Projects per year
Organisation profile
Introduction / mission
The Philosophy and Ethics (P&E) Group conducts research at the intersection of philosophy, technology, and innovation
Highlighted phrase
Philosophical perspectives on technology and innovation
Organisation profile
Research at the Philosophy and Ethics (P&E) group connects philosophy and ethics to technology and innovation. We believe the design, use, and regulation of technologies is enriched by ethical and philosophical analysis. In turn, philosophy must be informed by science, innovation, and technological developments. A few of the research topics studied in the group include theories and models of technological and cultural evolution, and ethical assessment of persuasive technologies, social robotics, and advances in medical and mobility technologies. Interdisciplinary cooperation is vital for our research, which often involves direct engagement with the natural, engineering and social sciences. Researchers in the P&E group often study innovative technologies and technology-related problems in detail to enable genuinely empirically informed analyses that are meaningful to philosophers, researchers in other areas, and society. For this purpose, the group has established close interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers from other groups in the TU/e School of Innovation Sciences, as well as with mechanical engineers, climate scientists, and archaeologists, among others.
At the same time, we also view fundamental philosophical research as an essential part of what we do. Our research on technology-related problems and technological innovations requires going beyond the application of existing frameworks. Members of the group have proposed substantial changes to existing philosophical theories such as consequentialism, Kantian ethics, responsible innovation frameworks, and the extended-mind hypothesis. Members have also developed entirely new philosophical frameworks, such as the ethical design cycle and theories of technical functions and of engineering knowledge. Moreover, we work on fundamental critical assessments of technology-related research in various sciences, and of programs in engineering disciplines.
The group’s expertise covers a variety of philosophical sub-disciplines, including applied ethics, normative ethics, meta-ethics, philosophy of science and technology, and epistemology.
The group is a member of the Dutch Research School for Philosophy (OZSW), is actively involved in the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science, and has ongoing collaborations with both private and public partners.
Past and current stakeholders in P&E group projects include the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, DAF Trucks, Agentschap NL, Milieudefensie, Rathenau Instituut.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Our work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 2 Zero Hunger -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 4 Quality Education -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth -
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities -
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Fingerprint
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
Profiles
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Berker Bahçeci
- Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Philosophy & Ethics - Doctoral Candidate
Person: Prom. : doctoral candidate (PhD)
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Gunter Bombaerts
- EAISI - Associate Professor
- EIRES Research - Associate Professor
- Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Philosophy & Ethics - Associate Professor
Person: UHD : Associate Professor
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V.A.J. (Tijn) Borghuis
- Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Philosophy & Ethics - Project Manager
Person: OBP : Supportive and management staff
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NAP4DIVE: Non-Animal Platform for Nanoparticle-Based Delivery across the blood-brain barrier Interface with Vehicle Evolution
Nickel, P. J. (Project Manager), Hummel, P. (Project member), Brunsberg, V. (Project member) & Spahn, A. (Project member)
1/01/25 → 31/12/28
Project: Third tier
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ROBUST AI: Explainable AI for Autonomous Vehicles
Zednik, C. (Project Manager), Ghezzi, M. (Project member) & van Broeckhoven, B. (Project member)
1/09/22 → 31/08/27
Project: Second tier
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Cognitive Models as Surrogate models for Explainable AI (EAISI Startup)
Zednik, C. (Project Manager) & Budding, C. (Project member)
1/01/21 → 31/12/26
Project: First tier
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A Conceptual Model of the Dimensions of Scientific Coordination
Rasti, S. (Corresponding author), Vaesen, K. & Lakens, D., 2026, In: Collabra: Psychology. 12, 1, 16 p., 156501.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open AccessFile12 Downloads (Pure) -
Are There Exceptions to Goodhart's law? On the Moral Justification of Fairness-Aware Machine Learning
Weerts, H. J. P. (Corresponding author), Royakkers, L. M. M. & Pechenizkiy, M., 2026, In: ACM Journal on Responsible Computing. 3, 1, p. 1-20 20 p., 5.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile10 Downloads (Pure) -
Can Scientific Communities Benefit from a Diversity of Standards?
