Events

KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format. 

Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923

Spring-Summer 2026 KLI Colloquium Series

12 March 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

What Is Biological Modality, and What Has It Got to Do With Psychology?

Carrie Figdor (University of Iowa)

 

26 March 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Science of an Evolutionary Transition in Humans

Tim Waring (University of Maine)

 

9 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Hierarchies and Power in Primatology and Their Populist Appropriation

Rebekka Hufendiek (Ulm University)

 

16 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

A Metaphysics for Dialectical Biology

Denis Walsh (University of Toronto)

 

30 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

What's in a Trait? Reconceptualizing Neurodevelopmental Timing by Seizing Insights From Philosophy

Isabella Sarto-Jackson (KLI)

 

7 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Evolutionary Trajectory of Human Hippocampal-Cortical Interactions

Daniel Reznik (Max Planck Society)

 

21 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Why Directionality Emerged in Multicellular Differentiation

Somya Mani (KLI)

 

28 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Interplay of Tissue Mechanics and Gene Regulatory Networks in the Evolution of Morphogenesis

James DiFrisco (Francis Crick Institute)

 

11 June 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Brave Genomes: Genome Plasticity in the Face of Environmental Challenge

Silvia Bulgheresi (University of Vienna)

 

25 June 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Evolvability of the Mammalian Ear: From Microevolutionary Variation to Macroevolutionary Patterns

Anne LeMaitre (KLI)

 

KLI Colloquia 2014 – 2026

Event Details

Benedikt Hallgrimsson
KLI Colloquia
The Conceptual Foundations of Evolution and Development
Benedikt HALLGRIMSSON (University of Calgary)
2023-06-22 15:00 - 2023-06-22 16:30
KLI
Organized by KLI
You are invited to a Zoom meeting. 
When: Jun 22, 2023 03:00 PM Vienna 
Register in advance for this meeting:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
 
Topic description / abstract:
Evolutionary developmental biology is often described as a new field that arose in the 1970s and early 1980s due to a realization within evolutionary biology that considerations of development had been excluded from the conceptual framework of the modern synthesis. While there is some truth in this, reality is much more complicated. For one, thinking about the relationship between development and evolution did not stop with the modern synthesis and, in fact, foundational work to evolutionary developmental biology was produced during this time.  Secondly, much, even the majority, of work currently produced under the banner of evo-devo or evolutionary developmental biology does not actually address the ways in which development informs evolutionary explanation. Rather, it deals with comparative analyses of development-genetic pathways or mechanisms. I argue that both phenomena have occurred because there is not a good understand of what evolutionary developmental biology is about or what its central question or questions are.  Instead the field has emerged is more a social construct than a conceptual one.  But what is the conceptual core of this field?  This is the question that my project at the KLI has sought to address.  In this talk, I will argue for the need to define a conceptual framework for evolutionary developmental biology.  I will also discuss the organization of the key concepts and how they relate to neighbouring fields outside of evolutionary biology such as genetics and the biomedical sciences.
 
Biographical note:
Benedikt Hallgrimsson is an international leader in the quantitative analysis of anatomical variation. His work focuses on structural birth defects and the developmental genetics of complex traits as well as the conceptual foundations of evolutionary developmental biology. He integrates 3D imaging and morphometry with genetics and developmental biology. He was awarded the Rohlf Medal for Excellence in Morphometrics in 2015 and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2020). He has published >170 journal articles, 32 chapters, three edited volumes, and a textbook. Hallgrimsson has held leadership roles at the University of Calgary where he led creation of the Bachelor of Health Sciences and co-led the successful proposal to create a Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.  He is currently Deputy Director for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute and ­Head of the Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy.