We read and discuss research articles from different fields in computational biology. The specific articles are selected after discussions with the attendees. If no consensus is found, one paper will be imposed. The goal is that each participant will be able to present at least one paper during this semester.

To get credit points, students must show proficiency in reading, discussing, and presenting original research papers or other scientific literature.

This time our Journal Club will again be a “Research café” with the title “(Computer) Science and society”.

This course will happen as a round table, always underlined by ethical discussions, and has a mixture of three main topics:

education

biology

technology

In biology, for example, we thought of starting by revisiting some elementary questions such as:

Is the organism a mechanism (machine)?

Is the organism controlled by its parts?

What is the whole of life in an organism?

Are thoughts a product of the brain?

And…

Are we allowed to ask ourselves and answer these questions?

In general we thought of having an open space, in which everyone will have a chance to express opinions and listen. The goal is more to enlarge our scientific views and critical senses, but we may also find new answers and pathways to follow.

Some literature (books) for inspiration:

The Dawn of Everything - A New History of Humanity (David Graeber and David Wengrow, 2021)

Against method (Paul Feyerabend, 1975)

Farewell to Reason (Paul Feyerabend, 1987)

Life Itself: A Comprehensive Inquiry Into the Nature, Origin, and Fabrication of Life (Robert Rosen, 1991)

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas S. Kuhn, 1962)

The Falling Sky - Words of a Yanomami Shaman (Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert, 2013, originally published in French in 2010)

Ideas to Postpone the End of the World (Ailton Krenak, 2019)