OZSW Annual Report 2016 Now Available

The 2016 Annual Report of the OZSW is now available. Read the summary in this news item.

Summary

The Dutch Research School of Philosophy (Onderzoekschool Wijsbegeerte – OZSW) is the collaborative enterprise of the philosophy departments and faculties of eleven Dutch universities. Its general purpose is to strengthen the discipline of academic philosophy by (1) organizing courses, summer/winter schools and other types of research training for PhD and Research Master (ReMa) students, and (2) facilitating and encouraging national and international cooperation between researchers active within the field of academic philosophy.

The OZSW was established at the end of 2012, and started its operations in January 2013. The OZSW comprises the former Netherlands School for Research in Practical Philosophy (OZSE), which has become the OZSW section ‘Ethics and Practical Philosophy’. The other two OZSW sections are ‘History of Philosophy’ and ‘Theoretical Philosophy’.
Erasmus University Rotterdam is the hosting university for the OZSW and its Office for the period 2012-2017. At Erasmus University, Han van Ruler has been the scientific director of the OZSW since the spring of 2014.

2016 has been a successful year for the OZSW in that it received a positive assessment from the Erasmus University Executive Board for its 2015 intermediate Self-Evaluation on the basis of the new SEP Protocol, as well as the approval of the DLG (Disciplineoverleg Letteren en Geesteswetenschappen), along with an official upgrade of its original status from a “Small” to a “Large” Research School.

In 2016, the OZSW Office and staff have aimed at greater visibility of the Research School for all members, as well as at further implementation of evaluation processes and the development of internship policies.

During the year, the OZSW Office went through several changes with regard to its staff. Roel Visser left the OZSW for a PhD position in Bielefeld. He was temporarily replaced by Hedwig Gaasterland, who was later succeeded by Zoé Evrard.

Over the course of 2016, the OZSW has continued to grow in terms of size, activities and visibility. At the end of 2016, the OZSW had 681 members: 161 Research Master student members, 201 PhD student members, 308 senior members, and 11 international members.
During the year, multiple educational activities were organized under the umbrella of the OZSW: 13 courses, a variety of winter/summer schools, a graduate conference, workshops and seminars. The number of participants in these activities (excluding the Annual Conference) amounted to 203 PhD students and 42 Research Master students.

With the establishment of four new study groups on a variety of topics, the number of OZSW study groups has also increased in 2016. Study groups have organized research-related activities in which all OZSW members could participate, such as seminars and reading groups. Four study group grants were awarded, allowing study groups to invite international guest speakers or to organize full day workshops.

In December 2016, the fourth OZSW Annual Conference took place at the University of Groningen. Key note speakers were Samir Okasha (Theoretical Philosophy), Alison Simmons (History of Philosophy) and James Lenman (Ethics & Practical Philosophy). This fourth edition of the conference further contributed to the recognizability of the OZSW as an established organization, and added once again to the community spirit amongst academic philosophers in the Netherlands, despite the great disparity of fields, schools and traditions within the discipline of philosophy.

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