Johannes Jaeger (also simply known as Yogi)
is a freelance researcher and educator who aspires to be a modern-day natural philosopher.
He was the leader of the project “Pushing the Boundaries: Agency, Evolution, and the Dynamic Emergence of Expanding Possibilities,” funded by the John Templeton Foundation (JTF), and co-led by Prof. Tarja Knuuttila at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Vienna. You can read this thoughts about being funded by JTF here.
Yogi is associate faculty at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) Vienna.
Yogi began his career as a geneticist studying fruit flies with Walter Gehring at the University of Basel, later turning to theoretical biology and the philosophy of science by obtaining an MSc in holistic science with Brian Goodwin at Schumacher College, and a PhD with the late John Reinitz at Stony Brook University. His research combined experiments and computer modeling to understand how genes shape developing embryos. He went on to study how development evolves across different species, first as a postdoctoral fellow with Michael Akam at the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge, and then as an independent group leader at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, where he led a wonderful and diverse team of biologists, computer scientists, and mathematicians.
Alongside his lab work, Yogi developed a growing interest in the deeper philosophical questions of biology—especially how we study and understand living systems and their evolution. In 2015, during a fellowship at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, he shifted his focus fully to these questions, later serving as Scientific Director of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Science (KLI) near Vienna. Since then, he has worked independently as a freelance scholar, critical of the cult of productivity and the lack of humility that reign supreme in academic research institutions, severely impacting freedom of research, intellectual integrity, and the long-term productivity of science.
Yogi has held fellowships and visiting professorships in Berlin, Paris (here and here), Vienna, Dresden, and Stellenbosch, and has lectured widely on evolutionary and developmental biology, systems thinking, the organization of the organism, and the philosophy of biology.
Yogi has taught graduate courses in evolutionary, developmental, and systems biology at the University of Cambridge and the Gulbenkian Institute in Portugal. Between 2009 and 2025, he also directed the Venice Summer School in Evolutionary Developmental Biology. He also teaches a Crash Course in Philosophy for researchers and leads workshops and retreats on how early-career scientists can survive and thrive in today’s academic world. Last but not least, he worked as a substitute science teacher at a local Montessori school, teaching 12–15 year olds what life, the universe, and everything are really about.
Yogi is a strong advocate and practitioner of open science.
He lives somewhere in the Viennese exurbs, between Danubian floodplains and the modest Eastern beginnings of the Alps, where he enjoys the beautiful countryside just as much as the proximity of the humming cultural and scientific hub that is Vienna.
His personal website is: http://www.johannesjaeger.eu, where he (occasionally) writes his blog “Untethered in the Platonic Realm.”
You can find detailed information on Yogi’s academic work and publication record via Google Scholar and ORCID.
He is trying to avoid social media these days, but you can follow Yogi under @[email protected] on Mastodon, or find him in the toxic public relations pit called LinkedIn.
Many of Yogi's lectures are available online:
Beyond Networks
Lecture Series developed for the Evolutionary Systems Biology Masters Programme at the University of Vienna (2018-2020).
Science as Process and Perspective
A crash course in the philosophy of science for researchers at all stages in the natural, formal, and social sciences.
Modelling Developmental Systems
A short masters-level course on how and why to model developmental systems in biology.
And, as an added bonus, here is a fun talk about the nature of time and change.
is a freelance researcher and educator who aspires to be a modern-day natural philosopher.
He was the leader of the project “Pushing the Boundaries: Agency, Evolution, and the Dynamic Emergence of Expanding Possibilities,” funded by the John Templeton Foundation (JTF), and co-led by Prof. Tarja Knuuttila at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Vienna. You can read this thoughts about being funded by JTF here.
Yogi is associate faculty at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) Vienna.
Yogi began his career as a geneticist studying fruit flies with Walter Gehring at the University of Basel, later turning to theoretical biology and the philosophy of science by obtaining an MSc in holistic science with Brian Goodwin at Schumacher College, and a PhD with the late John Reinitz at Stony Brook University. His research combined experiments and computer modeling to understand how genes shape developing embryos. He went on to study how development evolves across different species, first as a postdoctoral fellow with Michael Akam at the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge, and then as an independent group leader at the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, where he led a wonderful and diverse team of biologists, computer scientists, and mathematicians.
Alongside his lab work, Yogi developed a growing interest in the deeper philosophical questions of biology—especially how we study and understand living systems and their evolution. In 2015, during a fellowship at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, he shifted his focus fully to these questions, later serving as Scientific Director of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Science (KLI) near Vienna. Since then, he has worked independently as a freelance scholar, critical of the cult of productivity and the lack of humility that reign supreme in academic research institutions, severely impacting freedom of research, intellectual integrity, and the long-term productivity of science.
Yogi has held fellowships and visiting professorships in Berlin, Paris (here and here), Vienna, Dresden, and Stellenbosch, and has lectured widely on evolutionary and developmental biology, systems thinking, the organization of the organism, and the philosophy of biology.
Yogi has taught graduate courses in evolutionary, developmental, and systems biology at the University of Cambridge and the Gulbenkian Institute in Portugal. Between 2009 and 2025, he also directed the Venice Summer School in Evolutionary Developmental Biology. He also teaches a Crash Course in Philosophy for researchers and leads workshops and retreats on how early-career scientists can survive and thrive in today’s academic world. Last but not least, he worked as a substitute science teacher at a local Montessori school, teaching 12–15 year olds what life, the universe, and everything are really about.
Yogi is a strong advocate and practitioner of open science.
He lives somewhere in the Viennese exurbs, between Danubian floodplains and the modest Eastern beginnings of the Alps, where he enjoys the beautiful countryside just as much as the proximity of the humming cultural and scientific hub that is Vienna.
