Models of Consciousness 7 (MoC7) Copenhagen: Keynote Speakers and Core Themes

The Models of Consciousness conference series has established itself as a premier venue for mathematically and computationally grounded approaches to consciousness research. The seventh iteration of the conference, MoC7, is scheduled for October 12 through October 16, 2026, at the University of Copenhagen. With the abstract submission deadline now passed and the preliminary programme taking shape, the conference is positioned to address some of the most pressing methodological crises currently facing the field.

The most notable signal from the MoC7 programme is the selection of John O’Keefe as a keynote speaker. O’Keefe, who shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of place cells in the hippocampus, represents a firm anchor in biological neuroscience. His inclusion in a conference traditionally dominated by formal computational models suggests a strategic pivot. Following the methodological challenges to major theories in 2025, the field is increasingly recognizing the need to reconnect abstract mathematical frameworks with messy biological realities. O’Keefe’s work on spatial mapping and cognitive architecture provides a concrete biological foundation against which artificial world-models can be evaluated.

A central event at MoC7 will be the awarding of the Mind-Matter Prize to philosopher Evan Thompson. Thompson is a foundational figure in enactivism and neurophenomenology, frameworks that emphasize the inseparable link between mind, body, and environment. His recognition at this computational conference highlights a growing theoretical consensus: consciousness may not be reducible to isolated information processing. The enactive approach argues that cognition is fundamentally grounded in a living organism’s active engagement with its world to maintain its own viability. This perspective directly challenges the possibility of consciousness in disembodied AI systems and provides rigorous theoretical backing for the biological naturalism camp.

The conference structure reflects a field attempting to synthesize these biological and enactive insights with mathematical precision. The programme includes dedicated sessions on the formalization of active inference, the mathematical properties of recurrent neural networks compared to biological connectomes, and new topological approaches to defining integration. These sessions aim to move beyond the binary question of whether machines can be conscious, focusing instead on developing rigorous mathematical tools to describe exactly how biological and artificial architectures diverge.

For AI consciousness researchers, MoC7 serves as a critical calibration point. The calibration problem in artificial consciousness has dominated recent discourse, with scholars like Florentin Koch arguing that the field lacks reliable ground truth. The Copenhagen conference attempts to provide that ground truth by insisting that mathematical models of consciousness remain strictly tethered to the biological and phenomenological evidence.

The outcomes of the October conference will likely shape the research agenda for 2027. If the biological and enactive constraints emphasized by O’Keefe and Thompson can be successfully formalized into testable computational models, the field will gain a much more robust framework for evaluating artificial systems. The conversation is shifting from abstract possibilities to concrete biological grounding.