Abstract: Since the second World War, we have entered the era of ‘Big Science’. Research is now often conducted at a scale well beyond of what one individual, or even one research lab can manage. Such large experiments tend to require financial support from one or more government agencies over extended periods of time—often even several decades. Because of this increase in costs, scientists have had to change how they decide what experiments to pursue, since only a small number of large-scale experiments will be funded at any given time, and what experiments are pursued can determine the future of scientific research. In this talk, I want to give a start at investigating what makes an experiment more worthy to pursue compared to other experiments, especially in the era of Big Science. Short Bio: My primary interests lie in history and philosophy of cosmology and astrophysics, and general philosophy of science. I received my PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2020, before joining the philosophy department at Stockholm University. In 2025, I received a Starting Grant from the European Research Council for a project on collective decision-making on future large-scale experiments in cosmology and astrophysics. My Cambridge Element, Philosophy of Cosmology and Astrophysics, was published in 2025.
The Future of Health Depends on RehabilitationRehabilitation has long been under-prioritized in health systems, even as the global demand for these services rises sharply and far outpaces what is currently offered. Funding models often fail to support rehabilitation adequately, despite its essential role in universal health coverage, healthy aging, and equitable care. The WHO’s resolution on Strengthening Rehabilitation in Health Systems, the Rehabilitation 2030 initiative, and the World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA) signal a global shift toward addressing this urgent gap. Dr. Côté will examine how health services and policy research can shape responsive policies, drawing on the work of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Rehabilitation and Musculoskeletal Health at the Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research. He will also highlight why generating robust data on the value of rehabilitation, its impact on population health, work productivity, and quality of life for aging adults is critical to support governments in making informed investments in integrated, sustainable rehabilitation services.About Pierre CôtéPierre Côté is a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University. Côté is an epidemiologist who holds the Hann-Kelly Family Chair in Disability and Rehabilitation Research. From 2013-2023, he held the prestigious Canada Research Chair in Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation. Côté is the founding Director of the Institute for Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (IDRR), a leading international research hub which aims to improve the functioning and quality of life of people with disability or in need of rehabilitation. He is the inaugural Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center on Rehabilitation and Musculoskeletal Health. Professor Côté currently serves Lead of The Cochrane Rehabilitation Methodological Group. Dr. Côté holds appointments at international universities. He is a Professor of Epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; Adjunct Professor of Disability Prevention at Southern Denmark University; Honorary Professor of Physiotherapy at MGM Institute of Health Sciences, India, and Visiting Professor of Health Promotion Sciences at Sophiahemment University, Sweden. Throughout his career, Côté has published more than 420 peer-reviewed papers. His current Scopus h-index is 71. Throughout his career, Professor Côté has supervised more than 50 master’s, doctoral and post-doctoral trainees.This event is hosted and organized by DIAS Chair Jan Hartvigsen
Quantum Timekeeping, a simple story of atoms and photons, by Davide Calonico, Scientific Director of INRIM About the lectureHow an Atomic clock is able to beat with an attosecond precision? May clocks measure tides? What time is it on the Moon? How can we stop and cool atoms with lasers? Is the definition of the unit of time the second still satisfactory? These questions, and many more, concern one of the most precise quantum technologies developed by humankind, the exploitation of the quantum structure of atoms with atomic clocks. In the lecture, we will illustrate the fundamentals of atomic timekeeping, following the key advances in science and technology that led to present accuracy of one attosecond. As well we will describe how precise clocks contribute to science and modern society, from testing the standard model of particles to general relativity, from pervasive technologies like satellite navigation and telecommunication to timestamping of financial transition. We will talk a bit on modern laser cooling techniques, the possibility of using nuclear clocks, the miniaturization of clocks with nanotechnologies and last, we will discuss the roadmap towards the new definition of the unit of time in the International System of Units in the Convention of the meter, in a journey embracing the last 70 years of our everyday life. Last, the roadmap of the redefinition will bring us to touch other quantum technologies: the relevance of coherent interferometry on optical fibers, hence the possibility to have time and quantum communication on the same optical fiber, enabling infrastructures like the Italian Quantum Backbone and the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI).About the speakerDavide Calonico is the Scientific Director of INRIM, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, an Italian Public Research Institute that is also the Italian Institute of Metrology in the convention of the Metre. DDC is a physicist expert in primary metrology and quantum technologies. Its main scientific achievements are in atomic clocks, sensing, and quantum communication over fiber. DC coordinates the Italian Quantum backbone, that realizes in Italy the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure of the European Commission. He is the scientific responsible for INRIM of the infrastructure Piquet, Piemonte Quantum Enabling Technology, devoted in INRIM to metrology on a chip. He developed several atomic clocks based on laser-cooled atoms like Cesium Rubidium, Ytterbium, and Strontium, and microstructured clocks based on nanotechnologiesThe event is organized by Aglae Pizzone
