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Start of the fifth round of FRIAS Lunch Lectures in the summer term 2016

Public lectures by FRIAS Fellows on the topics "Paradigm Shifts in Science" and "Challenges of Ageing Societies"

Societies and institutions, science and research are subject to constant change. How have fundamental assumptions, definitions and methods of scientific research changed in the course of the last 50 years? And what are the challenges that society faces? The upcoming (fifth) FRIAS Lunch Lecture series will deal with this issue, beginning on April 28, 2016. Every second Thursday, these lectures will take place in lecture hall HS 1015 (KG 1) from 12:15 – 1:00 p.m. Fellows at FRIAS will give a short lecture on the topic of Paradigm Shifts in their respective discipline, followed by a discussion with the students. Furthermore, there will be an extra-series of Lunch Lectures on the topic of Challenges of Ageing Societies, organized by the current FRIAS Research Focus “Membrane Transport in Ageing and Disease.” Renowned scholars will question ageing in different societies, health care system and social challenges.

A paradigm, according to the historian of science Thomas Kuhn, is a set of practices that defines a scientific discipline at any particular period of time. Hence, all sciences have been, and continue to be, subject to fundamental changes and re-evaluations, resulting in paradigm shifts which may ultimately trigger scientific revolutions.
In the upcoming Lunch Lecture series, FRIAS Fellows from the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural and life sciences will address questions including the following: Which paradigm shift(s) has the relevant discipline experienced? What was their nature, which basic assumptions did/do they challenge, which effects did/do they have?

These and other questions will be addressed in 25-30 minute lectures followed by, on average, 10-15 minute discussions. The aim of this particular lecture series is to offer to both undergraduate and graduate students and, essentially, to everyone who happens to be interested a first-hand account of the disciplines and research expertise currently represented by the Junior and Senior Fellows working at FRIAS.

On April 28, 2016 Ad Aertsen will start the series with a lecture on “Paradigm Shifts in Neuroscience”, followed by Ilia Polian with “Paradigm Shifts in Physics, Engineering and Computer Sciences” on May 12, 2016. On June 6, 2016, Henriette Herwig will start the mini-series on Challenges of Ageing Societies by addressing the representation of Aging and Dementia in Literature.

More information on the programme of the Lunch Lectures

Previous Lunch Lectures as video-podcasts

04/2016