Who is FQXi?

The Scientific Directorate provides the scientific leadership of FQXi, advised and overseen by the Scientific Advisory Panel. Grant decisions are made by external review panels, and a 501(c)(3) charitable Supporting Organization set up in conjuction with the National Philanthropic Trust provides legal and financial oversight.

FQXi is supported solely by philanthropic donations. Opportunities for you to participate may be found here.

Members

FQXi Members are the lifeblood of our organization, consisting of top researchers and outreach specialists in our fields of interest. FQXi Awardees won grants in our Request for Proposals. FQXi Winners won Mini-Grants (which program is, unfortunately, only open to Members).


Scientific Directorate

Scientific Director: Max Tegmark, Associate Professor, MIT
A native of Sweden, Tegmark earned his Ph.D. in physics at Berkeley in 1994. He then worked as a research associate at the Max-Planck-Institut für Physik in Munich, as a Hubble Fellow and member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and as faculty at the University of Pennsylvania before joining MIT in 2004 as an Associate Professor. Tegmark's research has focused on cosmology theory and phenomenology, but has also included diverse topics such as interpretations of quantum mechanics, predictions of inflation, and parallel universes.

Associate Scientific Director: Anthony Aguirre, Associate Professor, UC Santa Cruz
Aguirre received his Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2000 from Harvard University. He then spent three years as a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (narrowly missing Tegmark) before accepting an Assistant Professorship at the physics department of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Aguirre has worked on a wide variety of topics in theoretical cosmology, ranging from intergalactic dust to galaxy formation to gravity physics to the large-scale structure of inflationary universes and the arrow of time.


Scientific Advisory Panel

Alan Guth, Professor of Physics, MIT
Guth's research interests are cosmology and particle physics, especially inflationary theory.

Christopher Chyba, Professor of Astrophysics & International Affairs, Princeton University
A MacArthur Fellow, Chyba's research interests include astrobiology, planetary science, and international security.

David Chalmers, Director, Centre for Consciousness & Professor of Philosophy, Australian National University
Chalmers' research interests include the philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and the foundations of physics.

Dieter Zeh, Professor Emeritus of Physics at University of Heidelberg
His research interests include quantum decoherence (which he discovered) and the arrow of time.

Eva Silverstein, Associate Professor of Physics, SLAC & Stanford University
An ex-MacArthur Fellow and Sloan Fellow, Silverstein's research interests include string theory, gravity and particle physics.

Frank Wilczek, Professor of Physics, MIT
Wilczek's research interests include particle physics, cosmology, condensed matter physics and the quantum theory of black holes. His work on asymptotic freedom was awarded the 2004 Nobel prize.

Gregory Chaitin, Researcher, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
Chaitin's research interests include physical and mathematical complexity, algorithmic information theory, metamathematics, and philosophy of science.

John Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge University
Barrow's research interests are cosmology, the foundations of physics, gravitational and particle physics. Barrow has written a number of popular books on these topics.

Lee Smolin, Researcher, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Smolin's research interests center on quantum gravity and also include cosmology, particle physics, string theory and the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Martin Rees, Professor of Cosmology & Astrophysics, Cambridge University
Master of Trinity College and President of the Royal Society, Rees' research interests include understanding the large-scale structure of the Universe (for which he was awarded the 2005 Crafoord Prize) and high-energy astrophysics.

Nick Bostrom, Director, Oxford Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University
Bostrom's research interests are philosophy of science, ethics, transhumanism, and probability theory.