What is Existential Meaninglessness?

Dear researchers,

I am excited to announce the launch of my second independent research project, Existential Threats of Nihilism. This interdisciplinary collaboration aims to explore nihilism from various perspectives, highlighting its multidimensional nature, existential threats, and ways to turn ontological challenges into optimistic opportunities. This project will run for approximately four to five months, depending on the number of participants and other factors. Meanwhile, my first project, The Essence of Knowledge Initiative, is still ongoing. This project will include 3 or more participants, including myself.

Project Outline

The goal of this project is to coauthor research articles on existential threats of nihilism based on participants’ disciplinary perspectives. Topics may include the meaning of human existence, philosophical dilemmas, and responses to nihilism. Each article will have three coauthors—myself and two other researchers. If more participants join, additional three-person coauthored articles will be formed. While each article will have a dedicated team of three, all participants will engage in weekly activities, such as research-based analysis and academic discussions. Insights from these activities may also lead to new research papers and presentations. Coauthored articles will be published on ResearchGate, and if possible, in an open access peer-reviewed journal. The program will be held asynchronously, allowing flexibility in terms of different schedules and time zones.

Participation Criteria

Doctoral researchers, PhD holders, professors, and a limited number of Master's holders regardless of disciplinary background, are welcome to participate.

Project Coordinator: Amalya Sukiasyan

I would like to share that I am blind and use a screen reader, NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access), to independently navigate the internet, teach, and conduct research.

Application Deadline: April 8, 2025

Dear researchers,

I am excited to announce the launch of a new collaborative research project on the essence of knowledge. I hope to collaborate with a small group of researchers, producing a preprint, which will be uploaded on ResearchGate and, if possible, submitted for publication in an open-access peer-reviewed journal. I would be honored to work and coauthor a paper with PhD holders and professors from various backgrounds. Although I don’t have a PhD and only hold a Master’s degree, this is an intellectual challenge for me to step out of my academic comfort zone and lead a scholarly project.

This project will be entirely asynchronous, allowing for flexibility. Participants are welcome to join regardless of their disciplinary background, as knowledge is a concept that invites diverse perspectives.

Project Description

Objective

The goal of this project is to collaboratively author a research paper that contributes meaningfully to the exploration of knowledge, demonstrating its multifaceted nature from interdisciplinary perspectives, historico-cultural contexts, analyzing it through philosophical insights, and other field-specific aspects.

Participant Criteria

• Must be a PhD holder or professor.

• Willingness to work asynchronously and collaborate effectively with other team members.

Key Information

• Research questions, project structure, and other information will be available at the beginning of the program.

• Contributors will be listed as coauthors in the final preprint.

• Number of participants: 5–7, including myself.

• This is not an institutional or university project but is independently led by me.

Contributors’ Roles

The central role of contributors will be actively contributing to the paper’s development and coauthoring alongside others. Additional tasks may include refining ideas, editing sections, and providing feedback.

Project Coordinator: Amalya Sukiasyan

As the coordinator, I will take the lead in starting and managing the project while also contributing and coauthoring alongside other participants.

Deadline to sign up: 23 December 2024

How to Apply