Who is new in our fellow community?

Project

“Reassessing Desire for Mode and Content”

Daniel Skibra earned his doctoral degree at Northwestern University, USA. Prior to coming to the Zukunftskolleg, he had already worked at the University of Konstanz as a postdoctoral researcher on the project “Universal Preferences for Natural Concepts” in the Department of Linguistics and the Department of Philosophy.

His research project at the Zukunftskolleg – entitled “Reassessing Desire for Mode and Content” – has to do with desire, its peculiar representational properties, and how these differ from other psychological states such as belief, for example. “Typically, we’d say both belief and desire are representational states,” explains Daniel. “What this means can be illustrated by some examples. When I believe something (say, that Olaf Scholz is Federal Chancellor), I stand in relation to what philosophers have called the “content” of the belief, which we can think of as a representation of the way I take the world to be. In this case, that is a representation that Scholz is Federal Chancellor. In desiring something, I also stand in some kind of relation to content; one that characterizes how I would like the world to be. If I’m waiting in line at the polls, I may want it to be the case that Scholz is Federal Chancellor (and so I would vote accordingly). This results in a picture that analyzes these psychological states into a content (the representational component of the state) and a mode (the relation to the content you are in when you have this attitude).

This way of thinking about things leads to a simple and elegant picture of psychological states, which has been popular both in philosophy and neighbouring disciplines. And it also allows for a very neat interface between our thoughts and what we express with our language in communication. The problem is that this simple picture I described above is not articulated very precisely, and once we probe the details, complications quickly arise. Without going into the complications too much, I’ll simply say: desire content doesn’t really behave the way we expect representations to behave, and it behaves differently enough from belief content that we begin to suspect that this mode/content picture can’t provide the simple and elegant picture we hoped for. Maybe it is just the wrong way to think about psychological states.”

His project involves evaluating this mode/content account of desire by taking the challenges seriously. “And I have a suspicion that we can provide an account of desire that indicates this way of thinking of psychological states after all.”

Daniel is very happy to be at the Zukunftskolleg: “Not only am I happy to be able to continue the collaborations I already had the good fortune to start with my colleagues in Konstanz, I’m excited to start more.”

Project

“Foundations of reinforcement learning”

Tobias Sutter earned a BSc and an MSc in mechanical engineering in 2010 and 2012 from ETH Zurich and a doctoral degree in electrical engineering at the Automatic Control Laboratory, ETH Zurich in 2017. He is currently a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Konstanz. Prior to joining the University of Konstanz, he held a research and teaching appointment with EPFL at the Chair of Risk Analytics and Optimization and at the Institute of Machine Learning at ETH Zurich.

His research interests revolve around control, reinforcement learning and data-driven robust optimization. He was a recipient of the 2016 George S. Axelby Outstanding Paper Award of the IEEE Control Systems Society and received the ETH Medal for his outstanding doctoral thesis on approximate dynamic programming in 2018.

Within the Zukunftskolleg, Tobias will work on the foundations of reinforcement learning – a discipline that lies at the intersection of computer science, statistics, information theory and mathematical optimization. Supported by the impressive recent successes when applying reinforcement learning algorithms to solving real world problems in various disciplines ranging from engineering, biology and economics to medicine and health care, reinforcement learning has emerged as the leading framework for studying sequential dynamical decision problems.

Project

“Second order aspects of multiversism”

Fellow host: Carolin Antos-Kuby
 

Philip Welch holds a professorship at the Department of Mathematics at the University of Bristol, UK.
He is currently the President of the British Logic Colloquium (the national society representing the study of logic in the UK) and the President of the European Set Theory Society (since 2022). He is regarded as an outstanding researcher in the field of mathematical logic, especially in set theory. His work on determinacy and inner models has shaped set theory in the last decades.

His research project at the Zukunftskolleg focuses on “Second order aspects of multiversism”.

Specialization:

“Evolution of Social Life in Insects, Insect Ecology, Biogeography and Biodiversity, Social Organization and Division of Labour in Insect Societies”

Raghavendra Gadagkar obtained his BSc (Hons) and MSc in zoology from Bangalore University and his doctoral degree in molecular biology from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. During the past 40 years, he has established an active school of research in the area of animal behaviour, ecology and evolution. The origin and evolution of cooperation in animals, especially in social insects, such as ants, bees and wasps, is a major goal of his research. By identifying and utilizing crucial elements in India’s biodiversity, he has added a special Indian flavour to his research.

