Recap: Bielefeld University’s Anniversary Conference


Autor*in: Jörg Heeren

Researchers from several disciplines came together for a conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bielefeld University. The topic of the conference was the future of theory, which posed the question of whether the “great theories” have become obsolete in the Data Age. A new video highlights the views of conference participants.

Keynote speakers included Professor Dr. Robbert Dijkgraaf, a string theorist from Princeton University’s Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and Professor Dr. Nancy Cartwright, a philosopher of science from Durham University in Durham, United Kingdom, and the University of California, San Diego, California. In the video, they present their views on the questions raised at the conference.

The anniversary conference was preceded by the student conference “Student Research: Studierende machen Wissenschaft” (“Students Doing Science”). Another video captures the highlights from this event.