I’m happy to post the following message from Brendan Foster of the Foundational Questions Institute in order to help advertise their Large Grants Program. I should make clear that I have no formal connection with this Institute so if you have any questions about the program please contact them as advised in the post. And if you wish to apply, good luck!
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I’d like to announce the 2010 round of the Foundational Questions
Institute (FQXi) Large Grants Program. Initial applications are due
in under two weeks, so get started now!
FQXi is an independent, philanthropically funded non-profit organization. Our mission is to catalyze, support, and disseminate research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology. We want to bring special focus to new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality, but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources.
As part of our mission, we now invite proposals for research on foundational questions in physics and cosmology. The focus for this grant round is “Time and Foundations”. We wish to especially encourage projects targeted on the Nature of Time. To quote from the Request for Proposals, “The topic of Time is of both deep and broad interest for research in foundational questions in physics and cosmology. Science, and particularly physics, has produced dramatic insights into the nature of time…Careful consideration of time has
likewise caused revolutions in physics, and may again do so.”
We will also consider more general proposals of exceptional quality, including suitable outreach projects. All proposed projects should qualify as foundational and unconventional. You can get a sense of the range of supported work by checking out the funded projects from the previous grant rounds, at
http://www.fqxi.org/grants/large/awardees/list
The application consists of a two-step, online process, with review by an external panel of experts. The Initial Proposal is short and simple, consisting of little more than a page of summary and a rough budget. You should have more than enough time to get ready by the Initial Proposal deadline: June 14, 2010 (midnight, EST).
We will then invite selected proposals to be expanded into Full Proposals based on the selections of the Review Panel. Funds for approved Full Proposals will be available (via a Donor Advised Fund) soon after January 1, 2011.
To view full instructions and the application form, go to
http://www.fqxi.org/grants/large/initial.
The deadline again is Monday, June 14.
While you’re at it, visit our blog and online forums, at
You’ll find articles, essays, and discussions on foundational physics questions, including the Nature of Time. Send any questions to us at mail@fqxi.org.
In the Dark 