Research project

“Use of factorial design to determine the significance of personal social status characteristics (according to the Adapted for Ukraine Warner’s Status Characteristics Index)”

Methodological principles of the factorial design method (FD) were described by German sociologists Katrin Auspurg and Thomas Hinz in “Factorial Survey Experiments” (2015). The FD method allows us to find both common social principles of judgements and differences of subgroups. Thus, it is intended for a deeper understanding of the principles of judgements of respondents.

The use of the FD method to study significance of different social status components has a promising cognitive potential. Indicators of social status highlighted in terms of FD provided according to Adapted for Ukraine Warner’s Status Characteristics Index. Ukrainian sociologist Yeliena Kovalska has adapted Warner’s index to the conditions of modern empirical research in Ukraine using the example of Kyiv. It consists of a wide range of characteristics, but is also calculated by means of a formula that measures the individual weight of each component. These weights were proposed on the basis of an expert survey, but this should be verified in a national survey to measure the significance of the subjective social status characteristics.

All the characteristics of the Adapted Warner’s Index can be redesigned to factors, and scales can be redesigned to levels. The factorial research method assumes the presence in the questionnaire of one or a set of specific questions, which are called “vignettes” and in which a certain situation is formulated, from which the respondent needs to find a way out. “As part of our work, we will create vignettes based on the above factors and levels of the Adapted Warner’s Index (located in Kyiv). After the sample of vignettes has been established, they will be distributed among the survey participants. There are many different ways to accomplish this, but we will use the R statistical environment. As our method we will use web research (using LimeSurvey)”, explains Yeliena.

Yeliena has been studying the living conditions, employment, lifestyle, leisure time, wellbeing and future plans of forced migrants from Ukraine in Germany, using the example of the City of Konstanz. Read more in the chapter "How do Ukrainians feel in Konstanz?".

Research project

“Post-war sustainable development in Ukraine: Innovative economic and environmental activities. (Cybernetic planning and chess business modelling: new rules, new tools)”

The Russian military invasion of Ukraine has led to numerous transformations in the social, economic, political, ecological and regulatory field. The formation of effective economic key drivers in the postwar period is the key to restoring civil society and market economy institutions in Ukraine. The invasion means destruction of existing markets, business collaborations and the formation of new vectors of military and civilian activities.
The aim of the study is to consider the economic and organizational feasibility and profitability of the postwar market. Chess business modelling will identify the most accessible business approaches for entities and the side effects for society and the environment. Chess business modelling could also be used as a tool for dealing with institutional traps.

The purpose of the study is to identify the main possible milestones related to the implementation of economic and environmental reform in the context of decentralization in the postwar period

Research project

“Peer Tutoring in Higher Education Institutions”

Peer tutoring is learning and consultation among equals. Today, peer tutoring is common in many universities and becoming even more important especially at German universities. As opposed to rather classic situations in a university context in Ukraine where both learning and consultation take place between students and professors, peer tutoring creates an environment that does not involve an imbalance in power and authority. Peer tutors are not replacement professors but rather initiate and encourage their fellow students to reflect on their learning process and problems through the use of moderating and consulting techniques. For successful peer tutoring in Ukraine, it is vital that peer tutors undergo qualified training. An increased popularity of peer-assisted learning has triggered a growing interest in taking a closer look at how student tutors are trained to handle the task. Her future study will provide an overview of the tutor training strategies at different faculties in Germany. She is going to study professional training programmes in Germany that focus on both theoretical and practical aspects of the peer tutor’s work. Svitlana’s study will also attempt to investigate the concept of peer tutoring and its impact on learning.

Research project

“Global Challenges of Sustainable Development of the World Economy”

The research aims to prepare Ukraine for adjustment to the European Union. Germany’s experience in implementing policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be used for Ukraine. The first part of the research will substantiate the methodology for studying the global challenges facing the world economy’s sustainable development and define the SDGs for analysis. In particular, the following research questions will be raised and discussed. What is the role of quality assurance in the promotion of the SDGs? How do Ukrainian and German higher education institutions consider SDGs in their policies and procedures? What are the current practices of evaluation and monitoring of higher education’s contribution to sustainable development in Ukraine and Germany? What steps and action should be taken to enhance the contribution of quality assurance to the SDGs, taking the experience of Germany into account? The research will be based on case study, observation and questionnaire methods (Creswell & Poth, 2017). The second part of the research will examine the impact of global challenges on the economic aspect of sustainable development and the SDGs. The social dimension of the SDGs worldwide under the conditions of globalization will be analyzed. The influence of globalization processes on the ecological aspect of SDGs will be investigated. The third part of the research will be devoted to the analysis of national mechanisms for financing sustainable development in Germany. A model for ensuring sustainable development in other countries in the context of global challenges will be developed, taking into consideration the experience of Germany and the European Union. The fourth part of the research, the strategy for achieving sustainable development in Ukraine, will be developed, taking into consideration the experience of Germany.

Research project

“The influence of collective behaviour in energy expenditure and thermoregulation in Egyptian fruit bats”

Caves can be considered important natural laboratories, and it is well known that cave characteristics can favour physiological processes in bats. What remains unknown is the role of collective behaviour in energy expenditure during daytime in these habitats. Large colonies of bats in caves can be the perfect match between an optimal study model and a natural laboratory to address this question. Rousettus aegyptiacus is the only fruit bat found in Europe, and it relies on fruit from a variety of plants throughout the year. Cyprus is characterized by a seasonal climate resulting in changing vegetation, which potentially creates food bottlenecks for this tropical species, especially in winter, and studies have shown that these bats can change their sharing networks depending on the availability of resources and that energy is a limiting component in their diet. My main aim is to test whether and how collective behaviour influences energetic strategies of R. aegyptiacus in winter. I will use generalized linear models to test the relations between energy expenditure, temperature and collective behaviour. I expect to elucidate patterns and trades-off involved in energy expenditure and thermoregulation mediated by collective behaviour in R. aegyptiacus. This could contribute to a greater understanding of the factors that favour the occurrence of this species in Europe and its adaptability to changes in climate.

Research project

“In vitro evaluation of the molecular toxicity of carvacrol using the enzyme-modified Fluorimetric detection of Alkaline DNA Unwinding (emFADU)”

This research is aimed at evaluating the molecular cytotoxicity of carvacrol, a component of crude plant essential oils that have been observed to demonstrate appreciable antioxidant capacity in the storage of lipid-rich foods compared to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). For the proposed research, the genotoxicity, apoptosis induction, capacity to induce DNA damage in plasmid DNA and the induction of DNA strand breaks by carvacrol will be compared to an established genotoxin and BHT. The apoptosis induction will be studied using Annexin V APC/PI flow cytometry. The detection of the DNA strand breaks and plasmid DNA damage will be studied using the enzyme-modified version of cell-based Fluorimetric detection of Alkaline DNA Unwinding (emFADU). The results of this research are important as they will shed light on the safety of carvacrol proposed as a natural alternative to synthetic antioxidant food additives.

Research project

“Implementation of Aedes aegypti control strategies in spatiotemporal dynamics using insect techniques”

For this research project, he proposes to extend a time-only dependent model with sex structure to a spatially distributed version (in a bi-dimensional domain) to design the control strategies based on releases of sterile male mosquitoes that account for this spatial heterogeneity. One of the objectives of this study is to reduce costs by indicating where to release more sterile males and where to release fewer or none.

Research project

“Posthuman Landscapes in Latin American Art”

The project aims to study the emergence of a new way of conceiving and designing relationships between nature, culture and technology in twenty-first-century Latin-American arts from a materialistic and posthumanist viewpoint. The research focuses on a selection of socio-environmental themed works carried out in those artistic areas where there is experimentation by means of artefactualities and non-human agencies. These are works that get close to design, action and intervention, and that occasionally involve working on territories and with communities. In them, it is observed that the perception and experimentation modes of “nature”, which are ruled by the traditional landscape genre, become disorganized and give rise to what could be called “posthuman landscapes”: new spatial, sensitivity and relationality regimes between agents (human and non-human) and environment, guided by non-extractive logics of environmental intervention and the promotion of a non-anthropocentric sensorium. The research is interested in contributing to a historiographical, cognitive and categorical revision of contemporary art, moving away from the centre-periphery scheme towards a situated, de-centred and autonomous comprehension of the aesthetic, technological and conceptual programmes owned by these Latin-American productions.

