Brief History The Center for Spacetime and the Quantum was founded in 2014 by Carlo Rovelli.Operations begun with a kind donation by Samy Maroun.
Samy Maroun was a succesful enterpreneur, with a passion and vision for physics. Samy told us that despite his success as an enterpreneur, it was his life's dream to leave a mark in science, and to promote scientific endeavors that push intuition and imagination to explore the interface between physics, philosophy and the phenomenon of conciousness. Samy has left this world in 2017, a few years after the center was established. The memory of his passion and his friendship remains with us.
Since, the center has received numerous small donations, prestigious grants from the Foundational Questions Institute, including a grant to explore Agency in time-reversal symmetric microphysics, and has been awarded a large grant by the John Templeton Foundation in order to launch and coordinate the project The Quantum Information Structure of Spacetime. The Center for Spacetime and the Quantum supports young people that wish to do research in quantum spacetime physics, allowing them to freely explore and think about the foundational and philosophical implications of their work. The centre also supports and co-organise scientific workshops and outreach activities.
Activities The main activities of the Center are: i. Support to research activity in Quantum Gravity and related fields. ii. Support for students, doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers. iii. Organization of colloquia/conferences/workshops and other research meetings.
Governance The Center is directed by a president (Carlo Rovelli). The president is advised by a scientific committee (Scientific Advisory Board).
Administrative form The Center is an "Association Simple" under the French law of 1901. The Center is a declared not for profit association recognised as of general interest by the French state (association déclarée, à but non lucratif et reconnue d'interêt général). The SIRET number of the center is 82185110200029. Further tax related information can be found here or here.
Affiliation Articles and other scientific production produced by members of the Center who enjoy support from the Center will include the acknowledgement to "The Center for Spacetime and the Quantum (CSTQ)".
Members The foundation has 130+ members. Most are academics across the world, but not all. We are open to membership from interested parties. If you wish to become a member please sent us an email.
Support bright young researchers to answer big questions
Traditional funding avenues are increasingly drying up for research in fundamental questions in physics, outside the scope of large multinational experimental projects. The center supports the research efforts of motivated and highly capable researchers that decide to pursue theoretical research, supports and helps to organize workshops, conferences, and outreach activities such as educational videos.