Robert Batterman, professor of philosophy in the University of Pittsburgh’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, is the principal investigator for a recently awarded three-year, $510,00 grant from the John Templeton Foundation. Coinvestigators on the grant project are Mark Wilson, Pitt professor of philosophy, and Christopher Smeenk, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Western Ontario.
The grant will bring together mathematicians, physicists, and philosophers to explore the relationships between modeling material behaviors at different length and time scales. One area of focus will be on modeling nanomaterials, a process that often involves mixed methods both at macroscopic and atomic scales.
Batterman’s research at Pitt examines the border between the philosophy of mathematics and the philosophy of science. He is particularly interested in the role of mathematics in the formation and application of physical theories.