Computational Modelling for Consciousness Science: From Fragmentation to Integration

• Carcassonne, France

• August 29 - September 5, 2026

• 950€ - Participation fees will include accommodation for 7 days, all meals and the workshop fee.

• 20 participants

• A limited amount of bursaries will be available for participants who wouldn't be able to attend otherwise, covering part or all of the fees.

Computational models in consciousness science

Computational models are becoming increasingly central to consciousness science. Across neuroscience, psychology, AI, and philosophy, researchers are using formal models not only to simulate brain activity, but also to clarify concepts, test assumptions, and connect theories of consciousness to empirical data. Yet this landscape remains highly fragmented: models often target different phenomena, operate at different levels of description, and rely on different assumptions without a shared framework for comparison.

From fragmentation to integration

This workshop is designed to confront that fragmentation directly. It will bring together researchers working across computational approaches to consciousness and related phenomena — from brain dynamics and cognitive modelling to artificial neural networks, predictive processing, and formal approaches to subjective experience. Our aim is to create a space where these approaches can be situated, compared, challenged, and connected, while helping pave the landscape of computational models in consciousness science.

Workshop format

As in other MESEC events, the workshop will be small-scale, immersive, and dialogue-driven. We will gather researchers-in-training and senior scholars in a Mediterranean setting to create the kind of sustained exchange that is often missing from conventional conferences. The goal is not only to showcase models, but to collectively reflect on how they are built, what they explain, where they diverge, and how they might inform one another.

Why this workshop matters

More broadly, the workshop reflects MESEC's commitment to building a more collaborative and pluralistic culture in consciousness science. By creating a human-scale environment for serious discussion across perspectives, we hope to foster both conceptual clarity and new forms of collaboration around one of the field's most promising emerging directions.