NEW LARGE RESEARCH GROUP CLEA-CLPS
From 2024, the VUB research centres CLEA and CLPS (the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science) have been integrated into a large research group, called CLEA. Prof. Karen François is appointed head of the group (director), Prof. Francis Heylighen is the contact person for research (research director). You can consult the new directors team here. For the time being, both CLEA and CLEA-CLPS will continue to communicate through their existing websites and communication channels.
DEEP INTERDISCIPLINARITY
The Centre Leo Apostel (CLEA) is a transdisciplinary, interfaculty research centre at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). CLEA’s mission is to bridge the different scientific, social and cultural disciplines. It was founded in 1995 under the impulse of the Belgian philosopher Leo Apostel (1925-1995). He formulated the goal of CLEA as the integration of the different disciplines into a coherent worldview, so as to counteract the current fragmentation into ever more specialized approaches. Next to worldviews, our research addresses fundamental interdisciplinary issues, including complexity, systems, evolution, quantum entanglement, cognition, artscience and well-being.
We call our research philosophy "thinking beyond boundaries". Thanks to this philosophy, CLEA has attracted and trained a large number of talented researchers from the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences and engineering, representing countries from across the globe. CLEA is now internationally recognized as a unique, transdisciplinary research centre with a steady output of high-level, innovative publications.
Next to our research, we offer diverse educational programs and activities, including an interdisciplinary PhD, the School of Thinking postgraduate, courses, and public seminars and lecture series.
Upcoming events
- Practical info-
CLEA SEMINAR. Unveiling the Layers of Oppression - by Gihan Abouzeid
There are many ways to study the spread of female Islamic preachers in Egypt, a phenomenon that began in the mid-eighties, creating a rare achievement for horizontally formed feminist groups. In this seminar, Gihan Abouzeid will analyse how female Islamic preachers have become a tool for supporting the current oppressive systems. How do progressive developments get turned into a tool in the hands of oppressive regimes? How do different systems of oppression work together, and how do we resist these intersecting systems?
News
CLEA at Science Week 2024, Morocco
CLEA director Francis Heylighen and researcher Shima Beigi are invited to speak at the Science Week in Morocco from 12 - 16 February, organised by the University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P).Highlights of CLEA in California for the noosphere's 100th anniversary
In 2023, CLEA travelled to California to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the noosphere, the "sphere of thought" enveloping the Earth. We have compiled the conference's highlights to give you a better grip on the noosphere. For more info, click the title.Review of CLEA lectures at the Universities of Oxford and the Philippines
In January 2024, CLEA researchers Tomas Veloz and Stefan Leijnen were invited to speak at the conference “Causal Cognition in Humans and Machines” at the University of Oxford. The gathering was organized by Quantinuum where former CLEA member Prof.