Paper on ‘reductionism' awarded prize for best SHS master's project

The award-winning master’s project “Le défi de l’étude des systèmes complexes pour le réductionnisme” (The challenge of studying complex systems through reductionism) was written by life sciences engineering student Laura Gambaretto, Neuro-X student Barbara Grosjean, and physics student Damien Clément Ribiere in the SHS course Philosophie des sciences de la vie II taught by Christian Sachse.

The aim of their project was to examine the extent to which reductionism, the philosophical practice of analyzing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of phenomena that are held to represent a simpler level, is challenged by the study of complex systems in science. To do this, the group used three case studies to refine the idea of epistemological reductionism.

“Philosophy of science has been a great passion of mine for a long time. I even have a blog about it,” says Damien. “I've always loved the conceptual questions that revolve around science: What is the 'scientific method'? Are there as many different methods as there are sciences, or can we find commonalities between them?”

During the first few weeks of introductory material, Laura and Barbara both became fascinated by reductionism, leading them to choose this topic for their project.

“We had never thought of biology as a discipline that could be separate from physics,” says Barbara. “Having graduated with a bachelor's degree in life sciences, we had become accustomed to studying biology through the laws of physics. It took us time and a great deal of soul-searching to understand that there are several ways of approaching different scientific fields, including biology, each of which is more or less reductionist. It was this aspect that piqued our interest in the subject. Then it didn't take long to convince Damien.”

In the study of complex systems in biology, the first two sections of their paper, they concluded that an interdisciplinary approach is fundamental for scientific progress and the most complete possible understanding of the systems under study. While this is not necessarily easy in practice, it is worth the effort, and is also crucial for meeting today's societal challenges, such as change.

“Throughout the project, we also questioned our relationship to science and its approach,” says Barbara. “Another conclusion we could draw, as scientists but above all as humans, is the importance of remaining humble in the face of science and the study of the world around us. Science is not necessarily an absolute truth absolute truth, and is still a long way from our subjective, lived experiences. There are still many things that we do not understand. So it's essential to take a step back in what we do in science, and to question our place both as scientists and as humans.”

Best posters and best teachers

Along with the prize for best SHS master’s project, the December 2 ceremony gave awards to the three best posters of the Global Issues course, and the best teaching prizes.

Best posters for the "Global Issues" course:

• Communication B: Github Copilot: l'IA peut-elle coder sans plagier? (Github Copilot: can AI code without plagiarising?) Students: Balthazar Baillat, Célestin Balas, Alexandre Flusin, Maxence Espagnet and Charlie Parker
• Energy A: L'hydrogène, une solution future pour l'aviation? Révolution ou green washing? (Hydrogen, a future solution for aviation? Revolution or green washing?)
  Students: Zoë Cicéron, Marthe Dufouleur, Julien Meric, Christopher Perritaz et Evelyne Sonneville
• Health A: Titre du projet : Les femmes: grandes oubliées des essais cliniques.(Women : forgotten in clinical trials.)
  Students: Rayhana Bentahir, Ardi Cerkini, Martin Gafsou, Colombe Jourdan and Lutteri Lhea Warnery

Best teachers:

• Best teacher for the SHS program 2024: Marc Laperrouza
• Best teacher for the Master’s of Digital Humanities 2024: Daniel Gatica-Perez
• Best teacher for the Master’s of Digital Humanities 2023: Jérôme Baudry