Improving scientific mentoring with history and philosophy of science
(2026) In Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 293(2067).- Abstract
Mentoring graduate students and postdoctoral researchers shapes the development of future scientists and, by extension, the progress of science itself. Here we explain how scientific mentoring can be enhanced by incorporating history and philosophy of science (HPS). HPS can provide mentees with a vocabulary for interpreting scientific practice and help to foster creative and innovative biologists through attention to how and why science works. It can also encourage more conscious reflection among mentors on existing biological practices and spur the undertaking of new ones that ultimately contribute to the conceptual rigor and theoretical significance of life science inquiry. We provide concrete advice for experimenting with different... (More)
Mentoring graduate students and postdoctoral researchers shapes the development of future scientists and, by extension, the progress of science itself. Here we explain how scientific mentoring can be enhanced by incorporating history and philosophy of science (HPS). HPS can provide mentees with a vocabulary for interpreting scientific practice and help to foster creative and innovative biologists through attention to how and why science works. It can also encourage more conscious reflection among mentors on existing biological practices and spur the undertaking of new ones that ultimately contribute to the conceptual rigor and theoretical significance of life science inquiry. We provide concrete advice for experimenting with different strategies of incorporating HPS that range from slight modifications of widely used practices to more nonconventional ideas.
(Less)
- author
- Love, Alan C. ; Uller, Tobias LU and Kampourakis, Kostas
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-03
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- education, mentoring, philosophy of science, teaching
- in
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- volume
- 293
- issue
- 2067
- article number
- 20252120
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:41875986
- scopus:105034365678
- ISSN
- 1471-2954
- DOI
- 10.1098/rspb.2025.2120
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Authors.
- id
- 20a663b5-0f19-4aa7-9fcd-e2b70c9d3dd3
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-12 12:04:17
- date last changed
- 2026-06-26 12:48:31
@article{20a663b5-0f19-4aa7-9fcd-e2b70c9d3dd3,
abstract = {{<p>Mentoring graduate students and postdoctoral researchers shapes the development of future scientists and, by extension, the progress of science itself. Here we explain how scientific mentoring can be enhanced by incorporating history and philosophy of science (HPS). HPS can provide mentees with a vocabulary for interpreting scientific practice and help to foster creative and innovative biologists through attention to how and why science works. It can also encourage more conscious reflection among mentors on existing biological practices and spur the undertaking of new ones that ultimately contribute to the conceptual rigor and theoretical significance of life science inquiry. We provide concrete advice for experimenting with different strategies of incorporating HPS that range from slight modifications of widely used practices to more nonconventional ideas.</p>}},
author = {{Love, Alan C. and Uller, Tobias and Kampourakis, Kostas}},
issn = {{1471-2954}},
keywords = {{education; mentoring; philosophy of science; teaching}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2067}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}},
title = {{Improving scientific mentoring with history and philosophy of science}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2120}},
doi = {{10.1098/rspb.2025.2120}},
volume = {{293}},
year = {{2026}},
}