ECSU updates (April 2026)

From now on we're aiming to post a short roundup at the start of each month, so you can keep up with what the ECSU team is up to on a more regular basis. The unit website is also undergoing a refresh, so have a look around if anything catches your eye.

Here's a bit of what's been happening so far in 2026:

A new statement of irruption theory is out. Tom's paper "Quantifying What Is Efficacious Yet Not Observable: Cognitive Neuroscience's Measurement Problem Has a Solution" was published in Cognitive Science (50, e70170). It's the most formally developed account of the framework to date.
Irruption theory went (a little) mainstream. Irruption theory got an entry in the Landscape of Consciousness. Science journalist Conor Feehly covered our work twice this winter: New Scientist in February (on agency from molecules to minds) and Big Think in March (adapted from his Berggruen Prize–shortlisted essay, on consciousness as an input rather than just an output of the brain).
Two PhDs conferred. Natalya Weber and Shannon Hayashi were both awarded their doctorates. Natalya: Investigation of creativity in learning-driven self-organization. Shannon: Investigations into the Neuroscience of the Self: Personality and Age from the Perspective of Intrinsic Neural Timescales.
Noise, everywhere. Much of the team travelled to AROB 2026, in onsen resort town Beppu, to present the framework we're developing on the role of noise in living systems. Thanks to PhD candidate Georgii for organizing the workshop!
A new face. Keisuke Shiba has joined us as a visiting researcher from Suntory, working on the relationship between brain activity and carbonated beverages — exactly as fun as it sounds.
Save the date. ECogS 2026, our unit conference, is happening November 9–13 at OIST. Accepted abstracts announced soon.