Noichl, Loettgers – A Computational Analysis of Interdisciplinary Model Template Transfer – DS² 2021
Channel: CEFISES at UCLouvain
Date: 2021-03-17

The talk “A computational analysis of interdisciplinary model template transfer” by Maximilian A. Noichl and Andrea Loettgers (University of Vienna), recorded at the DS² 2021 online conference, March 16, 2021.


The flashing of fireflies and the firing of neurons, the flourishing and withering of species, the freezing and waning of the arctic shelf, the division of reefs into colonies of different species of coral and the division of Europe into the modern system of states have all been studied by scientists through oscillation-models of remarkable similarity.This has led philosophers of science to ask how it is possible that models, which are constructed by scientists in order to represent one target system turn out to be applicable to so many others, how the migration of a model from one area of science to another one takes place, and under which conditions it is actually justified.

The notion of computational templates has been central for this discussion. Computational templates are mathematical formalisms which are adopted because of their computational tractability, and which can be fleshed out into full models. This notion has been subsequently developed into that of model templates which couple a mathematical structure with a general conceptual idea. These conceptual ideas are essential in how model templates can be moved from one area of application to another, a process in which they can be re-interpreted to fit a materially different situation.

These connections suggest a novel understanding of interdisciplinarity and knowledge transfer by stepping away from traditional units of analysis, like laws, theories, or paradigms. However, this research has so far mainly focused on case studies of individual model-templates. These case studies have been helpful for the understanding of model-based theoretical practices. The scientific literature though does grow at a breath-taking pace, and most of the science that allows for quantification makes use of some type of model. Yet, this raises the crucial question of how generalizable case studies of single transfers of model templates are, as they can be informed only by comparably tiny parts of the scientific literature.

To deal with this issue, we propose a computational approach that allows us to investigate the distribution of model-templates in large samples of the scientific literature, and apply it to articles that model oscillatory systems.