Sidney Carls-Diamante has recently received a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Auckland. Her doctoral thesis explored how the octopus nervous system challenges a number of received views on the nature of cognition and consciousness. She has been awarded a KLI Postdoctoral Fellowship to work on a project entitled "The Free Energy Principle: From Promises to Premises." The aforesaid project explores explores how the theoretical framework of the free energy principle theory of cognitive brain function can be refined. She is the recipient of the Werner Callebaut Prize 2019 endowed by ISHPSSB.