Header and abstract page of an original research article in History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences (2026, volume 48, article 12) titled "Modeling versatility as the hallmark of model organisms," authored by Guido I. Prieto and Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda.
Abstract
In recent years, discussions on the epistemology of model organism-based research have emerged in the philosophy of science. A key topic of discussion is how the epistemic insights gained from model organisms differ from those gained through other experimental organisms used in laboratory and field research. Here, we argue that model organisms are epistemically special due to their nature as ontogenetically changeable, standardized, and evolved material model carriers. These characteristics afford six important kinds of modeling versatility that biologists marshal in their investigations: (i) synchronic target versatility; (ii) synchronic scope versatility; (iii) diachronic target versatility; (iv) diachronic scope versatility; (v) manipulation versatility; and (vi) discovery versatility. In presenting these dimensions of modeling versatility, we also clarify key notions such as ‘representational target,’ ‘representational scope,’ and ‘representational power’ as these apply to modeling practices that involve model organisms.
It has been argued that what sets model organisms apart from other experimental 🐋🌱 is their high representational power. In our latest 📃, we argue otherwise: the hallmark of MOs lies in the dimensions of modeling versatility they afford to scientists 👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #philsci #HPS
25.02.2026 13:42
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Join our KLI Colloquium:
"O Theory Where Art Thou? The Changing Role of Theory in Theoretical Biology in the 20th Century and Beyond"
Speaker: Jan BAEDKE (Ruhr University Bochum)
🕒 26 Jan 2026, 3:00 PM CET
🗺️ at KLI, join online via ZOOM (link & info: www.kli.ac.at/content/en/e...)
23.01.2026 08:57
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Society for Modeling and Theory in Population Biology - How the papers are made: look behind the scenes of publishing models and theory in population biology with current journal editors
Please join us for a @smtpb.bsky.social panel discussion about publishing theory in biology w/ @joshuasweitz.bsky.social (Co-Chief Editor of J Theor Biol), Mark Lewis (Advising Editor for J Math Biol & Bull Math Biol), and me (Theor Pop Biol)
13 Feb 2026 9:00AM–10:00AM PST
smtpb.org/event-6520871
21.01.2026 18:34
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Join our KLI Colloquium:
"On Experimental Models of Developmental Plasticity and Evolutionary Novelty"
Speaker: Patricia BELDADE (Lisbon University)
🕒 15 Jan 2026, 3:00 PM CET
🗺️ at KLI, join online via ZOOM (link & info: www.kli.ac.at/en/the_kli/n...)
13.01.2026 14:09
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How are sound elements combined to make calls in this Pūkeko population in NZ? How do calls change based on where they're made in the call sequence? Read our paper to find out!
09.01.2026 10:13
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Can sexual selection alone drive divergence? Experimental evolution in seed beetles shows that strong sexual selection accelerates divergence in reproductive traits and gene expression, even without environmental differences. Image credit: Udo Schmidt Wikimedia
academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
05.01.2026 13:42
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A cartoon Macrostomum flatworm
POSTDOC recruitment! We’re looking for a post-doc to join us to work on the (epi)genetic basis of inbreeding depression as part of the ANR-funded project FRIDA
macrostomum.wordpress.com/the-genetic-...
Please share!
12.12.2025 14:31
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Microclimatic niche shifts predict long‐term survival and body mass declines in a warmer and more degraded world
Using a long-term mark-recapture methodology in the eastern Himalaya, we find that bird species that experience the greatest shifts in microclimatic niches after selective logging undergo the steepes....
Thrilled to share my Bachelor's thesis work now published in the @jappliedecology.bsky.social! Using microclimate loggers and a 11-year mark-recapture dataset, we examine how selective logging differentially affects the survival and body conditions of eastern Himalayan birds.
doi.org/10.1111/1365...
13.12.2025 07:35
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Summer school:<br> Evolutionary Biology in Guarda
Information about the annual summer school Evolutionary Biology in Guarda
The 2026 Guarda Summer Course in Evolutionary Biology is now accepting applications. Amazing place, amazing course, amazing opportunity for early grad students.
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
10.12.2025 14:24
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Come work with us! We are looking for a postdoc in #philbio or #philphysics to work on an interdisciplinary project that adopts the lens of self-organization & active matter to explore the boundary between living & nonliving systems www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... #academicsky #philjobs #HPS #evosky
08.12.2025 11:21
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View of Aberystwyth
Lectureship in Zoology at Aberystwyth University! jobs.aber.ac.uk/en/vacancy/l...
Come join our fantastic team at @aberdlsagb.bsky.social @aberuni.bsky.social in beautiful Wales. Application deadline: 14 Dec 2025.
06.12.2025 12:02
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Poster for the XIV Workshop on Philosophy of Biology and Cognitive Sciences. The background is dark green with large yellow text and decorative abstract flower illustrations in red, yellow, and green at the corners. Dates ‘18–19 June’ appear at the top right, along with the venue: UNED, Edificio de Humanidades, Paseo de la Senda del Rey 7, Madrid. The keynote speakers are Enara García (SDU), Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda (KU Leuven), and José Antonio Pérez-Escobar (UNED). A bold yellow banner reads ‘Call for Abstracts,’ with a deadline of 15 January. At the bottom is a contact email: xivpbcs@gmail.com
I am incredibly honored to have been invited as one of the keynote speakers for the XIV PBCS! This long-standing initiative is very supportive of graduate students & early-career researchers, so I encourage everyone to submit their abstracts! See you in Madrid next year! #HPS #HPbio #cogsci #philsky
02.12.2025 17:26
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We got published in Ecology&Evolution! We propose an equation from which we derive the fundamental equations of population ecology and evolutionary biology (the Price equation). #evobio #philbio onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
23.11.2025 08:09
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It’s tomorrow at 7pm JST!
17.11.2025 08:52
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Rethinking measurement invariance causally
Measurement invariance is often touted as a necessary statistical prerequisite for group comparisons. Typically, when there is evidence against measur…
Nice article by @dingdingpeng.the100.ci and @boryslaw.bsky.social: 'violations of measurement invariance imply that there are potentially interesting differences in the measurement process between the groups, which could warrant explanations in their own right.' www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
17.11.2025 10:27
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The Organism-Environment Pairing
In this first systematic book-length examination of the organism-environment relationship in the life sciences, Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda addresses a crucia...
With great joy—and a touch of nervousness—I’m thrilled to share that my first academic monograph will be published by @mitpress.bsky.social in May 2026! It examines the organism–environment relationship in biology from an integrated #HPS perspective: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #philsky
21.08.2025 14:20
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Each dyad (a, b) moves through four discrete states over time, represented by coloured circles. The dyad remains in a given state for a certain duration, or "holding time", before transitioning to a new state according to state-specific transition probabilities, indicated by arrows showing all possible (non-zero) transitions. Paintings by Sofia M. Pereira & Judith von Nordheim.
New paper!
We propose a framework to empirically study animal social relationships by modelling social network (SN) data as time-series—that is, without the need to aggregate them over time.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
12.11.2025 11:54
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Including 'Feyerabend, Freedom, and the Tyranny of Science' & "Paul Feyerabend’s 'On the Responsibility of Scientists'" 🤩😄
12.11.2025 21:11
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Meghna Krishnadas will present the next PopBio seminar:
The relative and interactive roles of abiotic and biotic drivers on demographic responses of plants
Join us online, Thursday Oct 30 1pm AEST.
Sign up to our mailing list to receive the zoom link: forms.gle/u7B1fyzRAwar...
23.10.2025 02:47
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Despite decades of effort, scientists have still not discovered a foolproof way to evaluate colleagues’ work that doesn’t involve reading the paper
27.10.2025 14:21
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Applications for the MEME programme (www.evobio.eu
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
23.10.2025 12:15
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Think: Philosophy for Everyone. Essay Competition 2026 Now Open!
Could a machine think and feel? Is time travel logically possible? If you're 15-18 we want to hear what you THINK! 💡📝🌟
The THINK Essay Prize for #philosophy is now open for 2026. Full details here: royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/think-e...
20.10.2025 09:37
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GitHub - RILAB/statements: Successful Job Applications and Grants
Successful Job Applications and Grants. Contribute to RILAB/statements development by creating an account on GitHub.
Lunch today halfway around the world in Hangzhou and met a new asst professor who was very thankful for this resource. Please help out folks like them and other early career scientists with examples of job apps. Submit yours!
github.com/RILAB/statem...
21.10.2025 06:55
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#PhD Position: Interested in the evolutionary and ecological impacts of whole genome duplication?
Join Dr. Tia-Lynn Ashman @drtialynn.bsky.social
and I at the U. of Pittsburgh, to test what drives the competitive outcomes between diploids and #polyploids
Details: shorturl.at/nQ8UW
20.10.2025 16:17
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Collage of three images. The first reads: "Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. Career. We're hiring." The second image shows bookshelves in the institute's library (Photo by Vivienne Rischke, 2024). The third image shows the MPIWG Summer Publications Slam held in the institute's library (Photo by Marvin Müller (2024).
Three new funded #DoctoralPositions in the International Max Planck School "Knowledge and Its Resources: Historical Reciprocities!"
🗓️ Deadline: Jan 15, 2026
🔗 bit.ly/4peeKez
#HistSci #DH #STS #HistSTM #EnvHum #PolSci #SocSci
17.10.2025 10:55
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If you’re interested in practicing the philosophy of science in practice why not come along to an online workshop “the philosophy of science in practice - in practice”? #philsci
08.10.2025 13:01
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