Auditoires Socrate

Welcome to CEFISES!

Since its founding in the 1960s by Jean Ladrière, CEFISES, the Center for the Philosophy of Science and Society at the Université catholique de Louvain, has been one of the leading centers in Europe for the study of the philosophy of the natural and formal sciences.

Read more here about the mission of the center, its history, and its scope, as well as our position within UCLouvain.

CEFISES is comprised of three faculty members, two emeritus professors, and numerous post-doctoral and doctoral researchers.

The members of CEFISES are involved in a wide variety of current and former research projects, which you can discover here.

  • New doctoral student: Wen Shichao
    Bio Wen Shichao is a native of China’s Hubei Province, where the rural landscapes and scientific influence shaped his early years. He graduated from Yangtze University in Hubei Province, China in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology. During his undergraduate years, he had the opportunity to collaborate with a mentor on rice hybridization and … Read more
  • Post-Darwinian Societies Seminar, 2023–2024
    In collaboration between CEFISES (Charles Pence) and the Chaire Hoover d’éthique économique et sociale (Gregory Ponthière), we’re continuing last year’s series of talks on the theme of Post-Darwinian Societies. The goal of the Post-Darwinian Societies Seminar is to bring together researchers from various disciplines – including, but not limited to, philosophy, social sciences, economics, history … Read more
  • Visiting Researchers Program: Robert Frühstückl
    We take a look back at another visiting researcher, Robert Frühstückl, who came in Winter 2023 for a period of 3 months. Bio Robert studied philosophy and history at the University of Vienna, Austria, and is now a doctoral candidate in the research training group on ‘Integrating ethics and epistemology of science’ at the University … Read more
  • New doctoral student: Dieu-Merci Manwana Sindani
    Bio Dieu-Merci Manwana Sindani grew up in an environment of intense philosophical practice in his country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the end of his undergraduate studies in Philosophy, he graduated from both the Université Saint Augustin in Kinshasa and the Pontificia Università Urbaniana in Rome. In the same vein, he completed his postgraduate … Read more
  • Visiting Researchers Program, spring 2023: Wiktor Rorot
    A look back at the visiting researchers that have come to Louvain-la-Neuve this past spring. We start with Wiktor Rorot (University of Warsaw / Polish Academy of Sciences). Bio Wiktor Rorot is a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Doctoral School at the University of Warsaw and at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the … Read more
  • CfP: Integrating the History and Philosophy of Biodiversity
    Narratives of Diversity, Extinction, Conflict and Value CEFISES faculty Dr Charles Pence and PhD student Max Bautista Perpinyà are organizing a conference entitled Integrating the History and Philosophy of Biodiversity. Narratives of Diversity, Extinction, Conflict and Value, to take place in Brussels on October 20 and 21*, 2023. The conference aims to bring together scholars … Read more

Keep in Touch

YouTube

With more and more of our events taking place either online or in a hybrid in-person/online format, you can see a number of recent talks and conference presentations (both given by center members and at CEFISES) on our YouTube channel. Like, comment, and subscribe!

Social Networks

You can follow updates from CEFISES both on Twitter @cefises and on Facebook via the page for the Institut supérieur de philosophie at UCLouvain.

Contact Us

Director: Charles H. Pence, charles.pence@uclouvain.be

Centre de philosophie des sciences et sociétés (CEFISES), Place du Cardinal Mercier 14, bte. L3.06.01, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique

If you’re coming to visit, check out instructions about how to find us on our Contact page.