Workshop: Scientific Progress via Model Transfer? The Case of Cultural Evolution

Event Title: Scientific Progress via Model Transfer? The Case of Cultural Evolution

Date of the Workshop: April 9–10, 2026

Venue: Leibniz University Hannover (Hannover, Germany)

Organizers: Karim Baraghith and Edoardo Peruzzi, co-sponsored by the ERC Project Model Transfer and theDFG-funded projectGraphs and Networks as Explanatory Tools in Cultural Evolutionary Theory.

Confirmed Speakers: Mathieu Charbonneau, Alberto Acerbi, Armin Schulz, Hanne Andersen, Catherine Herfeld, Thomas Reydon.

Deadline for Abstracts: December 15, 2025. Submissions (300–400 words, including references) should be sent to [email protected] or [email protected].

Presentation Format: 45 minutes total (30 minutes talk + 15 minutes Q&A).

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the upcoming workshop “Scientific Progress via Model Transfer? The Case of Cultural Evolution”, to be held at Leibniz University Hannover (Germany) on 9–10 April 2026. 

Over the last decades “Cultural Evolution Theory” has matured into a thriving research programme, offering mathematically explicit explanations of phenomena as diverse as language change, technology adoption, social norms and economic development. Much of this success rests on the transfer of formal models—from population genetics, evolutionary game theory, Bayesian learning, phylogenetics, and network science—into the cultural domain.

In relation to that, philosophers of science have shown a growing interest in the phenomenon of model transfer, that is, the transfer of models or modeling techniques across different scientific domains. Central questions concern what exactly travels when models cross disciplinary boundaries — whether formal structures, model templates, or entire conceptual frameworks — and under what methodological conditions such transfers produce genuine knowledge rather than superficial analogy.

As model transfer becomes increasingly recognized as a defining feature of contemporary science, it is vital to examine its role in driving scientific progress. At first glance, model transfer appears to be conducive to progress by enhancing explanatory depth, predictive accuracy, theoretical unification, and problem-solving capacity. Yet, the question of how and to what extent cultural evolutionary theory as a case of model transfer contributes to progress in science remains largely unexplored.

By bringing together scholars from cultural evolutionary research and from philosophy of science, the workshop aims to open a timely and much-needed conversation on the relations between model transfer and scientific progress by taking cultural evolution as a prime case study. 

Topics for discussion in the workshop include (but are not limited to):

• Model transfer and scientific progress

• How can model transfer be understood as a form of scientific progress?

• How does it compare with more classical accounts of progress (e.g., accumulation of knowledge, increasing explanatory power, unification)?

• Case Studies from Cultural Evolution

• In what ways do the success stories of Cultural Evolutionary Theory (e.g., phylogenetic trees, network models of innovation and diffusion, and gene–culture co-evolution of social norms) serve as compelling test cases for evaluating scientific progress through model transfer?

• Conceptual and technical challenges

• What exactly counts as a model or a template in Cultural Evolutionary Theory? 

• How are biological concepts, such as fitness, selection, and drift, adapted and/or generalized, both conceptually and technically, when applied to domains like economics or linguistics?

• Limits and risks of model transfer

• When does imported modelling machinery advance explanation, prediction, and integration?

• When might model transfer obscure domain-specific realities or lead to distortions?

• How can researchers identify and mitigate these risks?

Queries: Edoardo Peruzzi ([email protected]), Karim Baraghith ([email protected]).