The Rotman Graduate Student Conference, 2026, encouraged participation by graduate students addressing metaphysical, epistemological, and conceptual questionsthat arise within and across the life sciences, particularly those working at the intersection of philosophy and the empirical sciences.
Ashar Khan, Philosophy Phd student, is especially interested in questions about causation, explanation, modelling, measurement, idealization, laws of nature, theory change, and the history of twentieth-century philosophy of science. "Much of my current work focuses on scientific models, theories, and explanations of obesity," he says. "I take obesity research to be a particularly fruitful and under-explored area for philosophical investigation, both because it draws on a wide range of scientific disciplines—including physiology, biochemistry, biophysics, neurobiology, epidemiology, and nutrition—and because it raises important conceptual and methodological challenges."
This research, titled Robustness Analysis as Constraint, Not Confirmation: The Case of Obesity Modelling, won Khan the Best Poster Talk at the Rotman Conference 2026. The Philosophy department celebrates this achievement and offers heartfelt congratulations to Ashar Khan for this well-deserved honour.