KLI

@kli.ac.at

The KLI (https://www.kli.ac.at/) is an institute of advanced studies in the life sciences. Subscribe to our KLife newsletter: http://eepurl.com/g7GLdr The KLI also publishes the journal Biological Theory: @biologicaltheory.bsky.social

🌟📣KLI postdoc fellow Enrico Petracca, together with Shaun Gallagher, received the Elinor Ostrom Prize at #WINIR2026 in Rome, for their paper “Norms are Relational: Cognitive Institutions, Practices, and the ‘Where’ Question” in the Journal of Institutional Economics. doi.org/10.1017/S174... 👏👏👏

Norms are relational: cognitive institutions, practices, and the ‘where’ question | Journal of Institutional Economics | Cambridge Core

Norms are relational: cognitive institutions, practices, and the ‘where’ question - Volume 21

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🌟📣 We are happy to announce a new publication by Barbara Fischer (KLI Group Leader) and Katya Stansfield (KLI Postdoc Fellow): Human evolution and the obstetrical dilemma: The pelvic floor hypothesis doi.org/10.1002/ar.7... Congratulations to the authors! 💐

Human evolution and the obstetrical dilemma: The pelvic floor hypothesis

Human childbirth is mechanically difficult because a large-headed, broad-shouldered fetus must pass through a comparatively narrow, twisted bony birth canal. Traditional explanations of this “obstetr...

doi.org

🌟📣 Check out the special issue "The Relevance of a Philosophical Toolkit to Advance Neuroscience" in the EJN, co-edited by KLI group leader Isabella Sarto-Jackson. It features 31 interdisciplinary papers on understanding the functions of the brain and mind. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...

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🌟 KLI Visiting Fellow Arun Chavan (@arunchavan.bsky.social) delivered a Brown Bag Talk on the "Evolutionary origin of vertebrate digestive organs". Thank you, Arun, for sharing your knowledge and sparking lively discussions on the evolution of cell types! 👏👏👏

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🌟📣 Congratulations to KLI postdoctoral fellow Enrico Petracca!💐 He has received an FWF grant for his project “Integrating evolution and enactivism through decision-making”. www.kli.ac.at/en/the_kli/n... 👏👏👏

Österreichischer Wissenschaftsfonds FWF@fwf-at.bsky.social · last mo.

174 neue Forschungsprojekte mit einem Gesamtvolumen von 84,3 Millionen Euro erhalten eine #FWF-Förderung. Insgesamt wurden über 780 Förderanträge eingereicht. 📑 Die neu bewilligten Projekte sind ab sofort im Forschungsradar online abrufbar. 👉 www.fwf.ac.at/aktuelles/de...

🌟 KLI Visiting Fellow Juan Vila delivered a Brown Bag Talk on metaphysical, biological, and ethical dimensions of population thinking. Thank you, Juan, for sharing your knowledge and sparking lively discussions! 👏👏👏

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🌟 KLI Visiting Fellow Elisa Domínguez-Hüttinger delivered a Brown Bag Talk on modeling epithelial homeostasis. Thank you, Elisa, for sharing insights into your fascinating research and sparking lively discussions! 👏👏👏

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🌟KLI Visiting Fellow Tomasz Szubart (@tszubart.bsky.social) presented his research on musical meaning, emotions, and evolutionary origins/functions of music in a Brown Bag Session. Thank you, Tomasz, for sharing your thoughts and sparking discussion! 👏👏👏

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🌟📣 New book in the Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology is out now! Towards a Biosemiotic Theoretical Biology: Sign Processes and Meaning-Making in Living Systems featuring also a chapter by KLI postdoctoral fellow David Cortés-García (@davidcortesgarcia.bsky.social) Congratulations! 💐

MIT Press@mitpress.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Just one new release this week: An edited volume that brings together 25 of today’s most forward-thinking biologists and philosophers to discuss sign processes and meaning-making in organisms: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205361... (available #openaccess) Congrats to everyone involved!

Cover of "Towards a Biosemiotic Theoretical Biology: Sign Processes and Meaning Making in Living Systems," edited by Kalevi Kull and Donald Favareau, over a purple background.

Join our KLI Colloquium: "The Evolvability of the Mammalian Ear: From Microevolutionary Variation to Macroevolutionary Patterns" Speaker: Anne LE MAITRE (KLI) 🕒 25 June 2026, 3:00 PM CEST 🗺️ at KLI, join online via ZOOM (link & info: www.kli.ac.at/en/events/ev...)

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Several KLI fellows are presently at the EuroEvoDevo #EED2026 in Glasgow, where they are sharing their research and participating in an inspiring conference.

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Yesterday's KLI Hike took us to the Nationalpark Donauauen. Thanks to Peter Sziemer, we learned a lot about the flora and fauna of this special habitat and also spotted some rare species, such as the little bittern, the European pond terrapin, and the violet bird's-nest orchid.

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Join our KLI Colloquium: "Brave Genomes: Genome Plasticity in the Face of Environmental Challenge" Speaker: Silvia BULGHERESI (University of Vienna) 🕒 11 June 2026, 3:00 PM CEST 🗺️ at KLI, join online via ZOOM (link & info: www.kli.ac.at/content/en/e...)

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🏵️ And it's a pleasure to also welcome Elisa Domínguez-Hüttinger as a new Visiting Fellow! Elisa is a theoretical systems biologist (National Autonomous University of Mexico), working on modeling epithelial homeostasis as an emergent property. www.kli.ac.at/en/the_kli/n...

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🏵️ A warm welcome to our Visiting Fellow, Juan Vila! www.kli.ac.at/en/the_kli/n... Juan is a philosopher (National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina). At the KLI, he works on his project “One of a Kind: Biological, Metaphysical and Ethical Dimensions of Population Thinking”.

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