Welcome

The 23rd annual conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (ISPC) will be held from Monday, 15 July until Wednesday, 17 July 2019 in Torino (Italy), at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Torino.

The conference will be open to the full range of topics related with the philosophy of chemistry and the philosophy of science, addressed from a chemical perspective.

The 2019 edition of the ISPC conference will also celebrate two anniversaries that are especially relevant to the community of chemists. 

The United Nations General Assembly has declared Year 2019 as “The International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements”, as it marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of the first Periodic Table by Dimitri Mendeleev in 1869. The Periodic System is a pivotal achievement of chemistry and a unifying scientific concept, with broad implications in Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and other natural sciences. Its anniversary will be celebrated with a special lecture by Prof. Eric Scerri (university of California-Los Angeles, UCLA).

Year 2019 is also the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Italian writer and chemist Primo Levi, who was born in Torino in 1919. Levi, who was a witness of the Shoah and authored the renowned book "The Periodic System", was a student at the Chemistry Department of the University of Torino. This event will be celebrated with a lecture by the Centro Studi Primo Levi, the international studies center dedicated to acquainting people with Levi’s figure and work.

Local organizers

The conference is organised by prof. Elena Ghibaudi and prof. Luigi Cerruti, University of Torino, Italy. 

Keynote Speakers

  • Eric Scerri, Editor-in-chief of Foundations of chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
  • Joachim Schummer, Editor-in-chief of HYLE - International Journal of Philosophy of Chemistry
  • Gianluca Cuozzo, Head of the Dept. Philosophy and Educational Sciences, University of Torino, Italy
  • Pollyanna Zamburlin, Centro Studi Primo Levi (www.primolevi.it)

Deadlines

  • April 1, 2019 — Abstract submission deadline (see Call for Abstracts)
  • May 1, 2019 — Abstract acceptance notification deadline
  • July 15, 2019 — 23rd conference of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry