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I am a philosopher of science focusing on modelling practices in the life sciences. My current academic home is the Technische Universität Berlin, where I am a Postdoc at the Institut für Philosophie, Literatur, Wissenschafts und Techniksgeschichte.

My previous positions were at the University of Copenhagen where I was part of the project: Living Machines? Philosophical perspectives on the engineering approach in biology, at the Center for Philosophy of Natural and Social Sciences at the London School of Economics, and at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. I did my PhD on the structure of explanations in cognitive neuroscience at the University of East Anglia.

Work

My research is, for the most part, in the philosophy of biology and cognitive neuroscience. In my work I take a methodological approach which I think can better capture the interactions between the different facets of scientific knowledge: exploration, prediction, concept formation and explanation.

I believe that fostering a critical understanding of scientific method is part of the appeal and usefulness of philosophy. I am also interested in how current cognitive neuroscientific research can inform our approach to education within and outside academia.

I try to think about the broader context of scientific research, specifically the ethical, political and cultural implications of the way in which neurobiological research is used in multidisciplinary projects as well as in medical practice.

Info

This site contains information about my papers, teaching, work in progress, the conferences and workshops in which I am involved. For more information, you can consult my resume or contact me at mariaserban.org@gmail.com