Raffaella Campaner graduated in Philosophy at the University of
Trieste in 1996 with a dissertation in Philosophy of Science. She
took a Master in Philosophy (M. Litt) at the University of St.
Andrews (Scotland) in 1998, with a dissertation in Philosophy of
Physics, and a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Trieste in
2000. In 2000-2001 she was Assistant Editor of the British
Journal for the Philosophy of Science. She had a post-doctoral
fellowship (2000-2002) and a research grant (2002-2006) at the
Dept. of Philosophy of the University of Bologna, where she has been Lecturer (2006-2014). From September 2014 to September 2021 she has been Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science at the Dept. of Philosophy and Communication, where she is currently Full Professor. Since 2019 she is Life Member of Clare Hall College, Cambridge. Since November 2021 she is Vice-Rector for International Relations at the University of Bologna. Since the same year she is a member of the Governing Council of the Magna Charta Observatory, a member of the Management Board of the IHEA Foundation - Italian Higher Education with Africa, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Italian Academic Center (IAC, at Cornell Tech, NY). Since April 2024 she is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Graduate School of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Her research has addressed philosophical theories of scientific explanation, conceptions of causation, scientific models, with a specific focus, on the one hand, on the social sciences (history, economics, anthropology, archaeology), and, on the other hand, the biomedical sciences. Within philosophy of medicine, she has focused on topics in the philosophy of epidemiology, cancer, and psychiatry.
She published many papers in international journals and volumes, and the
following books: La spiegazione nelle scienze umane (2004);
Spiegazioni e cause in medicina: un'indagine epistemologica
(2005); La causalità tra filosofia e scienza (2007);
Philosophy of Medicine. Causality, Evidence and Explanation
(2012); La spiegazione scientifica (together with Maria Carla Galavotti) (2012); Filosofia della scienza (with Maria Carla Galavotti, 2017; second edition 2018); Varieties of Causal Explanation in Medical Contexts (2019); Explaining Disease: Philosophical Reflections on Medical Research and Clinical Practice (2022).
She took part in a number of international projects and conferences
(e.g., at University of Ghent, Vienna, King's College - London, Beijing,
Granada, Geneva, Konstanz, Rotterdam, Bristol, Nancy, Athens, Madrid, La Coruna, Paris, Helsinki, Duesseldorf, Pittsburgh, Oslo, Bonn, University of Kent - Canterbury, Bielefeld, Medical university of Łódź, Michigan State University).
From June 2014 to June 2017 she has been a SILFS (Italian Society of Logic and Philosophy of Science) Steering Committee member.
From September 2015 to September 2019 she has been an EPSA Steering Committee member (http://www.philsci.eu/steering-comittee)
From July 2018 to November 2019 she has been Delegate to International Relations for the Dept. of Philosophy and Communication Studies. From November 2019 to November 2021 she has been the Director of the Master Program in Philosophical Sciences.
From November 2018 to November 2021 she has been the Director of the Inter-University Research Centre in Philosophy of Health and Disease PhilHeaD (Università di Bologna, Ferrara, Firenze, Genova, Milano Bicocca, Piemonte Orientale, Roma Tre).
