Objectives

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XΦRG has four objectives:

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• To facilitate a collegial environment in which members share novel ideas about their own and others’ research projects;
   

• To yield high-quality and effective research outputs, through interdisciplinary, national, and international collaborations;
   

• To host events, public forums, conferences, specialised workshops inviting experts, academic scholars, and students from other universities; and
   

• To secure financial support through internal and external funding streams, such as public or private foundations including the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Marsden Fund.

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XΦRG's goals are in consonance with the university’s long-term and short-term strategic goals established by Vice-Chancellor Neil Quigley. XΦRG gathers together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary scholars to help its members deliver high quality research outputs.

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Novelty of the Research Group

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When we survey the composition of the Philosophy profession elsewhere in the region, we find that the University of Waikato has the highest concentration of academic staff with expertise in experimental philosophy. Comparing ourselves worldwide, we are one among twenty-one experimental philosophy research labs or Research Groups.

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XΦRG has built mutually beneficial scholarly connections with other members of the international community. For example, XΦRG and the Veritas Research Centre of Underwood International College of Yonsei University in South Korea have an agreement to facilitate collaboration between us and other member institutions of the Veritas Research Centre's Global Relativisms Network.

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XΦRG not only spearhead a team of academic researchers in the area of experimental philosophy but also cultivate new entrants through the development of a strong undergraduate and postgraduate course of study.

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XΦRG and Postgraduate Research

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XΦRG maintains a strong and supportive research environment in which academic staff, postgraduate students, and visitors to the University of Waikato may work individually and in collaboration with one another on philosophy projects. 

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We welcome proposals from research postgraduate students along two axes. Philosophy postgraduate students at the University of Waikato working on experimental philosophy have unfettered access to academic staff with an array of research specialities covering all of philosophy’s major subdisciplines, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic. 

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Equally appealing to postgraduates is the benefit of regular and frequent short-term and long-term visits to the University of Waikato by renowned overseas scholars. 

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