Serendipity Science: An Emerging Field and its Methods

Samantha Copeland is an Assistant Professor in Ethics and Philosophy of Technology at Delft University of Technology. Co-founder and continuing co-chair of the Serendipity Society, Copeland has also recently edited The Art of Serendipity (2022, Palgrave-McMillan) with Ross, and has published in philosophy journals such as Synthese, Perspectives on Philosophy of Science, and in collections on the rationality and epistemology of discoveries made by chance, as well as the impact of contingent environments on the success of potential serendipity. Recent work with the Templeton Foundation has focussed on the relationships between ethics, serendipity and possibility.

Martin Sand is an Assistant Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Technology at TU Delft. In 2020, he was a member of the NIAS-Lorentz theme group on “Accountable and Explainable Medical AI” at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. Before, he undertook a two-year project on the topic“Moral Luck in Science and Innovation” as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie-Fellow. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Journal for Technology Assessment in Theory and Practice and an editorial board member of the journal Philosophy of Management.

Wendy Ross studies the role of material serendipity in higher cognitive processes such as insight problem solving and creativity. She draws on a range of methods from eye-tracking and experimental psychology to focused cognitive ethnography. She has recently co-edited the collections on serendipity: The Art of Serendipity (Palgrave). She is Co-Chair of the Serendipity Society and Vice President of the Possibility Studies Network. In 2021 she was awarded the Frank X Barron prize by Division 10 of the APA.