Nathália de Ávila
Nathália de Ávila is a PhD candidate at Universität zu Köln, specializing in the philosophy of cognitive sciences and psychiatry. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the temporality and emotional inertia in fear disorders, integrating insights from 4EA Cognition and Philosophy of Memory. Nathália has a robust academic background, holding a Master's degree in Philosophy of Mind from Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy from Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. While in Köln, she also held the IVC Fellowship at the Institut Vienna Circle in Austria. In her spare time, she channels her artistic passion into classical singing and professional photography, where she is currently earning a degree. For more information, visit her website: nathaliadeavila.com
Marc Döbler
Marc Döbler is a doctoral student at the University of Cologne, writing about current trends in the larger media system and their epistemological consequences. His thesis focuses on networks of social epistemic trust and how they facilitate the spread of various forms of epistemic pollution such as disinformation and conspiracy theories. Taking into account perspectives from sociology, psychology and media studies, he aims to model the epistemic landscape of the internet, highlighting for example how social media influencers impact our social epistemic networks.
During his studies in Tübingen, where he acquired his B.A. in philosophy and sociology as well as his M.A. in philosophy, Marc developed an interest in epistemology, political philosophy, ancient philosophy and the philosophy of games and fiction.
Recently he co-authored a short paper on large language models as sources for information.
Til Eyinck
Til is a doctorate student in Philosophy and a research assistant in Romance Philology, both at the University of Cologne. He is fascinated by the fact that we as humans and scientists often presuppose things that, in a way, do not exist – be it numbers, unicorns or merely possible scenarios. In his doctoral studies, he therefore is concerned with fictional speech. Although somehow comfortable in the analytic tradition, he understands Philosophy as an open project. He communicates his ideas through occasional contributions to daily newspapers and on open science platforms. He makes music and now and then he programs “mostly useless stuff”.
Hatice Kaya
Hatice Kaya is a doctoral student and research assistant at the University of Cologne (CONCEPT), affiliated with the NRW Digital Kant Centre. Specializing in Kantian philosophy, she is currently writing her PhD thesis on "Kant on Epistemic Authority and Autonomy." Hatice received her B.A. in Philosophy from Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) University and her M.A. from Bilkent University. Her primary interests lie in the history of philosophy, with a particular focus on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and early modern philosophy.
Hatice’s research delves into various aspects of Kantian thought, including Kantian moral philosophy, epistemology, and political philosophy. She is particularly interested in Kant’s theory of knowledge, especially his theory of assent and testimony, the relation between autonomy and authority in Kant’s works. Additionally, she explores Kant’s contributions to the Enlightenment, his philosophy of religion, and his influence on subsequent philosophical traditions.
Lei Niu
Lei is a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Cologne, specialising in social and political epistemology. His work explores reasonable attitudes towards others’ epistemic practices and complementary methods to rational persuasion in combat with fake news, conspiracy theories, and people’s irrationality.
Lou Thomine
Lou Thomine is a PhD candidate in the Cologne Center for Contemporary Epistemology and the Kantian Tradition (CONCEPT) at the University of Cologne. She is interested in questions at the intersection of epistemology, social philosophy, and ethics. She translated from English to French Miranda Fricker’s book Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing (2007) and co-authored an anthology entitled Epistemic Injustice and Violence. She is also the spokesperson of the PhD students at the a.r.t.e.s. doctoral school. Her studies are funded by a grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.