Call for Papers

The 11th World Congress of Center for Inquiry-Transnational (CFI) will be held in October 2007, Beijing, China. Broad participation is sought. Papers and proposals that address the scientific inquiry of human behavior, especially the claim of paranormal phenomena, alternative medicine and pseudoscience, the research on secular humanism and planetary ethics, and the relation between these inquiries and human flourish are welcome.

  • The main topics of 11th CFI world congress include, but are not limited to:
    • A. Scientific inquiry and harmonious development
      • The Planetary community needs harmonious development
      • The scientific perspective is essential for planetary ethics
      • Resolving serious problems in worldwide development, such as energy depletion, environmental pollution, and global warming, is crucial to harmonious global development
    • B. Science and the Public
      • Public understanding of science is crucial for today's global development
      • The movement of public understanding of science in western society
      • The Chinese National Plan for Scientific Literacy and Popularization
      • Formal and informal science education
    • C. Scientific method and the scientific outlook
      • Skepticism is essential component of the scientific attitude
      • Critical thinking and the scientific method
      • Secular humanism is based on scientific inquiry
    • D. Scientific culture and ethics
    • E. Science and pseudoscience
      • Research ethics in scientific publications
      • Para-psychology and alternative medicine
      • How to investigate paranormal claims
    • F. Other topics concern scientific inquiry and science communication

The paper should be submitted online via the website:

If you cannot access the website successfully, you can also submit paper by e-mail to:

  • All submissions should be in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), or MS Word (.doc) of version 6.0 or above, and accord with the format (TBD) shown as below.
  • The submission should include its abstract of 500 words.
  • Papers should be between 20-25 minutes reading time
  • The deadline for submission of papers is April 30, 2007, but early submission is strongly encouraged and advised.
  • Notification of acceptance and invitation letter will be sent by the Congress Secretariat before May 30th, 2007, meanwhile review comments will be sent by academic committee.
  • The author may have to revise the paper according to the review comments. The revised paper should be sent back through website or email before June 30.

General information

Congress Theme: Science Inquiry and Human Well-being

Congress Chairs:

  • Paul Kurtz, Center for Inquiry-Transnational, USA
  • Ren Fujun, China Research Institute for Science Popularization, China

Organization Committee:

  • Chair:
    Lei Qihong, China Research Institute for Science Popularization, China
  • Co-chairs:
    Cheng Ningning, China Association of Science and Technology, China
    Barry Karr, Center for Inquiry-Transnational, USA

Academic committee:

Chairs:

  • Lin Zixing, China
  • Daniel Dennett, USA

Members:

  • Wan Yusheng, China
  • Sheng Zhenyu, China
  • Du Jiwen, China
  • Liu Xiaoting, China
  • Zhou Chen, China
  • Paul Kurtz, USA
  • Daniel Dennett, USA
  • Murray Gell-Mann USA
  • Sir Harry Kroto UK
  • David Koepsell, USA
  • Kendrick Frazier, USA

Congress Secretariat:

Executive Director:

  • Zheng Nian, China Research Institute for Science Popularization, China

Directors:

  • Li Xi, China Research Institute for Science Popularization, China
  • David Koepsell, Center for Inquiry-Transnational, USA

Members:

  • Yin Lin, Zhang Xiaomei
  • Xie Xiaojun
  • Gao Hongbin
  • Zhang Chao
  • Li Zhengwei
  • Yan Yan
    (all come from CRISP)

Time: 13-15 October 2007

Language: The working language of congress will be English

Registration:

  1. Registration Form (forthcoming)
    The registration form, available in .txt format for printing, should be returned with the registration fee to the congress secretariat.
  2. Attendees can register online through PayPal: click here for online registration options
  3. Registration Fee- Foreigner: US$395; Chinese: RMB 1600
    The registration fee entitles delegates to:
    1. Attendance at the congress
    2. Congress document
    3. Social activities
    4. Coffee and tea breaks
    5. Working lunch

For further information go to: www.cast.org.cn and www.centerforinquiry.net

Contact:

Address:
Center for Inquiry-China
China Research Institute for Science Population
NO. 86, Xueyuan Nanlu Haidian Dist.
Beijing, 100081 China

Tel: 8610-62170515
Fax: 62172749
E-mail:

Publication:

  1. The proceedings of all the papers will be compiled for Congress use;
  2. The excellent papers will be published in Free Inquiry, Skeptical Inquirer and Science Popularization