Archive: Events of the Natural Sciences Programme

2024

18 April. LECTURES - HYBRID EVENT
Sciences against Misinformation - Open Lectures
1:30 p.m – 2:15 p.m
Digital Media, Democracy, and the Challenge of Misinformation
Anastasia Kozyreva & Philipp Lorenz-Spreen, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin
ABSTRACT:
The rapid global uptake of digital media and the proliferation of misinformation in online social networks
are intricately linked, presenting a significant challenge to the public welfare and the stability of democratic
systems. This talk synthesizes insights from two comprehensive review projects focused on digital media
effects on democracies and on evidence-based interventions against misinformation. Drawing on a sys-
tematic examination of 496 studies, we assess the impact of digital media on democracy, identifying both
positive and negative outcomes such as enhanced political engagement and increased polarization. After
addressing the various challenges facing democracy, we concentrate on the issue of misinformation and
the measures to counteract it. We introduce a toolbox of behavioral and cognitive interventions, developed
based on an expert review by 30 misinformation researchers. Our presentation aims to provide a grounded
understanding of the mechanisms through which digital media interacts with democratic processes and to
outline practical approaches for mitigating the effects of misinformation, thereby contributing to promoting
individual autonomy and democratic discourse online.
&
2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It
Christopher Chabris, Geisinger Research Institute, Pennsylvania
ABSTRACT:
Misinformation is, like fraud, scams, and false advertising, a form of deception. Successful deceptions
work because they target our cognitive habits: they exploit thinking patterns and shortcuts that normally
serve us well, but can be exploited to take us in. Using examples from fields like political disinformation,
financial crime, scientific fraud, art forgery, sports cheating, targeted cons, and AI hype videos, this talk
will illustrate a framework for understanding how misinformation and other forms of deception work and
what measures we can take as individuals to reduce our vulnerability.

This is an event of the Natural Sciences Programme (Human Brains & Societies).

16 - 18 April. SYMPOSIUM
Sciences against Misinformation
By invitation only.
The symposium is an event of the Natural Sciences Programme (Human Brains & Societies).
(Please see above for the two open lectures)

2023

23 March, 9:15 a.m. SYMPOSIUM - ONLINE EVENT
Going from Haunting Images of the Past to Positive Images of the Future: Interdisciplinary
Perspectives on Emotion, Memory and Mental Imagery
ABSTRACT:
Mental images - the images we ‘see’ in our mind’s eye - have a powerful impact on our emotions,
and allow us to time travel, dream and imagine alternative possibilities as ‘flash forwards’. Mal-
adaptive forms of mental imagery are common across psychological disorders - from distressing
intrusive memories (‘flashbacks’) after trauma to a lack of positive mental images about the future
in depression. This international symposium aims to stimulate interdisciplinary thinking about mental
images, its fundamental nature as well as potential for psychological treatment innovation by bringing
together experts on mental imagery from a range of different domains.

Download the programme >> (PDF)
Please note that this is an online event only.

The symposium is organized as part of the Natural Sciences Fellowship Programme (Human
Brains & Societies).

2022

18 May. SYMPOSIUM/ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS
Opening the Ivory Tower Wide 
This is an event of the SCAS Natural Sciences Programme (Measurable Human).
By invitation only.

19 May. SYMPOSIUM
Opening the Ivory Tower Wide 
Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg, Mats Benner, Petter Brodin, Lars Calmfors, Johan Elf, Björn Eriksson,
Bengt Gerdin, Maria Gunther, Anders Hagfeldt, Lars Hultman, Gunnar Ingelman, Sanna Koskiniemi,
Ulf Landegren, Jenni Nordborg, David Sumpter, Johan Sundström, Evelina Vågesjö, Sven Widmalm
Venue: Uppsala Biomedical Centre (BMC), Uppsala University
No registration is required.
This is an event of the SCAS Natural Sciences Programme (Measurable Human).
Download the programme here (PDF) >>

23 - 24 May. SYMPOSIUM
Interdisciplinary Ambitions: Women’s Mental Health from History to Neurobiology 
Ingrid Ahnesjö, Anat Biegon, Jenny Douglas, Andrew S Fox, Tomas Furmark, François Georges,
Lisa Käll, Elizabeth Lunbeck, Ann E Rogers, Ivanka Savic, Åsa Wallén-Mackenzie, Marlene Zuk,
among others.
Pre-registration is required by 29 April, 2022 at the latest. The number of seats is limited and seats
will be distributed on a first come, first served basis.
This is an event of the SCAS Natural Sciences Programme (Human Brains and Societies). It is a
collaboration between Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) and Uppsala University’s
Centre for Women’s Mental Health during the Reproductive Lifespan (WOMHER).
Download the programme here (PDF) >>



2021

19-21 May. SYMPOSIUM - WEB EVENT
Models of Genome Evolution from Populations to Species
Fabien Burki, Mario Dos Reis, Sylvain Glémin, Stéphane Guindon, Asger Hobolth,
Emilia Huerta-Sanchez, Ingemar Kaj, Carolin Kosiol, Nicolas Lartillot, Martin
Lascoux, Thibault Latrille, Isabel Sanmartin, Stephanie Spielman, Yan Wong,
and Ziheng Yang.
The symposium is organized as part of the Natural Sciences Fellowship Programme.
Read more and register here >>

2019

27-28 May. WORKSHOP
Quantitative Methods for Excavating the Past from Genomes
By invitation only.

9-10 October. SYMPOSIUM
Measurable Man
Lectures by Leroy Hood, Kári Stefánsson, and Mathias Uhlén, among others.
Please note that the event on 9 October is by invitation only.
The public lectures on 10 October will be held at Uppsala Biomedical Centre (BMC).
Read more >>


2018

29 November. WORKSHOP
Bridging the Gap Between Organismal and Genomic Views of Sex Differences
Jessica Abbott, Göran Arnqvist, Steve Chenoweth, Tim Connallon, Troy Day,
Stephen De Lisle, Rob Griffin, Elina Immonen, Frank Johansson, Sophie Karrenberg,
Katrina McGuigan, Jen Perry, Anna Qvarnström, Locke Rowe, Rhonda Snook,
Erik Svensson, Alison Wright
Read more >>
Programme >>

2017

5-6 April. SYMPOSIUM
From Neuroscience to the Classroom
Christopher F. Chabris, Roi Cohen Kadosh, Peter Hagoort, Paul Howard-Jones,
Minna Huotilainen, Torkel Klingberg, Sebastián J. Lipina, Martin Lövdén, Lars
Nyberg, Andreas Olsson, Megan A. Smith, and Maria Grazia Tosto, among others
Read more >>

9-11 October. SYMPOSIUM
Emerging Topics in Biological Networks and Systems Biology
Albert-László Barabási, Richard Bonneau, Michael Brent, Brian Cleary, David
Gomez-Cabrero, Mika Gustafsson, Rebecka Jörnsten, Olli Kallioniemi, Edda Klipp,
Edward Marcotte, Christian von Mering, George Michailidis, Sach Mukherjee, Sven
Nelander, Jens Nielsen, Stéphane Robin, Mona Singh, Erik Sonnhammer, Jussi
Taipale, Jesper Tegnér, Jean-Philippe Vert, Hans Westerhoff, and Ernst Wit.
Read more >>