Sabina Leonelli is a

philosopher of science Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and professor at the

Technische Universität München The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She is well known for her work on scientific practices, data-centric science, and open science policies. She was awarded the 2018

Lakatos Award The Lakatos Award is given annually for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted. The contribution must be in the form of a monograph, co-authored or single-authored, and published in English during the previou ...

for her book ''Data-Centric Biology: A Philosophical Study'' (2016).

Biography

Originally from Italy, Leonelli moved to the UK for a BSc degree in history, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and a MSc degree in History and Philosophy of Science at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. Her doctoral research was carried out in the Netherlands at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...

with Henk W. de Regt and Hans Radder. Before joining the Exeter faculty, she was a research officer under

Mary S. Morgan Mary Susanna Morgan FRDAAS is an economist, philosopher, historian, and the Albert O. Hirschman Professor of the History and Philosophy of Economics in the London School of Economics. She was Department Chair of Economic History between 2002 ...

at the Department of Economic History of the

. Leonelli is the co-director of the

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Centre for the Study of the Life Sciences (Egenis) and a Turing Fellow at the

Alan Turing Institute The Alan Turing Institute is the United Kingdom's national institute for data science and artificial intelligence, founded in 2015 and largely funded by the UK government. It is named after Alan Turing, the British mathematician and computing p ...

in London. She is also Editor-in-Chief of the international journal

History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences ''History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history and philosophy of biology. It was established in 1979 and is published by Springer Science+Business Media. The editors in chief are ...

and Associate Editor for the

Harvard Data Science Review Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. She serves as External Faculty for the

Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI) is an international center for advanced studies in the life and sustainability sciences. It is a "Home to Theory that Matters" that supports the articulation, analysis, and in ...

. Since 2024 Leonelli is Professor for Philosophy and History of Science and Technology at the Technische Universität München in Munich.

Involvement in science policy

Leonelli is currently an ambassador of

Plan S Plan S is an initiative for open-access science publishing launched in 2018 by "cOAlition S", a consortium of national research agencies and funders from twelve European countries. The plan requires scientists and researchers who benefit from ...

, an open-access science publishing initiative supported by cOAlition S. From 2015 to 2017, Leonelli led the Open Science working group of the

Global Young Academy The Global Young Academy (GYA) is an international society of young scientists, aiming to give a voice to young scientists across the globe.... Membership strength is capped at 200, and the membership tenure is 5 years. Organization and member ...

, and from 2016 to 2019 represented the GYA on the Open Science Policy Platform of the European Commission. In 2016, she co-chaired the production of the Open Data Position Statement by the GYA and European Young Academies and in 2018, co-authored the GYA Statement on Plan S.

Recognition

Leonelli was awarded with the 2018

Lakatos award The Lakatos Award is given annually for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted. The contribution must be in the form of a monograph, co-authored or single-authored, and published in English during the previou ...

for ''Data-Centric Biology: A Philosophical Study'' (2016), a book on the use of data and databases in contemporary biological research practices. She was elected to the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

in 2021.

Media appearances

Podcasts

* Technoculture Podcast – Episode #9: Sabina Leonelli on the Open Science Movement * Oxford Internet Institute Podcast on "Researching Life in the Digital Age: A Philosophical Analysis of Data-Intensive Biology" * The Dissenter Podcast on Science in the World of Big Data * SCI PHI Podcast

Grants and projects

* From 2019 to 2021: Turing Project "From Field Data to Global Indicators: Towards a Framework for Intelligent Plant Data Linkage" * From 2016 to 2020:

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

Discovery Grant "Organisms and Us: How Living Things Help Us to Understand Our World," led by

Rachel Ankeny Rachel Ankeny was appointed as Chair and Professor of philosophy at Wageningen University in 2024. She was previously Professor of history and philosophy at the University of Adelaide, where she worked from 2006–24 and served as Deputy Dean R ...

* From 2018 to 2021:

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

Research Grant "Understanding the Use of Digital Forensics in Policing in England and Wales," led by Dana Wilson-Kovacs * From 2019 to 2023:

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

Doctoral Training Centre on Environmental Intelligence, led by Gavin Shaddik * From 2014 to 2019:

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

Starting Grant on The Epistemology of Data-Intensive Science (DATA_SCIENCE).

Selected publications

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') is a freely available online philosophy resource published and maintained by Stanford University, encompassing both an online encyclopedia of philosophy and peer-reviewed original publication ...

article 'Scientific Research and Big Data' * Model Organisms (2020) with

. * Data Journeys in the Sciences (2020), Editors: Leonelli, Sabina, Tempini, Niccolò (Eds.). * Data-Centric Biology: A Philosophical Study (2016).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonelli, Sabina Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Philosophy academics 20th-century Italian philosophers 21st-century Italian philosophers Italian women philosophers Philosophers of science Alumni of King's College London Alumni of University College London Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Lakatos Award winners Members of Academia Europaea