Ulrich Krohs
University of Hamburg, Germany
Academic Year 2008-09
Mechanistic explanation in top-down systems biology

Ulrich Krohs is a ‘Privatdozent‘ of philosophy at the University of Hamburg. His main research interest is in the field of philosophy of biology. Other research areas include analytic philosophy of technology, general philosophy of science, and biomedical ethics. In his project at the Pittsburgh Center, Ulrich inquires the role of mechanistic explanation in systems biology. Though mechanisms abound in the molecular networks studied in this field of biology, it is not so clear what at all is explained by referring to them.

Ulrich has received his 'Habilitation' (post-doctoral research and teaching qualification) in philosophy from the University of Hamburg in 2004, and also holds degrees in biochemistry: a PhD from the RWTH Aachen and a Diploma from the University of Tübingen. From 2004 to 2007, he was a fellow at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research in Altenberg, Austria.

In Germany, Ulrich used to play the cello in several cathedrals. In the cathedral of learning he is still looking for a violin to complete a string quartet, and/or for other musicians who love to play chamber music for variable instrumentation.