Philosophy, Evidence and Policymaking

This workshop brings together researchers working on the theory and philosophy of science and evidence in policymaking as well as practitioners such as knowledge-brokers, policymakers and policy advisors. It is organised by researchers at University of Antwerp, University of Groningen and the VU Amsterdam in collaboration with the Science for Policy project at the Netherlands’ Ministry of Education, Culture & Science.

The workshop is aimed at both early-career and senior researchers who are interested in the theory and the practice of evidence generation for and use in policymaking and the interaction between science and policy. This field of research addresses questions such as: What type of evidence should one use to develop policies? What should the role of scientific advisors be in policymaking? Does it make sense to rank evidence in hierarchies? How should policymakers deal with scientific expert disagreement? What does an appropriate role for non-epistemic values look like in evidence and science for policy?

We invite you to send abstracts on the abovementioned topics, as well as on related ones. Abstracts should:

• Not exceed 300 words (references excluded);

• Be sent in an anonymised document to the following email address: [email protected];

• Be suitable for a 30-minute presentation (+15 minutes of Q&A);

• Be sent by the deadline: 15 July 2026 (notification of acceptance on 1 August 2026);

Participation in the workshop without sending an abstract is possible by filling out the registration form no later than 15 August 2026. 

The first part of the workshop will include a keynote lecture by Dr. Donal Khosrowi (University of Hannover) and, after, presentations of the selected abstracts. After the lunch break, the second part of the workshop will include a keynote lecture by Dr. Jaakko Kuosmanen (Finnish Academy of Science and Letters) and structured dialogues in break-out groups with practitioners, aimed at making participants reflect together on various topics related to evidence and policy.

Moreover, the workshop aims to encourage interaction between researchers and practitioners. Therefore, the workshop will also include sessions in which there is structured dialogue between participating researchers and practitioners from the Netherlands’ government.

Questions can be sent to [email protected]