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From September 12-16, the Cosmology Group will be hosting an international conference in the philosophy of cosmology together with its sister group in the UK. In Tenerife, Spain, the conference will bring leading researchers in cosmology together with philosophers of physics and cosmology to discuss a panoply of topics including the arrow of time, quantum foundations and cosmology, laws of nature and initial conditions, and the emergence of spacetime. More details here.

Congratulations to cosmology group post-doc Anna Ijjas, who has received a postdoctoral fellowship with the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science There she will continue her work on early universe cosmology and alternatives to the inflationary paradigm.

This Friday, October 25, Sean Carroll of Caltech will be visiting the New York Philosophy of Science Group.  He'll be discussing cosmology in very large universes from 4-6 PM (abstract below).  The talk will take place in the NYU philosophy building, 5 Washington Place, 1st floor.  For a full schedule of New York area Philosophy of Physics Group discussions, see nyphilsci.wordpress.com.  Thursday, October 24,  Dr. Carroll will give a colloquium for the NYU physics department at 4PM in Meyer room...

Cosmology Group Researcher Anna Ijjas got a hat-tip in the latest issue of New Scientist.  Check out the article on their webpage, at your local newsstand, or see the full text here.

A great wrap-up of our summer institute can be found over at the Rotman Institute's Engaging Science blog.  There's a good guided tour of the topics discussed in the workshop, with links to the videos that discuss them.  

Rethinking Cosmology Paul Steinhardt, Albert Einstein Professor of Physics at Princeton,  will visit Rutgers' Philosophy of Physics Seminar April 19.  This talk will begin by discussing the various reasons why most cosmologists today consider the big bang inflationary cosmology to be the leading, if not proven, theory of the universe.  Then the discussion will turn to explaining why each of these reasons is flawed.  This naturally leads to the question: "What is the alternative?"  Understanding the...

The Philosophy of Cosmology team is pleased to announce that three postdoctoral fellowships are now available to recent PhD's hoping to advance their research in the philosophy of cosmology or related feilds.  For information on who's eligible and how to apply, go here.  Applications will be accepted starting July 8.

Check out this interesting interview with Tim Maudlin, in which he discusses the early stages of the universe, some questions in the philosophy of physics, and the relationship between philosophy and physics (as disciplines).