Research project

“Perovskite solar cells for integrated self-charging supercapacitors”

Electrochemical devices (batteries and supercapacitors) are more sustainable and environmentally friendly and their hybridization has even favoured their use in modern electronics. Despite their efficiency, life is limited to a few thousand cycles. In order to obtain continuous power output, there is a need to develop a practical strategy to scavenge multiple types of energies (electrochemical, solar, etc.) simultaneously. In this regard, the concept of a self-charging energy system incorporating conversion cells (perovskite solar cells (PSCs)) and a hybrid supercapacitor for concurrently scavenging solar and electrochemical energies is proposed, so that the energy resources can be used effectively and complementarily. In this system, the supercapacitor plays a dual role of storing energy as well as balancing the solar energy fluctuations. There are challenges in fabricating the self-charging system, i.e. vulnerability of the perovskite material under moisture, thermal conditions, etc., when SCs with aqueous liquid electrolyte are used. Here, I propose to fabricate a system integrating a perovskite solar cell and a hybrid supercapacitor – a self-charging system – during this research programme. Briefly, the operation of this system can be described as follows: initially under illumination, solar energy captured by the solar cell will generate electricity, which will be stored immediately in the supercapacitor. This photo-charged PSC will provide electricity to power the external electrical devices whenever and wherever required. This work presents an easy approach for the fabrication of a self-charging system at normal temperature, enabling electricity supply for electrical devices in the future.

Research project

“Creating a Tamil treebank to support language application development”

The objective of this research is to create a high-quality computer-based resource known as a “treebank”, which systematically and computationally encodes the linguistic knowledge of a language. This resource is useful for the Tamil language in order to enhance natural language processing capabilities and facilitate linguistic analysis. The proposed treebank will be constructed using the Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) formalism, which offers a detailed method for capturing language features. While a small treebank already exists, it has limited coverage of language structures and vocabulary. Consequently, this research seeks to expand the existing resource, developing a larger, high-quality treebank with additional Tamil text to support language application development. Achieving this goal necessitates expertise in both linguistics and computer science. The study will also explore the use of machine learning techniques to aid in the development and evaluation of the new treebank. Eventually, the treebank will be made publicly available, allowing others to utilize and build on it. This treebank will serve as an invaluable resource for Tamil language processing, enabling more accurate and efficient natural language understanding and text generation. Moreover, it will facilitate various applications such as Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and machine translation. Additionally, the treebank will be instrumental in the study of the language and the documentation of its unique features.

Research project

“The colonial and apartheid roots of urban authoritarianism in South Africa”

In the country’s long history, the black African subject emerges as both expelled and alienated from the urban space. When cities were constructed under the colonial economy, the black subject was only accepted in the fringes as a labourer. Under apartheid, through a combination of laws and brute force, the black subject was maintained at the edge of the city in townships and other such abject spaces. In the post-apartheid period, this long colonial and apartheid history of the city sheds into the authoritarianism of the neoliberal rationality of the market. This research puts the concept of global authoritarianism in conversation with the decolonial concept of coloniality, with the aim of making sense of the history and the present of cities in relation to inequality, especially in the Global South. The focus here is on cities in South Africa. The research uses a combination of qualitative methods that include ethnography, interviews and archival research to collect data that are analyzed through a combination of critical discourse analysis, ideological analysis and psychoanalysis, among various methods. The research turns daily into genealogical work around representation and subjectivity.

Research project

“Practices, experiences and aspirations at school”

Her five-year research project aims to investigate the relationship between family life, parenting styles and children’s dispositions within the educational context of Chile. Given a high focus on social class, reproduction and school choice in the local literature, this study seeks to challenge the assumption that the acquisition of class-based dispositions occurs automatically, highlighting the active role of both adults and children in the process. Employing a critical ethnography approach, the research goes beyond the automatic logics of social reproduction to explore agency and resistance. Through traditional ethnographic techniques such as observations and interviews, along with projective and narrative techniques, the complex relationships between families and schools are examined. This research is being conducted in a middle and lower-class district of Santiago, focusing on two public schools closely connected to their communities. Recognizing the socio-communitarian aspects alongside the family aspect, the research emphasizes the diversity within schools and the potential to challenge stereotypes associated with lower-class students.