Night Science: The creative side of the scientific process (Part 2 of 2)

The formal scientific method tells you how to rigorously and objectively test a hypothesis. But where do hypotheses come from in the first place? Posing fruitful new questions, having ideas for novel hypotheses, and inventing new experimental technologies all require scientific creativity.

Itai Yanai (NYU) and Martin Lercher (Dusseldorf University) have been exploring this hidden side of the scientific process in editorials and a podcast. In this 2-day workshop, participants learn and practice different tools for the generation of scientific ideas. Sessions explore, for example, how anthropomorphic language unlocks intuitive brain capacities; how new questions can be identified by honing in on contradictions; how a hypothesis can be a liability for making new discoveries; and how ideas can be imported and exported across research fields.

Day 2: Schedule
9:30 - 11:00 [90’] Science as a meta-puzzle
11:00 - 12:30 [90’] The data-hypothesis conversation
12:30 - 1:30 LUNCH
1:30 - 3:00 [90’] Stone soup – Evolution and design of a scientific project
3:00 - 3:30 [30’] The creative thinking tools of science
3.30- 4.30 pm- Networking reception (sponsored by PEC)

Each session is integrated with exercises, allowing the participants to practise the tools for creative scientific explorations. We will wrap the workshop series with a networking reception sponsored by Princeton Entrepreneurship Council.

Meet the Facilitators:
Itai Yanai is a Professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where he studies dynamic biological processes through the lens of gene regulation and systems biology. His work has led to many contributions in the fields studying the evolution of developmental gene expression programs, spatial and single-cell transcriptomics, cancer cell states & tumor heterogeneity, and genome evolution and the genetic basis of genotype-environment interactions.

MARTIN LERCHER is a professor of computational cell biology at Heinrich Heine University, in Düsseldorf, Germany. Drs. Lercher and Yanai co-authored the popular science book The Society of Genes, which discusses how genes compete and cooperate in our genome. They discusses the exciting and significant parts of scientific research that occur behind the scenes, called “night science” and explores the creative side of scientific thinking in a collection of editorials in Genome Biology and a popular podcast of the same name.

What to Expect:
Day-long Workshop
Networking Reception between 3.30-4.30 pm

To request accommodations for this event, please contact the workshop or event facilitator at least 3 working days prior to the event.

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