Ultimate Reality
The Foundation supports research to advance scientific, philosophical and theological scholarship on the theme of ultimate reality. The theme of ultimate reality is closely connected to a set of classic "big questions:" What aspect of reality is deeper: math, matter, or mind? What is time? Why is there a universe instead of nothing at all? Why the quantum?
FEATURED GRANT
Science and Ultimate Reality: Celebrating the Vision of John Archibald Wheeler and Taking it Forward into a New Century of Discovery
Dr. William J. Grassie, Executive Director
Metanexus Institute (Philadelphia PA)
Dr. Kenneth W. Ford, Consultant (Philadelphia PA)
This conference commemorated John Archibald Wheeler's legacy of cosmological innovation and its future development for science in the 21st century. The edited volume Science and Ultimate Reality: Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Complexity (Cambridge University Press, 2004) considers quantum theory as it relates to the nature of physical reality, cosmic inflation, the arrow of time, models of the universe, superstrings, quantum gravity, and cosmology.
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Sample Grants
| Grant Title |
Award Date |
Grant Amount |
| |
- Life, The Universe, Everything - And More
Professor Richard D. Mohr
Department of Philosophy
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Urbana IL)
- The conference grant, looking at many philosophical, theological and scientific aspects of Plato's 'Timaeus', brings together an international list of speakers from a range of disciplines. Key scientists and philosophers include Sir Anthony Leggett, Sean Carroll, Alexander Nehamas and Julia Kristeva. Parmenides Publishing has agreed to publish the proceedings and JTF funds support less than 20% of the total cost.
|
January 2007 |
$12,000 |
- FQX Foundational Questions in Physics and Cosmology
Professor Max Tegmark
Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge MA) Professor Anthony N. Aguirre
Department of Physics
University of California Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz CA)
- This grant established the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) and the Foundational Questions Consortium (FQXc) for networking, and the sponsoring of research grants, mini-grants, contests and conferences. Their focus is on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology, particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources.
|
March 2006 |
$8,812,078 |
- Science and Transcendence Advanced Research Series [STARS]
Robert J. Russell, Ian G. Barbour Chair in Theology and Science
Founder and Director, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences [CTNS]
Professor of Theology and Science in Residence, Graduate Theological Union - The
goal of STARS is to help fund research by small interdisciplinary teams of
scientists, philosophers, and theologians. Research will emphasize questions
concerning the nature, character, and meaning of ultimate reality.
|
June 2005 |
$3,040,000 |
