The Centre for Science Studies (CSS) was founded 1965 by professor of physics Olaf Pedersen as the Department for the History of the Exact Sciences. Since 2014, it forms part of the Department of Mathematics.
CSS offers a Master's degree in Science Studies and teaches mandatory philosophy of science courses to undergraduate students at the Science and Technology Faculty.
CSS is one of the leading research groups in Europe in the fields of philosophy of science, science communication, and the history of science and technology. Research topics covered by CSS faculty members include:
Philosophy of science
- Social epistemology, esp. scientific authorship, collaboration, and publication
- The philosophy of Thomas S. Kuhn
- History and Philosophy of Science, especially theoretical virtues and novelty in theory choice, theory-ladenness and rationality
- Scientific explanation
- Metaphilosophy: intuitions as evidence, the historical case study approach
Science communication
- Public understanding of science and public engagement in science
- Media representations of science
- Citizen science
- Historical studies of popular science
History of science and technology
- Science and technology in the 19th and 20th centuries with a focus on the physical sciences, especially, physics, chemistry, astronomy and atmospheric, climate and environmental sciences
- History of renewable energy technology
- History of scientific expeditions
- Science and technology (and science education) in Cold War settings
- Environmental history
