Home > Programs > Zenith Grants

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

Search here for Awardees by Name or Year:

   

Gheorghe Paraoanu

Aalto University

FACE-OFF

$75,097

Physics of Information, 2013

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

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

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

The Nature of Reality

$147,987

Physics of Information, 2013

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

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