Sophie Ritson

Sophie Ritson is an Historian and Philosopher of Science and member of the history, philosophy and culture science working group of the next generation Event Horizon Telescope. Ritson also contributes to the University of Melbourne research collaboration strategy. Ritson has interests in the epistemology of global research collaborations and changing modes of research, scientific methodology, and science and values. In examining contemporary practices, Ritson’s research seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the changing conditions and contexts of knowledge in 21st century sciences.

Ritson completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider Research Unit, publishing on creativity and novelty of global research collaborations, the epistemic value of ugliness in experiments, and assessments of future fertility and disruptive experiments. Ritson has also examined the string theory community, publishing on the ideology of the string theory debates, the role of constraints in assessments of non-empirical science, and disruptive technologies.