Problems in Ontology

PHI 531 Seminar Problems in Ontology

Up to 4 Credit Hours

Faculty: Barry Smith

Mondays, 4-6pm, Fall 2012, Park 141, UB North Campus

First session: August 27, 2012

This seminar will begin with a basic introduction to ontology – answering questions such as:

What is an ontology?

How does an ontology differ from a data model?

How are ontologies used?

We will cover a variety of problems in theoretical and applied ontology, paying special attention to applications in the areas of biology and medicine on the one hand, and defense and security on the other. Ontologies to be considered will include:

• The Gene Ontology
• Basic Formal Ontology
• Information Artifact Ontology
• The OBO (Open Biomedical Ontologies) Foundry
• Universal Core Semantic Layer
• The Environment Ontology

Students are strongly encouraged to register also for the following tutorial on the weekend of August 11-12:

PHI 398 LEC SMI Lecture Spec Topics: Intro to Ontology

Literature:

Introductory readings are provided here