May 22-23, 2025 | National Autonomous University of Mexico | Mexico City, Mexico
THANK YOU!
The inaugural International Conference on Anticipatory Systems and Rosennean Complexity has closed on an unmistakably triumphant note. For two intensive days the National Pavilion of Biodiversity at UNAM became a hive of ideas, where biologists, philosophers, computer scientists, historians of science, and complexity theorists from all over the world explored and extended Robert Rosen’s relational vision of life, demonstrating with clarity and rigor why living systems forever escape the limits of the machine metaphor and the clockwork universe. Sessions were filled from dawn to dusk; debates ranged from formal languages to autopoiesis and the sociology of science. Keynote addresses by Judith Rosen, whose lifelong stewardship of her father’s legacy framed the meeting, and Juan Carlos Letelier, distinguished collaborator of Varela and Maturana who has long since interwoven (M,R)-Systems Theory with Autopoiesis and Structural Coupling, provided touchstones that inspired sustained, high-level dialogue among all participants.
This success will have enduring resonance: a special issue of the Complex Systems Society‘s forthcoming journal will gather selected contributions from the conference, so keep an eye out for news on that matter. Meanwhile preparations have already begun for the second edition of the conference, to be held in Puerto Varas, Chile, in 2027, where the network consolidated in Mexico will reconvene to push relational science still further.
To every speaker, attendee, and supporter: thank you for transforming this long-imagined gathering into a vibrant reality. The conversations, collaborations, and friendships formed here promise to guide the next chapter of anticipatory and relational research, and to keep alive the spirit of inquiry that made this conference such a resounding success.
Enrique F. Soto-Astorga
Conference chair
NEW ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: MARCH 7, 2025
The National Autonomous University of Mexico, via its Research Group on Philosophy of Computing, is proud to invite you to participate in the International Conference on Anticipatory Systems and Rosennean Complexity.
Inaugurated by Dr. Robert Rosen, Anticipatory Systems Theory deals with how systems with the ability to anticipate model and act on future states. This conference aims to address anticipation in its many forms, including its philosophical, biological, cognitive, and technological dimensions. This year (2025) will also mark the 40th anniversary of the original publication of Rosen’s “Anticipatory Systems: Philosophical, Mathematical, and Methodological Foundations”, an occasion that we shall celebrate in our conference.
This conference is focused on Robert Rosen’s ideary and notions of life, complexity, modeling, and mind. For the International Conference on Anticipation, first organized by Dr. Roberto Poli on 2015, please refer to this link.
In this first edition, attendance will be free of charge.
We welcome contributions in, but not limited to, the following areas:
- Philosophy of Science: Exploring the epistemological and metaphysical underpinnings of anticipatory systems, as well as their current and future role in scientific explanation.
- Cognitive Science: Investigating the role of anticipation in contemporary, non-mechanistic cognitive science.
- Theoretical Biology: Understanding life through the lenses of relational biology and Rosen’s anticipatory systems.
- Foundational Mathematics of Relational Biology: Advancing formal frameworks for understanding organisms.
- Complex Systems: Examining the role of anticipation in dynamic, nonlinear systems, as well as in emergent behaviour.
- Medicine: Applying anticipation to predictive diagnostics, personalized treatment, and healthcare systems.
- Artificial Intelligence: Studying anticipatory artificial intelligent systems, as well as their ethical and practical implications.
- Climate Crisis: Leveraging anticipatory systems theory as strategy to address challenges related to climate change, including mitigation, adaptation, and sustainability.
Presentation Modalities
Participants may choose from the following presentation formats:
- Oral Presentations: 25-minute talks followed by a 5-minute Q&A session, designed for sharing significant findings or conceptual advancements.
- Panel Discussions: Collaborative sessions featuring 3-5 panelists addressing a specific topic related to anticipation, with a moderator facilitating audience interaction.
- Workshops: Interactive, hands-on sessions aimed at exploring specific tools, methods, or approaches to anticipation in depth.
- Abstract Submission Deadline: March 7, 2025
- Notification of Acceptance: March 14, 2025.
This conference will be an in-person event to be celebrated in the Central Campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City (Mexico). Nearby hotels and other accommodation recomendations will be sent to all accepted authors.
Organizing entities
