The Foundational Questions Institute, styled FQxI (formerly FQXi), is an organization that provides grants to "catalyze, support, and disseminate research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology."[1] It was founded in 2005 by cosmologists Max Tegmark and Anthony Aguirre.[2] It is currently run by chief scientific officer David Sloan and chief operating officer Kavita Rajanna.[3] It has run multiple worldwide grant competitions (in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019), the first of which provided US$2M to 30 projects.[4] Across multiple large "Zenith" grant programs it has given out over $28 million in funding.[5] It also runs frequent essay contests open to the general public with $40,000 in prizes awarded by a jury panel and the best texts published in book format.[6]
FQxI is an independent, philanthropically funded non-profit organization, run by scientists for scientists.
The $6.2 million seed funding was donated by the John Templeton Foundation, whose goal is to reconcile science and religion. Tegmark has stated that the money came with "no strings attached"; The Boston Globe stated FQxI is run by "two well-respected researchers who say they are not religious. The institute's scientific advisory board is also filled with top scientists."[7] Critics of the John Templeton Foundation such as Sean Carroll have also stated they were satisfied that the FQxI is independent.[8][9]
There are five Nobel prize winners who are FQxI members: Gerard 't Hooft, Anthony Leggett, Frank Wilczek, Roger Penrose, and Anton Zeilinger.[10]