Michelini, M. (Corresponding author-nrf) & Osorio, J., 1 Apr 2026, In: Philosophy of Science. 93, 2, p. 353-377 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus)5 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Supplementary material from "Social information use and social information waste"
Vaesen, K. (Creator), Morin, O. (Creator), Jacquet, P. O. (Creator) & Acerbi, A. (Creator), The Royal Society, 12 Apr 2021
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5372456, https://rs.figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_material_from_Social_information_use_and_social_information_waste_/5372456
Dataset
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Ethics of Research Funding: pilot study dataset
Conix, S. (Creator), De Block, A. (Creator), Vaesen, K. (Creator) & De Peuter, S. (Creator), Zenodo, 31 Jul 2022
Dataset
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Ethics of Research Funding: A survey
Conix, S. (Creator), De Peuter, S. (Creator), De Block, A. (Creator) & Vaesen, K. (Creator), Zenodo, 24 Feb 2023
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7673890, https://zenodo.org/record/7673890
Dataset
Prizes
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1st Prize in Safety Category Data4Refugees
Frydenlund, E. (Recipient), Gore, R. (Recipient), Sener, M. Y. (Recipient), van Burken, C. G. (Recipient), DeKock, C. (Recipient) & Bozdag, E. (Recipient), 21 Jan 2019
Prize: Other › Career, activity or publication related prizes (lifetime, best paper, poster etc.) › Scientific
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Alexander von Humboldt Professorship
Müller, V. C. (Recipient), 19 Oct 2021
Prize: Other › Scholarships › Scientific
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AlignAI
Zednik, C. (Recipient) & Willemsen, M. C. (Recipient), 1 Sept 2024
Prize: ERC › Other › Scientific
Activities
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2026 NRIN Half Day Symposium - Responsible Academic Assessment: From Principles to Practice
Kis, A. (Speaker) & Braat, J. (Invited speaker)
10 Apr 2026Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk › Scientific
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Invited Talk, Ethics via Trust: Reflections on AI Models in the Social Context of Drug Delivery Research, Lorentz Center Workshop on AI-Driven Nanoparticle Design for Drug Delivery, 05 Feb 2026
Nickel, P. J. (Speaker)
5 Feb 2026Activity: Talk or presentation types › Keynote talk › Scientific
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Surviving your PhD: Challenges and best practices in PhD wellbeing
Kis, A. (Keynote speaker)
14 Jan 2026Activity: Talk or presentation types › Keynote talk › Scientific
Press/Media
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Podcast SEFI European engineering educators: Diana Adela Martin on intercultural ethics
Martin, D. A.
17/06/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Co-creation can serve as the catalyst for the most innovative outcomes. Here’s how.
Reymen, I. M. M. J., Bombaerts, G. & Wieczorek, A. J.
16/11/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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A joint initiative by EAISI and regional parties to support AI knowledge sharing and networking AI Summit Brainport 2023
Adan, O. C. G., IJsselsteijn, W. A., van Mensvoort, K., Barakova, E. I., Conijn, R., Lüttge, R., Sullivan, E. & Behrendt, F.
31/10/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
Student theses
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A brief encounter with Vincent: the effect on self-compassion from a single interaction with a chatbot that gives or asks for help
van As, N. L. (Author), IJsselsteijn, W. (Supervisor 1), Frank, L. (Supervisor 2) & Lee, M. (Supervisor 2), 31 Jul 2019Student thesis: Master
File -
Approaches to modelling technological change in energy models: a learning experience
Wesselman, P. (Author), Houkes, W. (Supervisor 1) & Verbong, G. (Supervisor 2), 29 May 2019Student thesis: Master
File -
A Welfare Economics Approach to Combating Algorithmic Bias: an empirical analysis using fairness intervention techniques
Janssen, P. J. R. (Author), Sadowski, B. M. (Supervisor 1), Zednik, C. (Supervisor 2) & Papachristos, G. (Supervisor 2), 26 Feb 2021Student thesis: Master
File