University of Missouri 2026 Virtual Summer School on the Foundations of the Mind Sciences

University of Missouri 2026 Virtual Summer School on the Foundations of the Mind Sciences

We are pleased to announce the University of Missouri 2026 Virtual Summer School on the Foundations of the Mind Sciences, sponsored by the Florence G. Kline Chair in Philosophy and directed by Gualtiero Piccinini. This program brings together leading researchers to provide advanced training on the state of the art.

Accepted participants will attend for free via Zoom.

Participants will pursue their own research project and do some readings before each session. They will engage directly with the speakers and each other through lectures and discussions. Applicants with particularly strong research proposals may be selected to receive feedback on their projects from faculty.

We welcome applications from advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scholars working on foundational topics in the mind sciences (such as linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology). Philosophers are especially welcome to apply; applicants from other disciplines may be accepted in exceptional cases.

Daily Schedule: Sessions will be held during 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT (UTC-5)

·       9-9:30 Welcome and Introduction

·       9:30-10:15 Guest Presentation (except for PGS who will join around 9)

·       10:15-11:30 Discussion/Q&A with the Guest Presenter

·       11:30-12:00 Closing Remarks

Speaker Schedule: (with guest presenters joining the session 9:30-11:30 am CDT (UTC-5), except for PGS who will join the session around 9 am):

• June 8, 2026 – Evaluation and Affect, Frédérique de Vignemont
• June 9, 2026 – Evolutionary Foundations of Cognition, Peter Godfrey-Smith
• June 10, 2026 – Time for research (no session)
• June 11, 2026 – Computation and Representation, Cameron Buckner
• June 12, 2026 – Language and Propositional Thought, Nikola Kompa
• June 15, 2026 – Mechanisms and Explanation, Carl Craver
• June 16, 2026 – Action and Situated Cognition, György Buzsáki
• June 17, 2026 – Time for research (no session)
• June 18, 2026 – Consciousness and Attention, Ned Block
• June 19, 2026 – Introspection, Maja Spener

Application Requirements:
Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a summary of their research project (max 750 words), and a statement of how the summer school will benefit them (max one paragraph). Priority will be given to research proposals on topics in the foundations of the mind sciences.

Application Deadline: January 15th, 2026
Submission Email: [email protected]

We look forward to your applications!

Thank you,
Lauren Graf
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Missouri-Columbia
[email protected]