BioKoinos
Philosophy of Biology UCMadrid Group
Members
María Cerezo
María Cerezo is a Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science in the Department of Logic and Theoretical Philosophy of the Complutense University of Madrid. Her research trajectory has been centred on issues on the origins of Analytic Philosophy and, in particular, on Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-philosophicus. More recently, she has started to work on Philosophy of Biology and Metaphysics of Science, and is now leading a project on the Metaphysics of Biological Sciences.
Research Interests: persistence of living entities (organisms, species); conceptual issues in reproduction and development; causality and dispositions in biological phenomena, in particular, genetics and development; processual teleology
Contact: macere03[at]ucm.es
Laura Nuño de la Rosa
Laura Nuño de la Rosa is a philosopher of biology working on the history and philosophy of developmental biology and evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). Graduated in Humanities, in 2010 she obtained a Master’s Degree in Biophysics at the Autonomous University of Madrid. In 2012 she obtained a Ph.D. on the problem of organismal form in contemporary biology, at the Complutense University of Madrid and the Paris 1-Sorbonne University. After enjoying postdoc positions at the KLI Institute (Klosterneuburg, Austria) and the University of the Basque Country, in 2015 she joined the Department of Logic and Theoretical Philosophy at the Complutense University, where she is currently an assistant professor.
Research Interests: Her current interests combine research on the recent history of evolutionary biology with the study of epistemological and ontological issues in contemporary biology, as well as the social implications of biosciences, including synthetic biology, theories of reproduction, and the sciences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contact: lauranun[at]ucm.es
Vanessa Triviño
Vanessa Triviño is a philosopher of biology focused on exploring the way metaphysics can help to clarify and characterize conceptual and theoretical problems in biology and philosophy of biology. In particular, she is focused on exploring the metaphysical assumptions and ontological implications given in different biological theories such as those characterizing fitness, organisms and holobionts, among others. She was graduated in Philosophy in 2012 and obtained a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Philosophy in 2013, in the University of Murcia. In 2014 she obtained a PhD fellowship from the Fundación Séneca: Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia, to work on her Ph.D. She did research stays at the KLI Institute (Klosterneuburg, Austria) in 2015; The Egenis (Éxeter, U.K) in, and the Complutense University of Madrid in 2017. In 2019 she obtained her Ph.D on 'Questions at the intersections between metaphysics and biology: towards a metaphysics of biology', at the University of Murcia. After being a lecturer and assistant professor at Rey Juan Carlos University (2019-2022), she is currently an assistant professor at the Complutense University of Madrid.
Research Interests: Her main interests are in metaphysics, in particular in questions regarding persistence, change and identity; and in philosophy of biology, addressing problems related to the characterization of organisms and individuals.
Contact: vanesa.trivino[at]urjc.es
Cristina Villegas
Cristina Villegas is a philosopher of biology working on probabilities and the notion of chance in evolutionary biology. She graduated in Philosophy (Sevilla, 2013), and obtained Master's Degrees in Education (Granada, 2014) and Logic and Philosophy of Science (Santiago de Compostela, 2015). In 2015, she joined the Complutense University of Madrid with a predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. She obtained her PhD in 2020 (thesis: 'Variational Probabilities and Developmental Propensities. A Philosophical Study of Chance in Evolutionary Variation'). She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Austria (2021-2022), and she is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa.
Research interest: Philosophy of evolutionary biology; Philosophy of probability; Chance in evolution; Causality and dispositional explanations; Evolutionary developmental biology.
Profiles: Researchgate, Academia
Contact: cvillegas[at]fc.ul.pt
Juan Campos
Juan Campos Quemada is a part time lecturer at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), where he teaches philosophy of nature and advanced courses in the philosophy of physics and biology. He graduated in Physics at UCM, and took advanced courses in Astrophysics (2005, Autonomous University of Madrid) and Education (2005, UCM). He obtained his Master's Degree in Advanced Studies in Philosophy (2010), and his PhD (2019, thesis: "Quantum Darwinism: The Concept of Information and the Darwinian Metaphysics") at Complutense University of Madrid.
Research interests: His research focuses on the foundations of quantum mechanics and their relation with epistemological and ontological aspects of evolutionary biology. He has devoted part of his publications to clarify the possible influence of quantum indeterminism in evolution; the role of probability in a hypothetical quantum origin of life; and the conceptual, epistemical and ontological problems around the interactions between information theory, quantum mechanis and the theory of natural selection.
Contact: jcq[at]fis.ucm.es
Stella Villarmea
Stella Villarmea is Professor of Philosophy at Complutense University of Madrid, and Associate Faculty Member in Philosophy at the University of Oxford. As a Marie S. Curie Fellow at the University of Oxford, she led the research project, ‘Controversies in Childbirth: From Epistemology to Practices (VOICEs)’. As the principal investigator of the project ‘Philosophy of Birth: Rethinking the Origin from Medical (PHILBIRTH-1)’, she coordinated an interdisciplinary team of philosophers, health practitioners and social scientists around childbirth and birth care. She currently leads a Programme of Excellence on the Philosophy of Birth (PHILBIRTH-2) at Complutense University of Madrid.
Research interests: Villarmea is a main contributor to the emergent field of the philosophy of birth. With an expertise in epistemology and feminism, her works address the philosophical relation between knowledge and emancipation. She has published on conceptual innovation and scepticism, as well as on Wittgenstein, Kant, and Levinas. Her outreach activity focuses on the educational and health sectors.
Profiles: Academia, Oxford profile, Values-based practice profile
Contact: svillarm[at]ucm.es