His personal website is: http://www.johannesjaeger.eu, where he (occasionally) writes his blog “Untethered in the Platonic Realm.”
You can find detailed information on Yogi’s academic work and publication record via Google Scholar and ORCID.
He is trying to avoid social media these days, but you can follow Yogi under @[email protected] on Mastodon, or find him in the toxic public relations pit called LinkedIn.
Many of Yogi's lectures are available online:
Beyond Networks
Lecture Series developed for the Evolutionary Systems Biology Masters Programme at the University of Vienna (2018-2020).
Science as Process and Perspective
A crash course in the philosophy of science for researchers at all stages in the natural, formal, and social sciences.
Modelling Developmental Systems
A short masters-level course on how and why to model developmental systems in biology.
And, as an added bonus, here is a fun talk about the nature of time and change.
Marcus Neustetter (also simply known as Marcus)
is an artist.
Marcus is an adjunct professor with Nelson Mandela University, and currently moves between his studios in Johannesburg and Vienna.
He earned his undergraduate and Masters Degree in Fine Arts (2001) from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Interested in cross-disciplinary practice, site-specificity, socially engaged interventions, and the intersection of art and activism, Neustetter has produced artworks, projects, performances and installations across Africa, Europe, America and Asia. Searching for a balance between poetic form and asking critical questions, his media fluctuate in response to concept and context. His ideas often circle the intersection of art, science, and technology in an attempt to find new perspectives on his creative process.
As artistic director, facilitator, researcher, and strategist to various creative industry areas, he finds himself building opportunities and networks that develop interest beyond his personal artistic practice into seeking entrepreneurial and alternatively cultural ecosystems through his 20-year collaboration with Stephen Hobbs as The Trinity Session.
Marcus' website is: https://marcusneustetter.com.
Some fun video links to get to know Marcus' work and ideas:
Seeking Dialogue and Unfolding Meaning
Leonardo Laser - Paris (March 2022)
Shedding Light on South Africa's Dark History
An interview by Jane O’Brien, filmed by Allen McGreevey, edited by Joni Mazer-Field, produced by Mat Morrison.
BBC News (January 2016)
Lead the Way
Moon Gallery - Artist Talk (April 2021)
Moments of Inspiration and Playful Interventions
TEDxJohannesburg (January 2010)
Art, Place, and Dislocation in the 21st Century City
Creative Time Summit - New York (2013)
ZKM - Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe
Artist Talk: Digital Imaginaries - Africas in Production (November 2018)
Erosion Performance - Eyewitness News
6th Annual "Infecting the City" Arts Festival - Cape Town (March 2013)
Artist Presentation
World Technology Summit, New York (2015)
is an artist.
Marcus is an adjunct professor with Nelson Mandela University, and currently moves between his studios in Johannesburg and Vienna.
He earned his undergraduate and Masters Degree in Fine Arts (2001) from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Interested in cross-disciplinary practice, site-specificity, socially engaged interventions, and the intersection of art and activism, Neustetter has produced artworks, projects, performances and installations across Africa, Europe, America and Asia. Searching for a balance between poetic form and asking critical questions, his media fluctuate in response to concept and context. His ideas often circle the intersection of art, science, and technology in an attempt to find new perspectives on his creative process.
As artistic director, facilitator, researcher, and strategist to various creative industry areas, he finds himself building opportunities and networks that develop interest beyond his personal artistic practice into seeking entrepreneurial and alternatively cultural ecosystems through his 20-year collaboration with Stephen Hobbs as The Trinity Session.
Marcus' website is: https://marcusneustetter.com.
Some fun video links to get to know Marcus' work and ideas:
Seeking Dialogue and Unfolding Meaning
Leonardo Laser - Paris (March 2022)
Shedding Light on South Africa's Dark History
An interview by Jane O’Brien, filmed by Allen McGreevey, edited by Joni Mazer-Field, produced by Mat Morrison.
BBC News (January 2016)
Lead the Way
Moon Gallery - Artist Talk (April 2021)
Moments of Inspiration and Playful Interventions
TEDxJohannesburg (January 2010)
Art, Place, and Dislocation in the 21st Century City
Creative Time Summit - New York (2013)
ZKM - Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe
Artist Talk: Digital Imaginaries - Africas in Production (November 2018)
Erosion Performance - Eyewitness News
6th Annual "Infecting the City" Arts Festival - Cape Town (March 2013)
Artist Presentation
World Technology Summit, New York (2015)
Yogi and Marcus, together with artist Bronwyn Lace and curator Basak Senova, are the arts & science collective The ZoNE, which operates out of coffee houses and various academic/artistic institutions in Vienna.
They also facilitate workshops, organize events, consult and scout for art & science projects using their Perspective Studio methodology.
Finally, there's a fun little video we've made on Understanding Living Systems. We are happy to make videos like this for you on any biology-related topic that we find meaningful and worth supporting.
They also facilitate workshops, organize events, consult and scout for art & science projects using their Perspective Studio methodology.
Finally, there's a fun little video we've made on Understanding Living Systems. We are happy to make videos like this for you on any biology-related topic that we find meaningful and worth supporting.
Back to Table of Contents
The authors acknowledge funding from the John Templeton Foundation (Project ID: 62581), and would like to thank the co-leader of the project, Prof. Tarja Knuuttila, and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Vienna for hosting the project of which this book is a central part.
Disclaimer: everything we write and present here is our own responsibility. All mistakes are ours, and not the funders’ or our hosts’ and collaborators'.
Disclaimer: everything we write and present here is our own responsibility. All mistakes are ours, and not the funders’ or our hosts’ and collaborators'.
