Embedded Files
The Science of Subjectivity : Methodological Advances in Consciousness Research
About this conference
About this conference
Over the past three decades, the neuroscience of consciousness has seen remarkable advancement. Once considered out of bounds for scientific inquiry, we are now witnessing an explosion of theories that offer explanations to this mysterious and fundamental phenomenon.
Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the field is headed in the right direction––that is, whether we are approaching an understanding of the nature of consciousness and its relation to the brain. Significant debate remains regarding the optimal methods for measuring and analyzing consciousness rigorously.
This international conference brings together leading figures in philosophy and neuroscience who address the nature of subjectivity, and the methods for studying it, from different angles to critically examine the methodologies used to study the conscious mind.
Call for poster presentations (Due: 30 January 2026)
Call for poster presentations (Due: 30 January 2026)
We are pleased to invite researchers, students, and professionals to submit abstracts for poster presentations. We welcome interdisciplinary submissions from all fields relevant to the study of consciousness, including (but not limited) to neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and artificial intelligence (AI). We especially encourage submissions from early-career researchers.
Please submit your proposal via our submission form at https://forms.gle/MbaRLDZUMQfwEDAw7
Required Information:
Proposer Name
Email Address
Affiliation
Position
Academic Discipline/Field of Study
Poster Title
Abstract (approx. 150–250 words)
Important Dates
Submission Deadline: Friday, January 30, 2026
Notification of Acceptance: Monday, February 2, 2026
Event Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2026
General information
General information
Date: February 17-18, 2026
Venue: Rokkodai 2nd campus, Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan (Google Maps)
Day 1: Rokko Hall, Kobe University Centennial Hall （神戸市灘区六甲台町1-1 神戸大学百年記念館 六甲ホール）
Day 2: B331, Faculty of Letters & Graduate School of Humanities B（神戸市灘区六甲台町1-1 神戸大学 人文学研究科 B331）
Language: English
Format: In-person only
Registration required through this registration form.
Lecture Titles & Abstracts: here
Timetable: here
Invited speakers
Invited speakers
Tim Bayne
Tim Bayne
Dr. Tim Bayne is Professor of Philosophy at Monash University (Melbourne). He is a philosopher of mind and cognitive science, with a particular interest in the nature of consciousness. He has published numerous books and papers in this area, including The Unity of Consciousness (Oxford, 2010), Thought: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2013), and Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction (Routledge, 2021).
Thomas Boraud
Thomas Boraud
Dr. Thomas Boraud is Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), leading a research team at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases. His work focuses on identifying the neurobiological substrates of decision-making processes.
Kalina Cristoff
Kalina Cristoff
Dr. Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva is Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Their work focuses on understanding human thought, using a combination of functional neuroimaging (fMRI), behavioral testing, and theoretical work.
Shaun Gallagher
Shaun Gallagher
Dr. Shaun Gallagher is the Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Philosophy at the University of Memphis. He is renowned for his work at the intersection of phenomenology and the cognitive sciences, especially embodied and enactive approaches. He has numerous publications in this area, such as The Self and its Disorders (Oxford, 2024), Embodied and Enactive Approaches to Cognition (Cambridge 2023), The Phenomenological Mind (Routledge, 3rd edition 2021) (with Dan Zahavi), and How the Body Shapes the Mind (Oxford, 2005).
Maja Spener
Maja Spener
Dr. Maja Spener is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, UK. She works at the intersection of philosophy of the mind sciences, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of science, and epistemology. Her recent research focuses on introspective methods, the history of experimental psychology, introspection and metacognition, psychological kinds, and knowledge of abilities. Her recent publications include the monograph Introspection: First-Person Access in Science and Agency (Oxford, 2024).
Michel Thiebaut de Schotten
Michel Thiebaut de Schotten
Dr. Michel Thiebaut de Schotten is Research Director at the the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). His works spans across novel neuroimaging methodologies, experimental work, and theory. He has extensively explored the anatomy and the rolf of white matter, recent publictions including the first Atlas of the function of white matter (Nozais et al 2023), and a new software program the "functionnectome" that unravels the contribution of white matter circuits to function.
Organizers
Organizers
Takuya Niikawa (General Chair/Speaker)
Takuya Niikawa (General Chair/Speaker)
Dr. Niikawa is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities, Kobe University, Japan. He works in the analytic philosophy of mind, interdisciplinary studies of consciousness, and applied ethics. His recent publications include "What Are Atmospheres?" (The Philosophical Quarterly, 2025) and "Consciousness Aesthetics" (Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2025).
Satoshi Nishida (Co-chair)
Satoshi Nishida (Co-chair)
Dr. Nishida is a research fellow at the Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Japan. As a cognitive neuroscientist, he has long been working on fMRI studies to investigate the neural representations of higher-level cognitive information. He is also the principal investigator (PI) of the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas, “Understanding the Mechanisms of Consciousness through Narrative.”
Yuki Kobayashi (Co-chair)
Yuki Kobayashi (Co-chair)
Dr. Kobayashi is a research fellow at the Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), and a member of Dr. Nishida's lab. He has mainly worked on visual perception, with a particular focus on visual illusions. He is interested in using visual illusions as a tool for exploring the subjective world.
Katsunori Miyahara (Co-chair)
Katsunori Miyahara (Co-chair)
Dr. Katsunori Miyahara is an Associate Professor at the Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience (CHAIN), Hokkaido University, Japan. His main research areas are philosophy of mind and cognition, especially enactivism, and philosophy and ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). His recent publications include "Narrative imprisonment" (with Shogo Tanaka, Topoi, 2025) and "Empathy through listening" (with Seisuke Hayakawa, Journal of American Philosophical Association, 2024).
Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement
This conference is supported by a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas "Understanding the Mechanisms of Consciousness through Narrative" (PI: Satoshi Nishida).
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse