Zenith Grants
Current Status: Closed
Eligibility: Researchers and Outreach Specialists Worldwide
The zenith is the highest point achieved by a celestial body in the night sky.
Over $27 million dollars in Zenith Grants (formerly: FQxI’s Large Grants) have been awarded in multiple RFPs. These Zenith Grants are awarded (through the FQxI Fund, a donor-advised fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, or directly by FQxI) as research grants to theorists and experimenters in support of personnel, equipment, travel, workshops, and experiments; some funding also targets projects that effectively disseminate information about foundational research to laypeople. Proposals are subject to a competitive evaluation process of expert peer review similar to that employed by national scientific funding agencies.
Past Awardees
Dr. Paul Davies
Arizona State University
Cosmological and Astrophysical Implications of Quantum Post-Selection
$70,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Sara Imari Walker
Arizona State University
Accommodating observers in fundamental physics with causal mechanics
$73,151
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Paul Davies
Arizona State University
De Sitter Demons
$113,747
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
James P. Crutchfield
Art and Science Laboratory
Function and Intelligence in Thermodynamic Agents: Mutually Incompatible Realities
$92,923
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
James Crutchfield
Art and Science Laboratory
Quantitative Explorations in Nonhuman Consciousness—Signatures of Cetacean Intelligence and Social Awareness
$87,082
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Eliahu Cohen
Yakir Aharonov
Avshalom Elitzur
Avishy Carmi
Bar-Ilan University
Chapman University
Chapman University
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
The hard problem viewed from a top-down quantum vantage point
$56,350
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. Janna Levin
Barnard College of Columbia University
Godelian Incompleteness & A Theory of Everything
$28,611
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Miguel Navascués
Bilkent University
Towards an almost quantum physical theory
$132,480
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Noson Yanofsky
Brooklyn College
The Algorithmic Information of Categories
$49,924
Physics of Information, 2013
David Anthony Lowe
Brown University
Holographic approaches to gravity and the arrow of time
$102,975
The Nature of Time, 2010
Keith Schwab
California Institute of Technology
Mesoscopic Mechanical Resonators as Quantum Noninertial Reference Frames
$44,216
Physics of Information, 2013
Sean Carroll
California Institute of Technology
What Happens Inside the Quantum State?
$60,044
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Sean Carroll
California Institute of Technology
Why Agents Remember the Past and Affect the Future: The Past Hypothesis and the Emergence of Causality
$60,203
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Matilde Marcolli
California Institute of Technology
FQXi Agency in the Physical World: Towards a Topological Model of Consciousness and Agency
$10,000
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Robert Phillips
California Institute of Technology
Agency in Living Matter: The Physics of “Molecular Vitalism”
$120,000
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Doris Y. Tsao
Janis K. Hesse
California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
Neural construction of conscious perception
$100,000
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Joseph Kirschvink
Shinsuke Shimojo
Felicity Meakins
California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
University of Queensland
Cross-Linguistic EEG Comparisons on the use of Geomagnetic Cues by the Human Brain as a Path for Understanding Consciousness
$100,000
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Matilde Marcolli
California Institute of Technology
Towards a Topological Model of Consciousness
$94,217
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. Sara Seager
Carnegie Institution of Washington
The Characterization & Search for Life on Hot Rocky Exoplanets
$64,434
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Glenn Starkman
Case Western Reserve University
Can Cosmology Survive Without Birkhoff's Law?
$64,760
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dagomir Kaszlikowski
Pawel Kurzynski
Centre for Quantum Technologies
Centre for Quantum Technologies; Adam Mickiewicz University
Operational and information theoretic meaning of contextuality
$98,900
Physics of Information, 2013
Cristhiano Andre Gamarano Duarte Carneiro Silva
Chapman University
Reasoning in a Quantum World
$130,853
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Kelvin McQueen
Marcus Müller
Chapman University
IQOQI Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Mathematical models of idealism and dualism: an adversarial collaboration
$31,728
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. Brian Greene
Columbia University
Arrows of Time in the Quantum Universe
$70,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Saswat Sarangi
Columbia University
Transport Properties of the Multiverse
$50,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Jenann Ismael
Columbia University
The Emergence of Intelligence: from Nature through Culture
$103,076
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Dr. Keith C. Schwab
Cornell University
Production & Study of Macroscopic Mechanical Entanglements
$85,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Keith C. Schwab
Cornell University
Probing Quantum Mechanics with Mechanical Structures
$161,012
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Carlo Rovelli
CPT Marseille
Quantum events as the basis of quantum mechanics and quantum gravity
$90,000
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Dr. Thomas LaBean
Duke University
Experimentally Probing the Origins of Macromolecular Structure
$134,326
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Veronika Hubeny
Durham University
Measures of Holographic Information
$43,000
Physics of Information, 2013
Dr. Roderich Tumulka
Eberhard-Karls-Universitaet
Bohmian Mechanics at Space-Time Singularities
$45,960
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Benjamin Huard
Alexia Auffèves
Massimiliano Esposito
Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon
Institut Néel, CNRS, Grenoble
University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Information as fuel in colloids and superconducting quantum circuits
$1,215,386
Information As Fuel, 2019
Lidia del Rio
ETH Zürich – Institute for Theoretical Physics
Conditions for sentience in physical theories
$90,000
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. A. Garrett Lisi
Fractured Atlas
Deferential Geometry
$77,280
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Sabine Hossenfelder
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
Spacetime Defects
$126,000
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Jens Eisert
Free University of Berlin
Decidable and undecidable in quantum mechanics
$50,000
Physics of Information, 2013
Jens Eisert
Jörg Schmiedmayer
Marcus Huber
Freie Universität Berlin
Atominstitut Vienna
IQOQI Vienna
Fueling quantum field machines with information
$1,345,591
Information As Fuel, 2019
Matthew Hoban
Ana Belen Sainz
Goldsmiths, University of London
Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics
The Emergence of Agents from Causal Order
$87,105
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Eric Cavalcanti
Griffith University
Events, agents and causation in ontological models of quantum theory
$94,300
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Howard Wiseman
Michael Hall
Griffith University
Griffith University
How do measurement events emerge from Many Interacting Worlds?
$103,895
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Eric Cavalcanti
Griffith University
Causal reasoning in quantum agents
$50,480
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Howard Wiseman
Eric Cavalcanti
Peter Evans
Griffith University
Griffith University
The University of Queensland
Quantum and consciousness: paths to experiment, and implications for interpretations
$63,187
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. Abraham Loeb
Harvard College Observatory
Utilizing the Mileura Wide-Field Array to Search for Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial Life
$47,370
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Subir Sachdev
Harvard University
Quantum Criticality and Black Holes
$80,934
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Andrew Strominger
Harvard University
The Nature of Time in Asymptotically de Sitter Universes
$73,000
The Nature of Time, 2010
Andrew Strominger
Harvard University
Observers on the Boundary of Spacetime
$45,001
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Stephon Alexander
Haverford College
Foundational Questions in Cosmology and Quantum Gravity
$65,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Donald Spector
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Set Theoretic Forcing and Information Theory
$50,000
Physics of Information, 2013
Dr. Christopher J. Isham
Imperial College
Topos Quantum Theory
$75,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Antony Valentini
Imperial College
Hidden Variables in Physics and Cosmology
$112,457
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Antony Valentini
Imperial College London
Hidden Variables in the Early Universe
$113,138
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Catalina Curceanu
Lajos Diósi
Maaneli Derakhshani
INFN – Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati
Wigner Research Centre for Physics
Rutgers University
ICON: Novel intertwined theoretical and experimental approach to test the ORCHestrated Objective Reduction theory as physical basis of consciousness
$78,000
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Thomas Durt
Ralph Willox
Samuel Colin
Institut Fresnel – UMR 7249
University of Tokyo
Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Quantum Rogue Waves as Emerging Quantum Events
$54,650
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Dr. Markus Aspelmeyer
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI)
Expolring Physical Realism – Experiments on the Foundations & Limits of Quantum Physics
$48,819
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Markus Aspelmeyer
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI)
Experimental Metaphysics at the Quantum-Classical Border
$69,187
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Caslav Brukner
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI)
Agents in superpositions: the covariance of physical laws in quantum reference frames
$105,289
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Caslav Brukner
Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information
Quantum information without time and without causal order
$63,250
Physics of Information, 2013
Markus Mueller
Andrew Garner
IQOQI
IQOQI
Where agents and algorithms meet: free will and computational irreducibility
$69,544
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Felix Binder
Simon Milz
IQOQI Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences
IQOQI Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Predictive Quantum Intelligence under Physical Constraints
$74,953
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Caslav Brukner
Veronika Baumann
IQOQI Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences
IQOQI Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Conscious Encapsulated Observers
$109,900
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Jacob Biamonte
ISI Foundation
inert vs. living matter: facing the ultimate challenge of aggregate matter physics
$86,700
Physics of Information, 2013
Dr. Louis Crane
Kansas State University
A New Approach to Quantum Gravity, with Possible Applications to the Origin & Future of Life
$135,247
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Benjamin Schumacher
Kenyon College
Eidostates and physical records of events
$73,425
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Catalina Oana Curceanu
Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
"Events" as we see them: experimental test of the collapse models as a solution of the measurement-problem.
$85,000
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Daniele Oriti
Stephan Hartmann
LMU-Munich
LMU-Munich
The Epistemic Nature of Physical Laws: From Intelligent Agents to Quantum Gravity and Cosmology
$199,100
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Dr. Wojciech Zurek
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Quantum Darwinism
$75,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Wojciech Zurek
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Physics of Information and Quantum Darwinism
$87,000
Physics of Information, 2013
Dr. Jorge A. Pullin
Rodolfo Gambini
Louisiana State University
University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay
Relational Physics with Real Rods and Clocks and the Measurement Problem of Quantum Mechanics
$65,530
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Jonathan Dowling
Louisiana State University
Quantum Measurement in the Timeless Universe
$102,061
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Peter Samuelsson
Ville Maisi
Klaus Ensslin
Christopher Jarzynski
Lund University
Lund University
ETH Zürich
University of Maryland
Information-to-work conversion from classical to quantum – a nanoscale electronic demon in double quantum dots.
$1,073,137
Information As Fuel, 2019
Dr. Olaf Dreyer
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Quantum Space II
$50,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Alexander Maloney
McGill University
The Holographic Wave Function of the Universe
$117,120
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Olaf Dreyer
MIT
Quantum Space
$50,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Xiao-Gang Wen
MIT
Microscopic Origin of Gravity & Light
$94,924
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Kavan Modi
Naotsugu Tsuchiya
Jakob Hohwy
Monash University
Monash University
Monash University
Emergent agency from collective dynamics
$10,000
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Nao Tsuchiya
Hayato Saigo
Steven Phillips
Monash University
Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, Japan
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan
Precision phenomenology: revealing the structure of qualia
$66,000
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. Farzad Nekoogar
Multiversal Journeys
Theoretical Physics Made Easy for the Public
$77,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Thomas Elliott
Mile Gu
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University
The role of quantum effects in simplifying adaptive agents
$70,668
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Andrew J P Garner
Mile Gu
National University of Singapore
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Observer-dependent complexity: The quantum-classical divergence over 'what is complex?'
$50,600
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Jayne Thompson
Mile Gu
National University of Singapore, Centre for Quantum Technologies
National University of Singapore, Centre for Quantum Technologies
Are quantum agents more energetically efficient at making predictions?
$56,350
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
John Harding
New Mexico State University
Events as Decompositions
$44,330
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Dr. Tevian Dray
Oregon State University
Using Octonionic Cayley Spinors to Describe Fundamental Particles
$51,393
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Julian Barbour
Oxford University
Machian Quantum Gravity
$99,563
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Bob Coecke
Oxford University
The Road to a New Quantum Formalism: Categories as a Canvas for Quantum Foundations
$89,981
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Julian Barbour
Oxford University
The Nature of Time and the Structure of Space
$123,280
The Nature of Time, 2010
Bob Coecke
Oxford University
A relativistic universe of interacting quantum processes
$111,609
The Nature of Time, 2010
Chiara Marletto
Vlatko Vedral
Oxford University
Oxford University
Agent-based irreversibility in quantum theory: theory and experiment
$104,934
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Mr. Peter Byrne
Oxford University Press
The Devil's Pitchfork: Multiple Universes, Mutually Assured Destruction, and the Meltdown of a Nuclear Family
$35,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Justin Khoury
Maulik Parikh
Perimeter Institute
Columbia University
The Boundary as the Distant Stars: Mach's Principle in General Relativity
$22,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Matthew S. Leifer
Perimeter Institute
Abstract Quantum Probability
$71,680
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Fotini Markopoulou
Perimeter Institute
Quantum Gravity from a Quantum Information Theoretic Perspective
$56,736
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Flavio Mercati
Tim Koslowski
Perimeter Institute
University of New Brunswick
Information, Complexity and the Arrow of Time in Shape Dynamics
$139,650
Physics of Information, 2013
Lucien Hardy
Perimeter Institute
Operationalism, Agency, and Quantum Gravity
$42,504
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Lee Smolin
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Physical and cosmological consequences of the hypotheses of the reality of time
$47,500
The Nature of Time, 2010
Lucien Hardy
Jamie Vicary
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of Oxford
Categorical Compositional Physics
$148,325
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Matthew Leifer
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Quantum Theory in the Block Universe
$52,601
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Matthew Pusey
Lluis Masanes
Joel J. Wallman
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
University College London
University of Waterloo
Observers in Foil Theories
$60,950
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Lee Smolin
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Consciousness in the causal theory of views
$49,500
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. Ekkehard Peik
PTB
Laborotory Search for a temporal variation of the fine structure constant
$84,624
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Sumati Surya
Raman Research Institute
In Search of Covariant Quantum Information
$58,000
Physics of Information, 2013
Samuel Craig Fletcher
Regents of the University of Minnesota
Agential Abstraction/Representation Theory
$89,448
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Franco Nori
Jukka Pekola
RIKEN
Aalto University
Exploring the fundamental limits set by thermodynamics in the quantum regime
$909,500
Information As Fuel, 2019
Christopher John Watkins
Susanne Still
Lee Altenberg
Royal Holloway, University of London
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
Intelligence in Context
$193,186
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Ian Durham
Dean Rickles
Saint Anselm College
University of Sydney
Information and Interaction
$59,762
Physics of Information, 2013
Ian Durham
Johannes Kleiner
Yakov Kremnitzer
Jonathan Mason
Saint Anselm College
Leibniz University of Hanover
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
Models of Consciousness: A Conference Series on Formal Approaches to the Mind-Matter Relation
$48,522
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Carlo Rovelli
Samy Maroun Center for Space Time and the Quantum
Agency in time-reversal symmetric microphysics
$180,000
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
David Wolpert
Santa Fe Institute
A Semantic Information-Theory Model of Reality
$50,000
Physics of Information, 2013
David Wolpert
Santa Fe Institute
Observers as self-maintaining non-equilibrium systems
$128,319
Physics of the Observer, 2016
David Wolpert
Santa Fe Institute
The role of constraints in the thermodynamics of intelligence
$118,100
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Laurance Doyle
SETI Institute
Is Quantum Knowability Subject to Spacetime Warping?
$25,000
Physics of Information, 2013
John Bechhoefer
Simon Fraser University
Maxwell's demon in the real world: Experiments on the constraints governing information processing
$633,293
Information As Fuel, 2019
H. K. Andersen
Simon Fraser University
Temporal Structure in the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness
$56,524
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. Eva Silverstein
Stanford University
Dimensionality in String Theory
$50,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Andrei Linde
Stanford University
Multiverse, Inflation, Life and Probabilities
$164,179
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Patrick Hayden
Stanford University
Entanglement, Monogamy and Holography
$126,824
Physics of Information, 2013
Adam Brown
Stanford University
Complexity, Black Holes, and Observers
$37,500
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Patrick Hayden
Stanford University
Agency, Simulation, and Counterfactual Computation
$83,984
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Alexander Wilce
Susquehanna University
Conjugates, Correlation and Quantum Mechanics
$42,400
Physics of Information, 2013
Moshe Shay Ben-Haim
Ran R. Hassin
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Consciousness Without Language: Exploration in Non-Verbal Species and Human Babies
$150,000
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Antonio Acín
The Institute of Photonic Sciences
Quantum Bayesian networks: the physics of nonlocal events
$76,296
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Samir Mathur
The Ohio State University
What is an event?
$59,106
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Samir Mathur
The Ohio State University
What is an observer?
$47,606
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Gerardo Adesso
The University of Nottingham
Quantum Informational Framework for Cybernetics
$90,000
Physics of Information, 2013
Gerardo Adesso
Tommaso Tufarelli
Marco Piani
The University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham
University of Strathclyde
Sentient observers in the quantum regime and the emergence of an objective reality
$120,000
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Gerard James Milburn
The University of Queensland
Deriving spacetime as a relational consequence of thermodynamics
$64,250
The Nature of Time, 2010
Gerard Milburn
The University of Queensland
Are Quantum agents possible?
$89,774
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Wayne C. Myrvold
The University of Western Ontario
Quantum State Evolution, Ontology, and Relativity
$56,650
The Nature of Time, 2010
Dr. A. Garrett Lisi
Theiss Research
E8 Theory
$77,222
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Michael Reisenberger
Theiss Research
Classical and Quantum Gravity Without Constraints
$55,918
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Iosif Bena
Theiss Research
Black Hole Information, Microstates and Singularities
$106,538
Physics of Information, 2013
Olimpia Lombardi
Theiss Research
The nature of information for an informational reformulation of the modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics
$120,843
Physics of Information, 2013
Wojciech Zurek
Theiss Research
Events, Irreversibility, and the Objective Past of a Quantum Universe
$150,000
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Wojciech Zurek
Theiss Research
Quantum Darwinism and Agents
$75,000
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Wojciech Zurek
Theiss Research
Conscious of a Classical World in a Quantum Universe
$75,000
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Sean Tull
Quanlong Wang
Johannes Kleiner
Bob Coecke
Topos Institute
University of Oxford and Topos Institute
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
University of Oxford
Categorical Theories of Consciousness: Bridging Neuroscience and Fundamental Physics
$108,573
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Giulio Chiribella
Tsinghua University
The fundamental principles of information-dynamics
$48,300
Physics of Information, 2013
Dr. Ken D. Olum
Tufts University
Does General Relativity Permit Exotic Phenomena
$85,905
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Alexander Vilenkin
Tufts University
Probabilities in the Landscape
$61,878
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Ken D. Olum
Tufts University
Does General Relativity Permit Exotic Phenomena?
$60,274
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Alexander Vilenkin
Tufts University
The Measure Problem in the Inflationary Multiverse
$63,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Ken Olum
Tufts University
Does general relativity permit time travel?
$88,252
The Nature of Time, 2010
Peter Love
Tufts University
Quantum and classical Bayesian agents
$119,942
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Lorenzo Maccone
Seth Lloyd
Vittorio Giovannetti
Universita' di Pavia
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scuola Normale Superiore
Quantum Spacetime from Events
$44,965
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Stefano Pironio
Jonathan Barrett
Universite Libre de Bruxelles
Royal Holloway, University of London
Time and the Structure of Quantum Theory
$110,397
The Nature of Time, 2010
Edward Anderson
Universite Paris 7 – Denis Diderot
The Problem of Time in Quantum Gravity
$102,000
The Nature of Time, 2010
Philip Goyal
University at Albany (SUNY)
An Information-Theoretic Approach to Identical Particles in Quantum Theory
$93,127
Physics of Information, 2013
Hiranya V. Peiris
University College London
Detecting signatures of eternal inflation using WMAP and Planck data
$112,331
The Nature of Time, 2010
Jonathan Oppenheim
University College London
What are the laws of quantum thermodynamics?
$62,537
Physics of Information, 2013
Mischa Woods
University College London
Finite dimensional Quantum Observers
$60,000
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Dr. Giovanni Amelino-Camelia
University La Sapienza
Falsifiable Quantum-Gravity Theories of Not Everything
$65,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Woodrow Shew
University of Arkansas
Physical Constraints on Mental Information Capacity and Information Output
$106,873
Physics of Information, 2013
Richard Easther
University of Auckland
Minimal Observers and Maximal Observations
$121,463
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Anthony Short
University of Bristol
Emergent Relativity
$59,280
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Lidia del Rio
Renato Renner
University of Bristol
ETH Zurich
Many worlds, many times: Emergent observers in non-probabilisitic theories
$60,000
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Joanna Karczmarek
University of British Columbia
The nature of time, emergent spacetimes and nonabelian physics
$40,000
The Nature of Time, 2010
Mark Van Raamsdonk
University of British Columbia
Gravity and Information
$61,060
Physics of Information, 2013
Dr. Dmitry Budker
University of California at Berkeley
Search for a Possible Time Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant alpha by Radio-Frequency Spectroscopy of Atomic Dysprosium
$85,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Dr. Raphael Bousso
University of California at Berkeley
Why is the Universe Large?
$60,067
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Dmitry Budker
University of California at Berkeley
A Laboratory Search for Temporal and Spatial Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant Using Atomic Dysprosium
$170,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Jenny Harrison
University of California at Berkeley
Axioms of Calculus and Mechanics
$85,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. John Baez
University of California at Riverside
Categorifying Fundamental Physics
$131,865
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Steven B. Giddings
University of California at Santa Barbara
Observation & Nonlocality in Quantum Gravitational Physics
$127,735
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Raphael Bousso
University of California, Berkeley
The Future of the Multiverse
$101,872
The Nature of Time, 2010
Raphael Bousso
University of California, Berkeley
Information in Free Fall
$93,865
Physics of Information, 2013
Raphael Bousso
University of California, Berkeley
Quantum Information, Quantum Gravity, and Quantifying How Much Happens
$142,820
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Raphael Bousso
University of California, Berkeley
Dynamics of Observer-Dependent Holographic Screens
$123,898
Physics of the Observer, 2016
James Crutchfield
University of California, Davis
Information Thermodynamics of the Observer
$73,203
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Craig Callender
University of California, San Diego
What Makes Time Special
$102,263
The Nature of Time, 2010
David Rideout
University of California, San Diego
Time in Quantum Causal Set Histories
$110,400
The Nature of Time, 2010
Craig Callender
University of California, San Diego
The Flow of Time, Physics, and Observation
$36,110
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Steven Giddings
Donald Marolf
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
Locality and the emergence of space and time
$60,862
The Nature of Time, 2010
Joseph Polchinski
University of California, Santa Barbara
Gauge/Gravity Duality and the Emergence of Time and Space
$54,329
The Nature of Time, 2010
Steven Giddings
University of California, Santa Barbara
Information-theoretic foundations for quantum spacetime and gravity
$49,762
Physics of Information, 2013
Donald Marolf
University of California, Santa Barbara
Black hole information and firewall singularities
$35,100
Physics of Information, 2013
Steve Giddings
University of California, Santa Barbara
Observables in quantum spacetime
$101,899
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Dr. Robert W. Spekkens
University of Cambridge
Operational probabilistic theories as foils to quantum theory
$46,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
John Barrow
University of Cambridge
Science Fiction, Science Fact: On the Frontiers of Physics
$71,158
The Nature of Time, 2010
John Barrow
University of Cambridge
Reading Between the Lines: Information about Information
$98,843
Physics of Information, 2013
Adrian Kent
University of Cambridge
Information Theoretic Characterization of Quantum Reality
$72,589
Physics of Information, 2013
John Barrow
University of Cambridge
Stuff Happens: the Physics of Events
$95,954
