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About NaMu

NaMu 2025: Exploring "The Nature of Music" in Vienna

Music is a fundamental aspect of human experience, sparking questions that transcend traditional academic boundaries. NaMu 2025, a student-led conference in collaboration with diverse Viennese institutions and the Dachverband Studierender der Musikwissenschaften (DVSM), invites you to explore the rich tapestry of interdisciplinary music research.

In an era of increasingly cooperative and integrative scholarship, musicology stands at the heart of a vibrant research field. This conference addresses critical questions: How does musicology navigate this interdisciplinary landscape? How do cross-disciplinary dialogues enrich our understanding of music? And how can your unique perspective contribute to this evolving field?

Under the broad theme "The Nature of Music," we aim to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas, breaking down perceived disciplinary barriers and promoting collaborative exploration. NaMu 2025 is designed to:

Promote Interdisciplinarity: Connect with students from diverse fields, including musicology, music psychology, behavioral biology, philosophy, and more, to foster a rich dialogue and a holistic understanding of music.
Set High Academic Standards: Benefit from a rigorous, student-led peer-review process and engage with internationally renowned keynote speakers, ensuring a high-quality academic experience.
Promote Young Talent: Take your first steps into the research community, gain valuable presentation experience, and engage in critical reflection on your discipline.
Enable Networking: Build lasting connections with peers and establish an international, interdisciplinary network in a supportive environment.
Promote Equality: We are dedicated to promoting gender equality in academia, ensuring balanced representation among keynote speakers and organizational members.

What to Expect:

Diverse Topics: Explore a wide range of research areas, from traditional musicology to cutting-edge interdisciplinary studies.
Inspiring Keynotes: Learn from leading researchers with interdisciplinary expertise.
Engaging Program: Participate in workshops, discussions, and a vibrant social program designed to foster collaboration and exchange.
Prestigious Venue: Experience the conference in the historic and accessible main building of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), located in the heart of Vienna.

Why Vienna?

Vienna, a hub for diverse music research, provides the perfect backdrop for NaMu 2025. The ÖAW, a center for collaborative research, offers an ideal setting for this interdisciplinary gathering.

Join Us:

NaMu 2025 is more than just a conference; it's an opportunity to shape the future of music research. Join us in Vienna to explore the dynamic intersection of music and science, and contribute to a vibrant and evolving field. We, Oliver Tab Bellmann, Melina Witt, Jeroen van der Aa, Inga Quint, and Dijana Popovic, look forward to welcoming you.

Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)

NaMu 2025 will take place in the historical and accessible main building of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Organisation Committee

Oliver Tab Bellmann

Vienna Doctoral School in Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience und Institut für Schallforschung (ÖAW)

Oliver completed a bachelor's degree in music design at the Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen and a master's degree in musicology at the University of Cologne. He is currently working on his doctorate as a recipient of a DOC Fellowship from the Austrian Academy of Sciences on broader perspectives on the biological-cultural evolution of musicality and music. As a member of the organizing committee of the Joint Conference on Language Evolution (2022, Kanazawa, Japan), he gained valuable experience in the planning and implementation of scientific conferences. In 2024, he became part of the Executive Committee of the international SysMus conferences.

Melina Witt

Acoustics Research Institute/Institut für Schallforschung (ÖAW)

Melina studied biology at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg and specialized in behavioral, neuro- and cognitive biology at the University of Vienna with a focus on comparative research on music perception. In the winter semester 2025/26, she will begin her doctoral studies on musicality and music evolution at the Acoustics Research Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. As a member of the board of the Concert Collegium Wien, she is very familiar with the organization and practical implementation of events.

Jeroen van der Aa

Vienna Doctoral School in Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience, University of Vienna

Jeroen holds a Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences and Technology and a Research Master's degree in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, both from the University of Groningen. He is currently working on his PhD thesis on understanding the evolution of music, focusing on the perception and production of rhythms in birds and parrots in particular. During his studies, he was involved in various student committees and as a member of the board of a diving club. Jeroen is an avid conference goer.

Dijana Popovic

Department for Musicology, University of Vienna

Dijana completed her bachelor's, master's and doctoral studies (summa cum laude) at the Department of Musicology (University of Vienna). As part of her PraeDoc position, she dealt with explicit and implicit gender-typical associations with musical instruments, which she investigated using self-report, reaction time measurement and eye tracking at the MediaLab of the Faculty of Philological and Cultural Studies. As a member of the German Society for Music Psychology (DGM), she has published on interdisciplinary topics related to music perception and categorization processes. She is currently working as a congress manager for the 25th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, which will take place at the University of Vienna in 2026.

Inga Quint

Department for Musicology, University of Vienna

Inga is studying for a bachelor's degree at the Department of Musicology at the University of Vienna and also attends courses at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Before and alongside her studies, she gained organizational experience in the field of music education, as a volunteer and co-trainer in a sports club and is currently involved in various student orchestras.

Dachverband der Studierenden der Musikwissenschaften

NaMu logo design and copyright: Kora Luise Witt

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