Call for Submission: 2025 He Xianzhao Philosophy of Science Essay Prize
[20/08/2025]
The Center for Philosophy of Science, HKUST invites submissions for the 2025 He Xianzhao Philosophy of Science Essay Prize. Entries in the form of an essay of 3,000-3,500 words in English are invited. The author of the winning entry will be invited to present the work at the 3rd CWB Philosophy of Science Annual Workshop to be held in June 2026. The award will carry a cash prize of 2,000 HK dollars.
For more information about the competition, please see: https://philsci.hkust.edu.hk/prize/
First MPhil Graduate of the Center
[16/08/2025]
Miss Qinyi Wang successfully defended her MPhil thesis, 'Understanding without Explanation', in the oral examination.
Qinyi became the first MPhil graduate of the Center for Philosophy of Science, HKUST. Congratulations!
Qinyi will start her PhD study, working on a Kantian approach to scientific understanding, under the supervision of Professor Yafeng Shan in September 2025.
Donation received to support the Center
[14/08/2025]
The Center for Philosophy of Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology received a donation to establish the 'He Xianzhao Philosophy of Science Essay Prize' (贺贤钊科学哲学论文比赛奖) and support the research-related activities conducted by Prof. Yafeng Shan.
'This isn't just an award - it's the seed for Asia's next generation of philosophers of science.' Mr. He concluded at the signing ceremony.
The Center is grateful to the generous support of the entrepreneur Mr. He Xianzhao.
Mainland-Hong Kong University Alliances Funds Awarded
[11/08/2025]
Professor Yafeng Shan was awarded the Mainland-Hong Kong University Alliances Funds 2025-26 to organise the Shanghai-Hong Kong Philosophy of Science Workshop Series. The first edition will take place on 25 - 26 October 2025 in the Center for Philosophy of Science, HKUST. The second edition will be held in Shanghai in the Spring semester, 2026.
Postdoc Opportunities: RGC Junior Research Fellow
[23/07/2025]
The Center for Philosophy of Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology invites expressions of interest for the RGC Junior Research Fellow Scheme (JRFS). The scheme provides funding to cover the costs of 24-month full-time post-doctoral fellowship (or up to 36 months, if extension is granted). The purpose of this highly competitive fellowship is to support young research talents (local and non-local) in building up research and development (R&D) careers in Hong Kong.
For more information about JRFS, please click here.
Eligibility: have obtained / been conferred a PhD degree or an equivalent qualification on or after 1 January 2021 (i.e. not more than three years before 2024), or will complete the requirement of a PhD degree or an equivalent qualification by 31 August 2025
Research Interests: philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of social science
Deadlines and Process: The deadline for expressions of interest is Sunday 17th August 2025 (5pm, GMT+8). To express your interest please email your CV (including a list of publications), and a description of your proposed research project (1 page max) to Prof. Yafeng Shan (hmyfshan@ust.hk). For enquiries, please also contact Prof. Yafeng Shan (hmyfshan@ust.hk).
CFP: Synthese Topical Collection 'Explanation, Narrative, and Understanding in the Social Sciences'
[05/07/2025]
The topical collection 'Explanation, Narrative, and Understanding in the Social Sciences' of Synthese, co-edited by Yafeng Shan and Qinyi Wang, will be open to submissions on 1 September 2025. This topical collection aims to examine the notions of explanation, narrative, and understanding in social science. The deadline for submissions is 28 February 2026. For more information, please click here.
A Harvard offer-holder will transition to our Center
[20/06/2025]
Thanks to the support of the Provost office and Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, the Center for Philosophy of Science, HKUST just accepted a PhD offer-holder from Harvard University. The student will be formally enrolled in September, 2025, working on an integrated HPS approach to causation in biology under the supervision of Prof. Yafeng Shan.
Adam Chmielewski will visit the Center
[26/05/2025]
Professor Adam Chmielewski, Distinguished Professor, Institute of Philosophy of the University of Wrocław, will visit the Center for two weeks (23 June - 6 July). During his stay, Professor Chmielewski will join us for the 'Explanation, Narrative, and Understanding in the Social Sciences' conference and HKUST-ZJU Philosophy of Science Summer Symposium and discuss research collaboration with Professor Yafeng Shan.
PKU will visit the Center
[24/05/2025]
The Section of Philosophy of Science and Technology, Department of Philosophy, Peking University will visit the Center on 22 - 23 November 2025. We will host the first edition of the HKUST-PKU Symposium on Philosophy of Science Workshop (HPS*PHS).
NPU will visit the Center
[21/05/2025]
The School of Marxism, Northwestern Polytechnical University will visit the Center for Philosophy of Science, HKUST on 24 June 2025.
Yiwen Zhan on Bounded Rationality
[12/05/2025]
HKUST HPS Research Seminar (Spring 2025) concluded with a fascinating talk by Prof. Yiwen Zhan from Beijing Normal University. Professor Zhan developed a reformist account of epistemic rationality.
ZJU will visit the Center
[23/04/2025]
The School of Philosophy, Zhejiang University will visit the Center for Philosophy of Science, HKUST in early July, 2025. The HKUST-ZJU Philosophy of Science Summer Symposium is scheduled to be held on 3 July 2025.
HKUST MPhil students will present their work at the Joint Session 25 and EPSA 25!
[23/04/2025]
Qinyi Wang's paper 'A Kantian Approach to Scientific Understanding' and Ben Kwok's paper 'Interprogramme Theories and Lakatos' "Empirical Content"' were accepted for presentation at the Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and Mind Association 2025, which will take place at the University of Glasgow, UK, on 11-13 July 2025.
Ben Kwok's paper 'Explicating Proximal-Distal Causation in Social Science' was also accepted by the APSA Cognate Session of the European Society for Philosophy of Science, which will take place at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, on 25 - 27 August 2025.