About the lectureThe role of predation in the microbial world is like that in the macroscopic world: it makes energy flow to form food webs, regulates prey population, and is a source of biodiversity. However, mechanistically, predation operates very differently since in the microbial world viscosity impedes predator-prey contact, there is no vision to facilitate prey (and predator) perception, and observed behaviours are often counterintuitive. I will demonstrate how planktonic predators, from few micron-sized nanoflagellates to mm-sized copepods, have overcome the impeding effect of viscosity by a fascinating diversity of adaptations, and how microbial predators have balanced the fundamental problem of eating without themselves being eaten. I will show how this trade-off has driven an evolutionary arms race between diatoms and copepods with important consequences for the biological carbon pump. Finally, I will describe how the functional diversity of foraging in flagellates provides a new lens through which to explore early eukaryotic evolution. The presentation will be light on physics and rich in videos and animations.About the speakerThomas Kiørboe is a professor of Biological Oceanography at DTU Aqua. He has been the founder and leader of VKR centre of excellence Centre for Ocean Life (2012-2024) (www.oceanlifecentre.dk) and leader of a Research network (Trait-based plankton ecology, 1993-2013) supported by the Danish Research Council, and head of section at DTU Aqua (2008-13). His research interests span plankton ecology and biogeography, small-scale biological-physical interactions, microbial ecology, trait-based ecology, marine snow, and early eukaryotic evolution. He has been a visiting professor at MIT, UC Berkeley, and CSIC in Spain, and an adjunct professor at SDU (2006-2010). He is an Elected Fellow of Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters and The Danish Academy for Technical Sciences, and the recipient of multiple national and international awards and accolades, including the AG Huntsman award and the Carlberg Foundation research prize.The event is organized by Donald Canfield
About the lecture:The concert and lecture will present 300 years of musical history through compositionsfrom the vast and rich piano repertoire. Masterpieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven,Franz Liszt, and Claude Debussy will be performed and analysed to deepen both ourunderstanding and emotional perception of the music. Birch’s Astronomic Piano Pieces willtake the audience on a journey into space, thereby demonstrating a highly interesting, innovative,and unorthodox approach to music-making.All aspects of this remarkable instrument and its many possibilities will be explored — notonly the music itself, but also the piano’s technical development in relation to broader politicaland cultural movements throughout history.About the speaker:SVEN BIRCH was born in Denmark and studied piano at the DJM in Aarhus, where he graduated with a soloist diploma. Thanks to numerous scholarships, he was able to continue his studies in Vienna with Prof. Alexander Jenner. In addition, he attended masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Tatiana Nikolayeva, Conrad Hansen, John Lill, and Peter Feuchtwanger.As a sought-after pianist, Birch possesses an extensive repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary music. He is active as a soloist, chamber musician, accompanist, and composer, and has performed throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Among his major projects is the performance of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas.Since 1992, Professor Sven Birch has been teaching at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz. From 1996 to 2004, he also taught at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.He is a member of the George Crumb Trio Linz and the Georgiadis-Birch flute and piano duo. He regularly conducts concerts and projects, and he serves as the conductor and artistic director of the ensemble Lézard aux Plumes in Linz.He is frequently invited to give masterclasses and workshops (Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Chopin Academy Warsaw, Royal Academy Manchester, as well as universities in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, Riga, Tallinn, Aarhus, Rome, Milan, and Seville) and has produced numerous CD, television, and radio recordings.The event is organized by Anne-Marie Mai & Andreas Birch
About the lectureAging is often presented as one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time. Yet understanding why some individuals remain healthy well into old age while others develop disease requires insights from many disciplines, including genetics, epidemiology, medicine, statistics, demography, and the social sciences.In this lecture, Sara Hägg will explore how modern aging research has evolved from gerontology and geriatrics to understanding the biological processes that drive healthy aging. Drawing on examples from large population studies and molecular aging research, she will discuss how biological age can be measured, what these measures can and cannot tell us, and how they are shaping current efforts to improve healthspan.The lecture will also reflect on the opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary research, highlighting how scientific breakthroughs often emerge at the intersection of fields and why collaboration is essential for addressing complex questions about aging, health, and longevity.About the speakerSara Hägg is Associate Professor of Molecular Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet and an internationally recognized researcher in the biology of human aging. She leads a research group that investigates why people age differently and how genetic, molecular, environmental, and lifestyle factors shape trajectories of health and disease across the lifespan.Her research combines epidemiology, genetics, biostatistics, omics and bioinformatics to identify biomarkers of biological aging and to understand their relationship with age-related diseases, functional decline, and mortality. Using large population-based cohorts and advanced causal inference methods, she studies mechanisms of healthy aging and evaluates potential interventions aimed at extending healthspan rather than simply lifespan.Sara serves as Principal Investigator for several major national and international research projects funded by organizations including the Swedish Research Council and the U.S. National Institute on Aging. Her work has contributed to the development and evaluation of biological age measures that are increasingly used in research and precision medicine.Beyond academia, Sara is a highly sought-after science communicator and public speaker. She frequently appears in newspapers, television, radio, podcasts, and public debates, where she provides evidence-based perspectives on aging, longevity, and preventive health, helping bridge the gap between scientific discovery and public understanding.The event is organized by Moustapha Kassem