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Adrian Kent
University of Cambridge
Quasiclassical events in Relativistic Quantum Field Theory
$105,000
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
John Barrow
University of Cambridge
Do Observers Matter? Exploring the physics of the observer
$99,997
Physics of the Observer, 2016
John Barrow
University of Cambridge
The Mathematics of Agency in the Physical World
$50,000
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Adrian Kent
University of Cambridge
Connecting Experiential Aspects of Intelligence and Fundamental Physics
$114,748
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Rahul Nandkishore
Siddharth Ashok Parameswaran
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of California, Irvine
Transitions to Ergodicity: Emergence of Observers in Many-Body Quantum Systems
$66,685
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Dr. Richard Woodard
University of Florida
Fundamental Particles as Probes of Quantum Gravity
$37,128
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Edi Barkai
University of Haifa
Biophysical mechanisms underlying epigenetic inheritance of enhanced complex learning capabilities
$100,000
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
University of Haifa
Studying the boundaries of self-consciousness using a unique MEG-neurophenomenology setup
$124,235
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Susanne Still
Gavin Crooks
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Foundations of information processing in living systems
$129,524
Physics of Information, 2013
Susanne Still
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Thermodynamics of Agency
$116,853
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Giulio Chiribella
Adán Cabello
Matthias Kleinmann
University of Hong Kong
University of Seville
University of the Basque Country
The Observer Observed: a Bayesian Route to the Reconstruction of Quantum Theory
$113,850
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Dr. Paul G. Kwiat
University of Illinois
Loophole-free Test of Bell's Inequalities
$89,843
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Gregor Weihs
Caslav Brukner
University of Innsbruck
University of Vienna
Higher-order Interferences and Time in Alternatives to Quantum Theory
$95,520
The Nature of Time, 2010
Ted Jacobson
University of Maryland
Growth of the vacuum in quantum cosmology
$43,029
The Nature of Time, 2010
Dr. Ted Jacobson
University of Maryland at College Park
Growth of the Vacuum in Quantum Cosmology
$82,127
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Sebastian Deffner
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Thermodynamics of information from driven quantum field theories
$111,282
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Dr. John F. Donoghue
University of Massachusetts
Emergent Gauge Symmetry
$64,634
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
John Donoghue
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Time and Emergent Symmetry
$89,610
The Nature of Time, 2010
Dr. Gaurav Khanna
University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth
Numerical Techniques for Solving Models of Quantum Gravity
$15,166
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Christopher Fuchs
Christopher Timpson
University of Massachusetts, Boston
University of Oxford
Does Participatory Realism Make Sense? The Role of Observership in Quantum Theory
$140,959
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Dr. Fred C. Adams
University of Michigan
Future History of the Universe, Including Time Variations in the Constants of Nature
$85,519
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Karim Jerbi
University of Montreal
Quale weaving: Probing integrated information theory through neurofeedback
$88,596
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Giovanni Amelino-Camelia
Philip Hoehn
University of Naples Federico II
IQOQI
Agency-dependent spacetime and spacetime-dependent agency
$51,175
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Dr. Laura Mersini-Houghton
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The Puzzle of the Initial Conditions and the Multiverse
$50,000
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Gerardo Adesso
Paul Knott
Ludovico Lami
University of Nottingham
The ultimate brain: Hallmarks and limitations of intelligence in general probabilistic theories
$100,000
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Dr. Simon W. Saunders
University of Oxford
Everett at 50
$62,149
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
Jonathan Barrett
University of Oxford
Thermodynamic vs information theoretic entropies in probabilistic theories
$119,888
Physics of Information, 2013
George Andrew David Briggs
University of Oxford
Bench-top experimental test of gravitation as an observer of quantum states
$114,858
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Natalia Ares
University of Oxford
Nanomechanics in the solid-state for quantum information thermodynamics (NanoQIT)
$1,815,039
Information As Fuel, 2019
Kobi Kremnitzer
University of Oxford
Pump priming for a new Centre for Mathematical Approaches to Consciousness at Oxford
$196,232
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Arkady Fedorov
Gerard Milburn
Sally Shrapnel
University of Queensland
Information as fuel for a quantum clock
$949,708
Information As Fuel, 2019
Otfried Gühne
Adan Cabello
Jan-Åke Larsson
University of Siegen
University of Seville
University of Linköping
The nature of information in sequential quantum measurements
$162,265
Physics of Information, 2013
Hendrik Ulbricht
University of Southampton
Testing quantum theory by de Broglie interference of polystyrene spheres and viruses
$140,490
The Nature of Time, 2010
Dean Rickles
University of Sydney
Radical Conservative: A Biography of John Archibald Wheeler
$91,369
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Aephraim Steinberg
University of Toronto
Quantum and classical agents and their ability to clone and erase information
$138,000
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
Angelo Bassi
University of Trieste
Consciousness and wave function collapse
$74,750
Consciousness in the Physical World, 2020
Dr. Yong-Shi Wu
University of Utah
Stochastic Approach to Quantum Gravity and Cosmology
$68,744
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Dr. Caslav Brukner
University of Vienna
Theories of Systems with Limited Information Content – Quantum Theory and Beyond
$69,600
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2008
Ivette Fuentes
Stefano Mancini
David Edward Bruschi
University of Vienna
Universiai di Camerino
University of York
Quantum Observers in a Relativistic World
$84,021
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
University of Washington, Seattle
Epistemological Schemata of Astro|Physics: A Reconstruction of Observers
$100,533
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Joseph Emerson
University of Waterloo
Fundamental Tests of the Structure of Quantum Information with Neutron Interferometry
$163,128
Physics of Information, 2013
Kevin Resch
Robert Spekkens
University of Waterloo
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Experimental test of intrinsically quantum causal relations
$99,705
The Physics of What Happens, 2015
Markus Mueller
University of Western Ontario
Emergent objective reality – from observers to physics via Solomonoff induction
$101,574
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Larissa Albantakis
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Distinguishing intrinsic intelligence from automatic behavior
$58,895
Intelligence in the Physical World, 2019
Paula Apsell
WGBH Educational Foundation
"The Nature of Reality" Physics Column on NOVA
$74,327
The Nature of Time, 2010
Paula Apsell
WGBH Educational Foundation
What the Physics?!
$150,000
Physics of the Observer, 2016
Paula Apsell
WGBH Educational Foundation
NOVA's What the Physics?!
$50,000
Agency in the Physical World, 2018
William Wootters
Williams College
Information and the origin of complex amplitudes
$50,000
Physics of Information, 2013
Hector Zenil
Wolfram Foundation and LABORES
MOOC Series Programme on Physical and Computational Sciences. First Series on the Physics of Information
$41,531
Physics of Information, 2013
Dr. Richard J. Easther
Yale University
Possible Pasts in the Multiverse
$106,594
Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology, 2006
QSpace Latest
PressRelease: Shining a light on the roots of plant “intelligence”
All living organisms emit a low level of light radiation, but the origin and function of these ‘biophotons’ are not yet fully understood. An international team of physicists, funded by the Foundational Questions Institute, FQxI, has proposed a new approach for investigating this phenomenon based on statistical analyses of this emission. Their aim is to test whether biophotons can play a role in the transport of information within and between living organisms, and whether monitoring biophotons could contribute to the development of medical techniques for the early diagnosis of various diseases. Their analyses of the measurements of the faint glow emitted by lentil seeds support models for the emergence of a kind of plant ‘intelligence,’ in which the biophotonic emission carries information and may thus be used by plants as a means to communicate. The team reported this and reviewed the history of biophotons in an article in the journal Applied Sciences in June 2024.