cognitive processes is thus been increasingly based on implementations in “software” (simulations), “hardware” (robots) and “wetware” (chemical systems) used as scientific models of the processes in question. This scientific development is often seen as the emergence of a new general methodology, a “synthetic methodology”, slated to become a dominant force in science. This synthetic methodology poses a challenge for both science itself and the philosophy of science: to define the possibilities, the limits, and the ways of the synthetic modeling of life and cognition, and its relevance for biological, behavioral, cognitive, and social sciences.

The workshop “Synthetic Modeling of Life and Cognition: Open Questions” will tackle this challenge by creating a strongly interdisciplinary forum that can formulate and address these fundamental questions. The workshop brings together pioneers of the synthetic exploration of life and cognition from different scientific domains (computer science, synthetic biology, cognitive, developmental, social robotics...), and invites them to discuss with philosophers and other specialists studying this emerging form of scientific investigation.

Some of the questions will be: In what sense and under which conditions can artificial systems be considered models of natural living and cognitive processes? What are
the prospects for advancing biological, behavioral, cognitive and social sciences through these methods? How can we ensure a successful transmission of knowledge from the “sciences of the artificial” to the “sciences of the natural”? What are the impacts of synthetic methodology on our classical way of conceiving and practicing science? What are the impacts on our scientific, social and environmental ecologies?

Keynote speakers

Minoru Asada, Osaka University, Japan

Can "Synthetic Methodology" cause a paradigm shift?

Angelo Cangelosi, University of Plymouth, UK
Embodied Language Learning: From Sensorimotor Intelligence to Symbols

Luciano Fadiga, University of Ferrara and Italian Institute of Technology, Italy
Robots for Brains

Stuart Kauffman, The Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, USA

Answering Descartes: Beyond Turing

Pier Luigi Luisi, University of Rome Three, Italy
Contingency in molecular evolution

Giorgio Metta, Italia Institute of Technology, Italy
Developing Intelligence in Humanoid Robots

Giulio Sandini, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy

Brain for Robots

Ricard Solé, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
Synthetic life: cells, machines and the boundaries of evolution

Registration

Registration is online through the University of Bergamo.

In order to register, please, complete and submit the online form, which can be
found here:

http://www.unibg.it/formconvegni2/maschera.asp?convegno=3547.

Deadline: August 31st.

Detailed information on how to register are on the online form.

If you need further information, please, contact [email protected] (cc: [email protected]).

Registration fees:

Standard: 150 Euros

Students: 75 Euros

Student
fees are for full-time undergraduate and graduate (Master's, Doctorate)
students enrolled in accredited educational institutions. To belong to
this category, you must be actively pursuing an undergraduate or
graduate academic degree, with or without scholarship. (Postdocs and
staff scientists/researchers are not students).